Learn how to say colors in Norwegian and how to use the Norwegian phrase meaning "I like"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Filip: Hi everyone, I am Filip. |
| Becky: And I’m Becky. Welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 7 - Talking About Colors in Norwegian. In this lesson you’ll learn about colors and using the phrase “I like”. It’s practical to know how to express what you like, and it’s a nice bonus getting to know what colors are called in Norwegian as well. |
| Filip: That’s right. In this conversation, we’ll be introduced to Espen, Kjersti’s partner. They are out shopping in a homewares store. By the way, “colors” in Norwegian is ‘farger’, even though the word isn’t mentioned in our lesson. |
| Becky: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: So I hear Norwegians aren’t especially particular when it comes to colors. A survey says most Norwegians prefer white. |
| Filip: You can see this when you’re out driving in the countryside, or through hamlets and small residential areas. |
| Becky: Yeah, a lot of the houses are white. No wonder the color is also on the Norwegian flag, even if it’s not the most prominent color! |
| Filip: For those that know, the Norwegian flag has three colors ‘rødt’, ‘hvitt’, ‘og blått’. |
| Becky: Or “red”, “white” and “blue” as we say in English. The white and blue form a cross and that’s surrounded by red. |
| Filip: Each color also has a meaning like the French flag; red is for “freedom”, white for “peace”, and blue for “brotherhood”. |
| Becky: But red is the most prominent color of the three. Norwegians tend to like red too. They like all strong colors and high contrast colors. |
| Filip: Blander colors, on the other hand, don’t seem to appeal that much to Norwegians. |
| Becky: Right, without further ado, let’s look at the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. There aren’t many words that need explanation this time, but there’s one that could be a little confusing. |
| Filip: Right, ‘Hvilken’. From our dialogue Kjersti says ‘Hvilken synes du er fin?’ |
| Becky: Yes, “Which one do you think is nice?”. In this sentence it means “which one”. But it can also mean “which” if it’s in a different sentence. Filip, do you have an example? |
| Filip: Sure! ‘Hvilken bil er fin?’ |
| Becky: And that translates as “Which car is nice?” Another example? |
| Filip: Sure thing. ‘Hvilken film likte du?’ |
| Becky: “Which movie did you like?” |
| Filip: Exactly. Next we have ‘å synes’. It means that you get the impression of something. |
| Becky: This usually translates as “to think” or “to believe”. In our dialogue, it means “to think”. |
| Filip: Jeg synes den gule er penere. |
| Becky: “I think the yellow one is prettier”. In other words you express your opinion with it. One more example, please. |
| Filip: Jeg synes det er vansklig å tro på... |
| Becky: “I find it hard to believe in...” |
| Filip: Now, this next phrase might confuse some people. ‘Da tar vi de’. |
| Becky: Yes, it doesn’t translate word by word. Literally this means “Then take we those/them” |
| Filip: Right, but in Norwegian we usually have a variety of ‘Da’ + verb + pronoun + pronoun or noun. And these phrases express a decision on something. For example. ‘Da gjør vi det’. |
| Becky: Which means “We’ll do that then” And finally one more exampLe |
| Filip: Da kjøper vi rullegardinene |
| Becky: “We’ll buy the rolling blinds then” |
| Filip: Okay, let’s move over to our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about colors, and how to say “I like”. |
| Filip: Norwegians like colors just as much as anybody else. Even though it might not be reflected in our choice of fashion, for example. |
| Becky: But it’s often reflected in your choice of house paint! |
| Filip: Yes, and unfortunately only in choice of house paint. And an elementary part of every language as well is colors. Children learn colors early on because it’s easy to associate the words with colors. |
| Becky: However, we chose to teach you colors as a bonus to our real grammar, the “I like”. So let’s start off with “I like”. |
| Filip: Sure, to say I like in Norwegian you simply say ‘Jeg liker’. |
| Becky: Afterwards you can add pretty much anything. The most common words are nouns and colors. Or you can even add a verb with the indefinite article in front of them. |
| Filip: So to break it down it is ‘jeg’, the pronoun for “I” and ‘liker’ the verb “like”. Now as a bonus, we’ll teach you how to say you “don’t like” something as well, since it’s so easy. Simply add ‘ikke’. |
| Becky: Which means “not”, after ‘liker’ |
| Filip: It now becomes ‘jeg liker ikke’ and then whatever it is you don’t like. |
| Becky: To make it easier, let’s look at some examples. |
| Filip: Jeg liker kjoler |
| Becky: “I like dresses” |
| Filip: Jeg liker å arbeide |
| Becky: “I like to work” |
| Filip: Jeg liker ikke grønn |
| Becky: “I don’t like green” |
| Filip: As you may know, you can substitute the pronoun ‘jeg’ with any other pronoun or even noun, without having to change the previous sentence. So you can easily change some of the above examples into ‘Hun liker kjoler’ or ‘Ole liker å arbeide.’ |
| Becky: Simple! Now let’s look at our colors. Filip, if you say a color, we’ll let our listeners guess and then I’ll translate it. |
| Filip: Sure thing. Rød [pause] |
| Becky: Red |
| Filip: Grønn [pause] |
| Becky: Green |
| Filip: Blå [pause] |
| Becky: Blue |
| Filip: Gul [pause] |
| Becky: Yellow |
| Filip: Svart [pause] |
| Becky: Black |
| Filip: Hvit [pause] |
| Becky: White |
| Filip: Oransj [pause] |
| Becky: Orange |
| Filip: Brun [pause] |
| Becky: Brown |
| Filip: Rosa [pause] |
| Becky: Pink |
| Filip: And Lilla [pause] |
| Becky: Purple. |
| Filip: If you want to use some adjectives to describe the colors like Kjersti did in our dialogue, you just say [color] + ‘er’ + [adjective] |
| Becky: That’s the most basic structure, and very simple and effective. “Something” is “something”. |
| Filip If you want to add that it’s your own opinion, simply put ‘jeg synes’ in front. Here are some examples. |
| Filip: Rosa er stygt |
| Becky: Pink is ugly |
| Filip: Jeg synes rosa er stygt |
| Becky: I think pink is ugly. |
Outro |
| Becky: Great, well that’s all for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Filip: Bye! |
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