# Norwegian: hva er egentlig greia med



## Kajeetah

Hi!

I need your help with this sentence.

Alex and Elise used to be roommates. Alex introduces Anna to Elise. Anna is very cold and Alex seems a bit uneasy.
Then, when Anna is gone:

Elise: Så *hva er egentlig greia med* Anna?
Alex: Anna. Nei, jeg vet ikke, altså. Hun sier hun er veganer men hun lukter pølse. Jeg stoler liksom ikke på henne i det hele tatt.

My English translation says: "What's the deal with Anna?"
But I don't get if what she _means_ is "what kind of girl is this Anna?" or "do you have a problem with Anna?", or maybe something else?

Thank you very much in advance!


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## Ben Jamin

"*hva er egentlig greia med Anna" *is a rather ambiguous expression. I think it could be translated as "what is she really like?"


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## raumar

I agree with Ben - "_Så hva er egentlig greia med Anna_" is very vague. A literal translation could be something like "Just what is this thing about Anna?" As far as I can see, your English translation "What's the deal with Anna?" is good - because it keeps this ambiguity. 

Is your problem how this sentence can be translated into French? I don't speak French, but I think there are two possible strategies. The best solution may be an equally vague French expression. If that's not possible, you must use the context to interpret it. I have not seen this series, so it is impossible to say exactly what the sentence means in this situation. I think Ben's suggestion, "what is she really like?", is good. But if the context is that Alex is uneasy, and Elise has noticed this uneasyness, it could also mean "What's your problem with Anna?".


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## Kajeetah

Thank you very much to you both. Yes I do have to translate it into French, and what you told me helps me a lot!


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## Bokfinken

Kajeetah, can I ask what you ended up translating it to? I'm curious.


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## Kajeetah

"C'est qui exactement, cette Anna?" mais je ne suis pas vraiment satisfaite...


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## Bokfinken

No, it's not really that.

How about "C'est quoi son truc à Anna ?"


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## Kajeetah

Non, ça ne fonctionnerait pas dans le dialogue... J'aurais bien aimé mettre "elle est un peu bizarre, cette fille, non?" mais c'est trop éloigné de l'original. Ou alors "c'est qui cette fille, elle est super bizarre"


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## pickarooney

Why not a simple "Alors, cette Anna?" Vague enough but the fact of asking it suggests the speaker is a little suspicious of her.


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## Bokfinken

Or "Qu'est-ce qu'elle a, cette Anna ?"


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## Kajeetah

Merci! Ou alors "c'est quoi son problème, à cette Anna?" Elle a une attitude vraiment froide et pas sympa.


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