# Norwegian: flag raising ceremony



## Grefsen

I attended a special "flag raising ceremony" on the 17th of May this past week and was wondering how I could write "flag raising ceremony" *på* *norsk*?  I know that "heve" means "to lift or raise" something up so I'm wondering if it might be "flagg heve seremoni"?

Here's my attempt in a sentence:

Jeg deltok på en spesiell _flagg heve seremoni_ på 17. mai denne siste uken.


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## NorwegianNYC

flaggheisingsseremoni


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## clarasofia

Hei Grefsen, 
A suggested sentence would be: 
Forrige uke deltok jeg på en fin flaggheising (evt. flaggheisingsseremoni) på 17. mai. 

PS. "..denne siste uken" should be "forrige uke". 
Also, the verb "å delta" is more often used in situations where you attend a program to perform something (in your example; if you actually raised the flag yourself). If you are just attending, you may use the verb "å være": Forrige uke var jeg på en fin flaggheising (evt. flaggheisingsseremoni) på 17. mai.


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## Grefsen

Tusen takk for dine gode forslag, *clarasofia!* 


clarasofia said:


> A suggested sentence would be:
> 
> If you are just attending, you may use the verb "å være": Forrige uke var jeg på en fin flaggheising (evt. flaggheisingsseremoni) på 17. mai.


I'm not sure what the abbreviation *"evt."* means, but I'm assuming that if I simply use use *"flaggheising"* instead of the longer compound word *"flaggheisingsseremoni"* the meaning of my sentence would essentially be the same.


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## NorwegianNYC

Grefsen - if you attended a "flaggheising" (flag hoisting) it could be any old hoisting of a flag, so "flaggheisingsseremoni" (flag hoisting ceremony) is more appropriate since you are referring to a distinct one on the 17th. Quite like English usage, a flag hoisting ceremony implies an official hoisting of the flag, often with pomp and circumstance, but definitely for a specific reason.

Also, clarasofia suggests "Jeg var på en..." as oppose to "Jeg deltok på en... I do not necessarily agree. In a flag hoisting ceremony, I would definitely say you are participating if you are present. Isn't that the whole purpose of the mentioned ceremony (we cannot all be hoisting the flag)? Anyway - it is optional.

Finally, be very carefull using the word 'spesiell'. I understand what you are trying to say, but 'special' is often used idiomatically in English. "It was a special day" is indicating a positive experience in English, whereas "det var en spesiell dag" more often means 'a weird/quaint/peculiar day' in Norwegian. You see it better in "she is a very special friend of mine" which in its literal translation ("hun er en veldig spesiell venn av meg") refers to an 'odd' friend, a 'strange' friend, or a 'different kind of person than other people' (sometimes even used euphemistically about people who suffer from some kind of mental retardation)(English has the same usage in "a special needs child"). If you see a piece of art (or clothing, house etc.) you are not sure if you like, a common and polite way of describing it is to say "litt spesielt"


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## Tjahzi

Grefsen said:


> ...I'm not sure what the abbreviation *"evt."* means...



"Eventuelt" - _possibly, potentially, alternatively._


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## Grefsen

Takk for forklaring *NYC!*  


NorwegianNYC said:


> Grefsen - if you attended a "flaggheising" (flag hoisting) it could be any old hoisting of a flag, so "flaggheisingsseremoni" (flag hoisting ceremony) is more appropriate since you are referring to a distinct one on the 17th. Quite like English usage, a flag hoisting ceremony implies an official hoisting of the flag, often with pomp and circumstance, but definitely for a specific reason.


When I did a Google search on *"flaggheisingsseremoni"* I only got 44 results compared to 38,100 results for a search on *"flaggheising." *  I realize that comparing the number of Google results can often be misleading, but in this case, because the difference in the numbers was so great, I thought that it might be possible to use *"flaggheising"* in place of *"flaggheisingsseremoni"* and still have essentially the same meaning.



Tjahzi said:


> "Eventuelt" - _possibly, potentially, alternatively._


Tusen takk for svaret ditt *Tjahzi! *


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## clarasofia

Hi Grefsen, 
Yes, you may use "flaggheising" in place of "flaggheisingsseremoni" and still have the same meaning. Personally, I have never heard nor seen written "flaggheisingsseremoni", and would most definitely use "flaggheising".  In the most advanced norwegian orthographic dictionary, I can only find "flaggheising". However, "new" compound words are quite common, so I guess that´s why words like "flaggheisingsseremoni" pop up. In my opinion,  the word "sermoni" (ceremony) does not add any extra value to "flaggheising" as itself is considered kind of a a ceremony. Well, this is my opinion


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## NorwegianNYC

Dear Clarasofia and Grefsen

I agree that 'flag hoisting' (which is different from 'flag raising') works for the run-of-the-mill hoisting of a flag, and being an everyday occurrence, it is no wonder is has so many more hits. That is not the point. Grefsen, you write: "I attended a special "flag raising ceremony" on the 17th of May this past week". The difference between hoisting a flag and hoisting a flag for a defined ceremonial purpose is reflected in the difference between "flaggheising" (flag hoisting) and "flaggheisingsseremoni" (flag hoisting ceremony).


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