# Norwegian: å lese (i) en bok



## Xander2024

Hei igjen,

I've just come across the sentence "Moren leser i en bok" og jeg forstår ikke hvorfor preposisjonen "i" er brukt her. Wouldn't it be possible to say "Moren leser en bok"?


Takk på forhånd.


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## TomTrussel

You can say both, but the meaning changes. "Moren leser i en bok" - The mother is reading (from) a book, while "Moren leser en bok" suggests she is reading the whole book from start to finish in one go.

Edit: No, correcting myself, it doesn't need to be in one go. It's more that she is in the process of reading a whole book, you can say it even if she isn't actually sitting down with the book the moment you are saying it, while the "i" suggests she is actively reading. Sorry, I hope that made sense  

TT


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## NorwegianNYC

Yes, they are often interchangeable, but there can be a difference in meaning. _Moren leser i en bok_ puts emphasis on the fact she is reading something in a book (and not a newspaper or catalog), a particular section or part of the book, and not necessarily the whole thing. In _moren leser en bok_ is a general statement explaining that she is reading a book.

The distinction becomes clearer if you turn it into a _cookbook_. If you say _moren leser i en kokebok_ vs. _moren leser en kokebok_. Most people will read something IN a cookbook, and not the whole cookbook. English has the same difference as Norwegian.


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## Xander2024

Nå tror jeg, forstår jeg det. 

Mange takk.


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## hanne

We have a very similar thread here (it happens to be about Danish, but that makes no difference in this case, to the best of my belief).

PS. Please remember to included the language in the thread title. Thanks.


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## Xander2024

Hanne, that thread got me quite confused. All in all, is it normal/correct to just say "Hun leser en bok" in answer to the question "Hva gjør hun"?  

Takk.


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## TomTrussel

> Hanne, that thread got me quite confused. All in all, is it  normal/correct to just say "Hun leser en bok" in answer to the question  "Hva gjør hun"?



It's normal and correct, yes. So is "Hun leser i en bok", but it's got a slightly different meaning   By replying "hun leser en bok" you imply that she is in the process of reading a (whole) book. By replying "hun leser i en bok" you imply that you do not know if she is going to read the whole book, you are just stating the fact that she is indeed reading from a book as you speak.


TT


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## Xander2024

Hmm... By the way, the sentence preceding the "Moren leser i en bok" is: "Faren leser en avis" - without the "i".


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## NorwegianNYC

Yes, because the mother is reading something in a book, but not necessarily the whole book. The father reads the newspaper, and we have to presume he is reading the whole thing. If the sentence read: _Faren leser i en avis_, we have to assume he is reading a particular article. The use of a preposition makes the statement more precise - narrower, if you will - and the absence of a preposition makes the action more general.

You wrote: [All in all, is it normal/correct to just say "Hun leser en bok" in answer to the question "Hva gjør hun"?]

It depends! Is she reading the whole thing? Is that her goal? Or is she looking something up, or reading only a chapter or a passage? _Hva gjør hun? Hun leser en bok / Hva gjør hun? Hun leser (litt) i en bok_. The second example is often used to stress the fact that the person is not reading more than a bit of it, or at least a bit at the time.
Very few would say: "I am reading an encyclopedia" (although it is possible). More common is: "I am reading IN an encyclopedia".


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## Xander2024

I see. This must be a distinctive peculiarity of the Norwegian language as I've never come across such a thing in any of the other Germanic languages.

Takk.


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## TomTrussel

Really? I do know the rest of the Scandinavia also has this, but I don't know the other Germanic languages well enough to say.  I can agree English doesn't use it as much as the Scandinavian languages do.

TT


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## Dan2

Based on the above descriptions of "Hun leser i en bok", I don't think there's a clear, simple English equivalent.  In the most natural interpretation of "She's reading a book", the implication is that she intends to read the whole thing (of course, she may later change her mind).  Simply inserting "in" results in an odd-sounding sentence. A possible translation of the sentence with "i" would be "She's looking at a book" (but that includes examining, for ex., the cover or binding of a closed book).

Xander, based on the above descriptions, it sounds like a distinction Russian has, but only in the past tense:
"Hun leste en bok" = "Ona prochitala knigu"
"Hun leste i en bok" = "Ona chitala knigu"
What do you think?


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## Xander2024

"Ona prochitala knigu" = She (has) finished reading the book. 
"Ona chitala knigu" = She was reading a book (at a certain point in the past)

Dan, your suggestion makes it a bit clearer. I can't explain it but I think I'm beginning to see the light.

Tom, speaking of the rest of Scandinavia, I don't remember coming across "Hon läser i en bok" when I learnt Swedish. Neither have I seen such constructions in Afrikaans or in Dutch, let alone German.

