Learn how to tell time in Norwegian
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do you ask for the time in Norwegian? |
| Inger: And how do you tell the time? |
| Michael: At NorwegianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Sasha Lee is afraid of being late for her next class and asks her classmate, Regine Ruud, about the time during a school break. Sasha asks, "What time is it?" |
| Sasha: Hvor mye er klokken? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha: Hvor mye er klokken? |
| Regine: Den er kvart over tre. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha: Hvor mye er klokken? |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| Regine: Den er kvart over tre. |
| Michael: "It's a quarter past three." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Asking for the time is one of the most fundamental things in Norwegian. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for the time and answer questions about it. |
| Inger: But, before this, we need to discuss some basics. |
| Michael: That’s right. You need to know that people in Norway use the twenty-four-hour clock, also called military time. If someone uses the 12-hour clock, they don't say "A.M." or "P.M."—instead, Norwegians know what time someone’s referring to based on the time of day. If this isn’t clear, you can always help clarify things by asking |
| Inger: På kvelden eller morgenen? |
| Michael: meaning "At night or in the morning?" This can be confusing at first, but luckily it means that you can use the same phrases for both day and night! |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Now, with this being said, let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha asks "What time is it?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger: Hvor mye er klokken? |
| Michael: meaning "What time is it?" Well, if you look at the Norwegian question, you won’t find the Norwegian word for "time," which is |
| Inger: tid. |
| Michael: This is because Norwegian literally asks, "How much is the clock?" |
| This is the most basic and most common way to ask about the time. You could modify it, to make it more polite, by adding "Excuse me" in front of the questions, |
| Inger: Unnskyld, hvor mye er klokka? |
| Michael: meaning "Excuse me, what time is it?" Another very common variation of this question is |
| Inger: Hva er klokka? |
| Michael: literally meaning "What is the clock?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Regine says "a quarter past three?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger: Den er kvart over tre. |
| Michael: literally meaning "it's quarter over three." |
| The same as in English, we have set phrases for different periods of time. Let’s start with the easiest one, which is the same as in English, "quarter," or |
| Inger: kvart. |
| Michael: It works the same way as English with phrases like "quarter past," |
| Inger: kvart over; |
| Michael: or "quarter to," |
| Inger: kvart på, |
| Michael: literally meaning "a quarter to," marking fifteen minutes after or before a full hour. So, for instance, "quarter past eight" is |
| Inger: kvart over åtte. |
| Michael: Then, there is something that might bring some confusion among English speakers. While in English we say "It’s half past eight," counting the time that passed from the last hour, Norwegian would count how much time remains until the next hour. So, "half past eight" in Norwegian is |
| Inger: halv ni, |
| Michael: literally meaning "half nine." With that in mind, let's see how to say the time that's five minutes before and after half past eight. So, "8:25" in Norwegian is |
| Inger: fem på halv ni, |
| Michael: literally "five to half nine," but you should think of it as "five to half past eight". Next, what's "8:35"? |
| Inger: fem over halv ni, |
| Michael: literally "five over half nine." Again, think of it as "five past half past eight." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned two different questions to ask for the time, and also how to answer in many different ways. |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: There is one more thing before we go, when talking about time, you will also hear, |
| Inger: Når? |
| Michael: literally "How day?" but it means "When?" |
| Again, in these expressions, you don't see the word "time," |
| Inger: tid. |
| Michael: But, if you really want to use the word "time," there IS one more variation of the question that might make more sense to you, which is |
| Inger: Hvilken tid er [something]? |
| Michael: meaning "What time is [something] happening?" Can you give us an example, please? |
| Inger: Hvilken tid er festen? |
| Michael: "What time is the party?" |
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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