Learn all you need to know about greetings in Norwegian
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Intro |
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| Michael: Which greetings depend on the time of day in Norwegian? |
| Inger: And can they be replaced with time-neutral greetings? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee is greeting his friend, Silje Soergaard, but he hasn't noticed how late it has become. Ben says, "Good morning." |
| Ben: God morgen. |
| Dialogue |
| Ben: God morgen. |
| Silje: Klokken er allerede 12, så du bør si "god ettermiddag." |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben: God morgen. |
| Michael: "Good morning." |
| Silje: Klokken er allerede 12, så du bør si "god ettermiddag." |
| Michael: "It's already 12 o'clock, so you should say 'good afternoon.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Norwegian greetings. Norwegian, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day. Norwegian mostly differentiate between three particular times of the day, using the following greetings: |
| Inger: God morgen |
| Michael: which means "Good morning." This greeting is composed of two words, |
| Inger: God |
| Michael: which means "good," and |
| Inger: morgen |
| Michael: which means "morning." It’s normally used when greeting someone in the morning, usually until twelve noon. |
| Inger: God ettermiddag |
| Michael: This means "Good afternoon," which is also composed of two words. Again, |
| Inger: God |
| Michael: which means "good," and |
| Inger: ettermiddag |
| Michael: which means "afternoon." This greeting is used from twelve noon until late in the evening. And, for "Good evening," we have |
| Inger: God kveld or God aften. |
| Michael: Note that it’s not common to say "Good afternoon" and "Good evening" in casual speech, they are usually used in formal settings or on TV only. Alternatively, "hello" or "hi" is widely used instead, and we’ll talk more about these greetings later in this lesson. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says, "Good morning?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger: God morgen! |
| Michael: As mentioned, this greeting is used in the morning until twelve noon. Ben Lee didn’t realize it was past twelve and used this greeting instead of the one for "Good afternoon." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Silje says "It's already 12 o'clock, so you should say 'good afternoon?'" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger: Klokken er allerede 12, så du bør si "god ettermiddag." |
| Michael: Here, She explains that it’s already twelve noon, which means the correct greeting would be "Good afternoon!" or |
| Inger: God ettermiddag. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Perhaps you’re wondering if there are any alternatives to time-sensitive Norwegian greetings. For instance, English has "Good day" and "Hello." How do you say these in Norwegian? The expression "Good day" in Norwegian is |
| Inger: God dag. |
| Michael: As for "hello," there are several ways you can say it in Norwegian, the most common one being |
| Inger: Hei! |
| Michael: which could also mean "Hi." Now, here’s another informal way to greet someone: |
| Inger: Hva skjer? |
| Michael: which means "What’s up?" in Norwegian. Here’s another one: |
| Inger: Hvordan går det? |
| Michael: This means "How's it going?" And, finally, you can say |
| Inger: Hvordan har du hatt det? |
| Michael: to ask someone, "How have you been?" This is an appropriate greeting for someone you haven’t seen for a long time. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Inger: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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