Well, maybe Icelandic or Faroese have it?

Thank you.


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## NorwegianNYC

English definitely has that distinction. You can (or sooner: have to) say: _What did you do an hour ago? I was reading the NY Times // I was reading in the NY Times about the new movie by NN_
Also: _What is your 5-year old doing? She is reading a book // She is reading in a book_ (and the distinction makes sense as most 5-year old will not read a book, but read something (a part) in a book)

It would surprise me if the other Scandinavian languages, and German/Dutch etc. does not make the same distinction.


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## Xander2024

She is reading in a book? What on earth could that mean?


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## NorwegianNYC

It means she is not actually starting at the beginning and works her way through the pages, but that she is reading *something* in the book (maybe a part of it, a chapter, or looking at the pictures). What Norw and English has in common is that certain words are OMITTED from the phrase, and that a more extensive rendition would be:

Norw: Moren leser [noe/litt] i ei bok
English: She reads [something/a chapter/excerpt] in a book


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

Just confirming that Icelandic indeed has the same 'in' distinction.

Hún les í bók.
Hún les bók.


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## Xander2024

NorwegianNYC said:


> It means she is not actually starting at the beginning and works her way through the pages, but that she is reading *something* in the book (maybe a part of it, a chapter, or looking at the pictures). What Norw and English has in common is that certain words are OMITTED from the phrase, and that a more extensive rendition would be:
> 
> Norw: Moren leser [noe/litt] i ei bok
> English: She reads [something/a chapter/excerpt] in a book



 Of course, if you put in an object like "a chapter" or "an excerpt", then "She reads .... in a book" makes sense to me. Otherwise, it really doesn't. If any of my students wrote this without an object, my first question would be "What does she read in a book"???


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## Xander2024

Thanks for weighing in,NoMoreMrICeGuy.


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## NorwegianNYC

NoMoreMrIceGuy said:


> Just confirming that Icelandic indeed has the same 'in' distinction.
> 
> Hún les í bók.
> Hún les bók.



Out of curiosity - I presume Icelandic makes use of the same semantic differences at Norwegian and English too (specific vs general reading)?


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## NorwegianNYC

Xander - I agree. It is an idiomatic expression really, because it is IMPLIED that you are not reading the whole thing. You are merely reading "something" in a book, but the information upon what exactly you are reading has to be inferred. In my very first response I mentioned a cookbook. Few People actually read the entire cookbook (although it is possible), but they read [a chapter/a recipe] IN the cookbook. It is not considered necessary to stress WHAT they are reading. It is merely the difference between reading the whole thing, and *something* in it.


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

NorwegianNYC said:


> Out of curiosity - I presume Icelandic makes use of the same semantic differences at Norwegian and English too (specific vs general reading)?



The very same, yes.


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## Xander2024

And would it be correct to say "Jeg tenker på å lese i en bok" meaning "I'm going to do some reading" or "I'm going to spend some time reading a book"?


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## NorwegianNYC

Actually, it means you are going to read something specific in a book. I you are going to read the whole thing, you would say: "Jeg tenker på å lese en bok" (= I am considering reading a book). If you are just going to relax, kill some time and not do the serious read, you can say: "jeg skal lese (litt) i en bok". It is good to add "litt" there, because if not it seems as if you are going to read some random passage in a book.


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## Xander2024

I see now, thanks a lot, Norwegian.


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## Dan2

With regard to "read(ing) *in* a book":
For me, the facts are exactly as Xander stated them: an object or prepositional phrase containing an object is required:

She read that information in a book. 
She read about dogs in a book. 
She read/reads/is reading/was reading in a book.  (or at best, )

Of course, there's always the possibility of dialect differences, but for me (a lifelong resident of various parts of the US), the distinction is very clear.


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## Xander2024

Thanks for the confirmation, Dan.


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## NorwegianNYC

Dan2 said:


> With regard to "read(ing) *in* a book":
> For me, the facts are exactly as Xander stated them: an object or prepositional phrase containing an object is required:
> 
> She read that information in a book.
> She read about dogs in a book.
> She read/reads/is reading/was reading in a book.  (or at best, )
> 
> Of course, there's always the possibility of dialect differences, but for me (a lifelong resident of various parts of the US), the distinction is very clear.



Hi Dan! My point is that the construct is possible, and sometimes used i AE (and BE for that matter). It is not *optimal *in Norwegian either, and usually you will see phrases like: "Jeg skal lese litt i denne boka om elektromagnetisme", where there is some sort of validation of the statement. However, it is *possible* to say "I am going to read for a while in this book" and "Right now, my daughter is reading in a book about animals on the savannah". Grammatically, the same principle applies.


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