# Norwegian: leke eller spille



## enaid_cean023

Hello!

I just want to ask if there are any guidelines in using the words "spille" and "leke". 
Can it be used interchangeably?

Thank you!


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## myšlenka

Hi,
you can say that _spille_ refers to an activity defined by a set of rules describing how to do the activity in question (e.g. sports, boardgames, instruments etc).
_Leke_ on the other hand refers to activities with a less rigid structure, very often without rules, so it applies to what children usually do.

Maybe someone else has other ideas about this 
And no, they cannot be used interchangeably.


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## enaid_cean023

Hi myšlenka! Thank you so much for the clarification.


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## Grefsen

myšlenka said:


> Hi,
> you can say that _spille_ refers to an activity defined by a set of rules describing how to do the activity in question (e.g. sports, boardgames, instruments etc).
> _Leke_ on the other hand refers to activities with a less rigid structure, very often without rules, so it applies to what children usually do.
> 
> Maybe someone else has other ideas about this
> And no, they cannot be used interchangeably.


These are excellent guidelines *myšlenka!* 

Here's the link to a thread from last year that had a good discussion about the use of the verbs *spille og leke*:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2344675


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## Slinkybinky

enaid_cean023 said:


> Hello!
> 
> I just want to ask if there are any guidelines in using the words "spille" and "leke".
> Can it be used interchangeably?
> 
> Thank you!



Hi,
What I've noticed is the word "leke" is often used as a noun in reference to a child's toy whereas "spille" is not. If you order a Happy Meal at a McDonald's in Norway you'll receive a leke inside the kid's meal or you can buy a leke separately.


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## Grefsen

Slinkybinky said:


> Hi,


Velkommen til nordiske språkforumet *Slinkybinky!  *



Slinkybinky said:


> What I've noticed is the word "leke" is often used as a noun in reference to a child's toy whereas "spille" is not. If you order a Happy Meal at a McDonald's in Norway you'll receive a leke inside the kid's meal or you can buy a leke separately.


Yes, according to *elektronisk ordboken *Lexin, *leke  *can be used to mean "toy:"



> oppslagsord:  leke
> 
> substantiv
> 
> Engelsk:     *toy
> 
> noun*
> 
> forklaring:    en gjenstand til å leke med, et leketøy
> 
> Engelsk:     *a plaything for children*


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## sjiraff

Grefsen said:


> Yes, according to *elektronisk ordboken *Lexin, *leke  *can be used to mean "toy:"



You can also call these leketøy, but then the gender changes and it becomes "et leketøy". As far as I know these are the same thing.

 The way I remembered it OP, was that "å leke gjemsel" is to play hide and seek (something kids would do).


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## Grefsen

sjiraff said:


> You can also call these leketøy, but then the gender changes and it becomes "et leketøy". As far as I know these are the same thing.


Tusen takk *sjiraff*! 

Are there certain types of toys that one would use *leke* for and others that *leketøy* is typically used for?


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## NorwegianNYC

No - they are synonymous. However - I think *leketøy* is a slightly dated form.


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## Grefsen

NorwegianNYC said:


> No - they are synonymous.


Tusen takk! 



NorwegianNYC said:


> However - I think *leketøy* is a slightly dated form.


For what it's worth, a search of "*et* *leketøy" *got about 55,000 results, while *"en leke" *got over 500,000.


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## Claribelsofia

"Et leketøy" and "en leke" are synonymous, however leketøy is not commonly used for toys (it is a dated form ref NorwegianNYC). However, it is often used in expressions like; "En hund er ikke et leketøy" (" A dog is not a toy"), "Fyrverkeri er ikke leketøy" etc...


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## Grefsen

Claribelsofia said:


> "Et leketøy" and "en leke" are synonymous, however leketøy is not commonly used for toys (it is a dated form ref NorwegianNYC). However, it is often used in expressions like; "En hund er ikke et leketøy" (" A dog is not a toy"), "Fyrverkeri er ikke leketøy" etc...


Takk for god forklaring og for eksemplene.


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## sjiraff

sorry to bump, but I thought I might also add just in case Enaid or anyone else doesn't know, but *leken* can also mean "playfull" (leken, lekent, lekne) even though it looks like "the toy" - so watch out for that and make sure to think of the context! I remember being confused when I first found similar adjectives, like "beskjeden" meaning modest, even though it can also mean "the message".


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## Grefsen

sjiraff said:


> ...*leken* can also mean "playfull" (leken, lekent, lekne) even though it looks like "the toy" - so watch out for that and make sure to think of the context!


I didn't know that.  *Tusen takk! *


sjiraff said:


> I remember being confused when I first found similar adjectives, like "beskjeden" meaning modest, even though it can also mean "the message".


I would have been confused by this too so thanks again.


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