Learn how to use the phrase "Do you speak English?"
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| Hei, jeg heter Nora. Hi everybody! I’m Nora. |
| Welcome to NorwegianClass101.com’s “Norsk på 3 minutter”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Norwegian. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the most common forms of greetings in Norwegian. Do you remember them? |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn a very useful phrase - “Do you speak English?” |
| If you find yourself in a situation where you need assistance in English, this phrase can be a lifesaver. And because you’re asking it in Norwegian, you can be sure that everyone will understand what you’re saying, even if their answer is no. |
| Here's the most common way to say it. |
| Snakker du engelsk? |
| [slowly] Snakker du engelsk? |
| Norwegian is a pretty straightforward language. We conjugate verbs based on time, which means we have past, present, and infinitive. The question snakker du engelsk? translates as “are you speaking English?” As in English speaking is at the present time, snakker. |
| The second word in the sentence du simply means “you”. And you probably recognize “engelsk” to be “English.” |
| Snakker du engelsk? |
| To learn how to properly conjugate verbs like snakker, please check out our Absolute Beginner series on NorwegianClass101.com. You can find very detailed grammar lessons and resources there! |
| Like English, there are many ways to ask this question. Let’s look at another one, also pretty similar to English. It’s literally the equivalent of “can you speak English?” |
| Kan du snakke engelsk? |
| [slowly]Kan du snakke engelsk? |
| Adding unnskyld, "excuse-me", to the sentence would make it... |
| Unnskyld, kan du snakke engelsk? |
| [slowly] Unnskyld, kan du snakke engelsk? |
| The responses you will receive could be one of these three- |
| Ja. "Yes." |
| [slowly] Ja. |
| Litt. "A little." |
| [slowly] Litt. |
| Nei, jeg kan ikke snakke engelsk. "No, I don’t speak English." |
| [slowly] Nei, jeg kan ikke snakke engelsk. |
| Since this last one is a negative statement, we need to say ikke before the verb, snakke. Notice also that the verb, snakke is slightly different than snakker. Remember, the verb changes depending on the time it is in. We are now talking about the infinitive, since it is coupled with kan, which means “can.” |
| Now it’s time for Nora’s Insights. |
| For those of you who don’t just speak English, you can obviously use this question with any language you need. Norwegian people study other European languages at school, so maybe you will get lucky! Just substitute engelsk with… |
| Italiensk for ”Italian”. |
| Fransk for “French”. |
| Spansk for “Spanish”. |
| Tysk for “German”. |
| In this lesson we mentioned the expression unnskyld. But did you know that this could also be used as an apology? In the next lesson we will learn this and other ways to apologize in Norwegian. It’s never too late to show your good manners with Norwegian people! |
| I'll see you in our next Norsk på 3 minutter lesson. |
| På gjensyn! |
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