# Norwegian: Dear.... (in a letter)



## betfry

Hi,
How do you say "Dear ......." at the start of a letter in Norwegian? 
Context: for a Norwegian friend who moved away

Also: "Bye!" at the end of the letter.

Thankyou!! I didn't want to use a translator in case it went wrong. (and I'm still not sure about bokmal and nynorsk!)

Bet :-D


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## cevita

A letter starts with  "kjære (name)", and ends with "Hilsen (your name)".

But "Kjære" sounds kinda outdated. I always write "Hei / Hei (name)" or "Til (name)".

Kjære = dear
Hilsen = "å hilse" means "to say hi" or "to greet (someone)". So i guess you can translate it to "greetings from".)
Hei = Hi
Til = to


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## Grefsen

*Velkommen til nordisk språkformet, Bet!* 

(Welcome to the Nordic Language Forum)

I hope you will become a regular here.   



betfry said:


> Thankyou!! I didn't want to use a translator in case it went wrong. (and I'm still not sure about bokmal and nynorsk!)


It is probably a good idea to stay away from using translators very much until your Norwegian vocabulary is larger.  

*Lykke til!

*(Good luck!)


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## hanne

cevita said:


> But "Kjære" sounds kinda outdated. I always write "Hei / Hei (name)" or "Til (name)".


Is "kjære"/"kære" any more outdated than "dear"? Depending on the level of friendship, if the asker is asking for "dear" and not for "hi", I'd guess it is indeed a dear friend .

For "hilsen" I'd also expect Norwegian to have a range of options - again depending on who it's meant for. If the letter starts with a "dear" I'd probably want to put something more than just "hilsen" in the end. (in Danish the standard options would be "kærlig hilsen", "mange hilsener", "venlig hilsen", "hilsen")
"Klem"/"kram" (hugs) is also an option to consider for a good friend...

(it might be helpful if you tell us what word for "bye" you'd use for this friend in English - I don't think I've ever seen any mail/letter ended with an actual "bye")


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## Grefsen

hanne said:


> For "hilsen" I'd also expect Norwegian to have a range of options - again depending on who it's meant for. If the letter starts with a "dear" I'd probably want to put something more than just "hilsen" in the end. (in Danish the standard options would be "kærlig hilsen", "mange hilsener", "venlig hilsen", "hilsen")
> "Klem"/"kram" (hugs) is also an option to consider for a good friend...
> 
> (it might be helpful if you tell us what word for "bye" you'd use for this friend in English - I don't think I've ever seen any mail/letter ended with an actual "bye")


I agree with *Hanne.*  If I start a letter with *"Kjære" *I would typically end with *"Klem"* or *"Kjærlig hilsen."*

I have ended e-mails to Norwegian friends with *"ha det bra," *which is one way to basically say good-bye *på norsk,* but this has been for very casual correspondence that typically begins with *"Hei!"*


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## NilsH

Grefsen said:


> It is probably a good idea to stay away from using translators very much until your Norwegian vocabulary is larger.


Hehe, I'd say it is *always* a good idea to avoid any automatic translations. Every time I've tried something from Swedish to English or the other way round, they have always fouled it up some way or other.

I don't know the difference between Nynorsk/Bokmål either. I think the Norwegians here generally write in Bokmål. Right or wrong, Norwegians?


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## hanne

NilsH said:


> I don't know the difference between Nynorsk/Bokmål either. I think the Norwegians here generally write in Bokmål. Right or wrong, Norwegians?


At least Huffameg write nynorsk if I remember correctly (or something else that certainly isn't standard bokmål) - and I think there's at least one more who does too...


[edit]"Just above 10% of the Norwegian population use Nynorsk as their primary written language." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nynorsk) [/edit]


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## cevita

^
If i dont remember incorrectly, only 17% of the norwegian population speaks nynorsk


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## Cerb

"Kjære" feels a bit dated to me as well, but it's perfectly normal. It might feel more natural to someone older than me (I'm 27). I prefer simply "Hei!" which is a bit informal. They work the same way as "dear" and "Hi!".

"Kjærlig hilsen" is very personal or even intimate in Norwegian. I'd use "Hilsen" followed by your name. "Klem" is used as well to close friends. "Med vennlig hilsen" or "MVH" should be used for any formal letter, but doesn't sound good when writing to a friend for just that reason.


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## vestfoldlilja

I think kjære is used much more restrictedly in Norwegian than dear is in English. I would be much more comfortable with using til or hei. Norwegian is not a very formal language, and words like kjære are only used when addressing a small group of loved ones, and even then it might seem like too much.  

Hilsen can be used along with kjærlig hilsen, hjertelig hilsen, mange hilsner, and vennlig hilsen (perhaps more that I can’t seem to think of now). 

Klem, klemmer, mange klemmer can also be used at the end of a letter, as well as kyss og klem, though the last one indicates a great level of closeness to the person the letter is for. 

I think the most used ending in a letter is a from of hilsen, and not hadet, eller hadet det bra.

Both Bokmål and Nynorsk are written languages, and are not spoken, unless someone reads out load from a text.  People speak in their own dialect which differs in many ways from both written forms and from other dialects.


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## kirsitn

I would use "kjære" for relatives and close friends, for other people I would normally use "hei". Starting a letter by "til" sounds very akward to me. At the end of a letter I would use "Klem" for people that I would be likely to hug in real life (close relatives and friends), otherwise I'd use "hilsen" - unless it's a formal letter, in which case "Vennlig hilsen" is usually more appropriate.


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## Grefsen

kirsitn said:


> At the end of a letter I would use "Klem" for people that I would be likely to hug in real life (close relatives and friends), otherwise I'd use "hilsen" - unless it's a formal letter, in which case "Vennlig hilsen" is usually more appropriate.


If someone is writing a message on a birthday card, would it be appropriate to use *"bursdag hilsen," eller* *"bursdag hilsen fra"*at the end of the message before signing their name?


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## kirsitn

Yes, you could write that, but it should be in one word - bursdagshilsen fra...


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## oskhen

Grefsen said:


> If someone is writing a message on a birthday card, would it be appropriate to use *"bursdag hilsen," eller* *"bursdag hilsen fra"*at the end of the message before signing their name?


 
In one word (as all compound words in Norwegian are!) including an "s": "bursdagshilsen". But not alone in front of your name, you need the "fra". You could also write it in plural. At least "hilsener fra" or "mange hilsener fra" is quite common. (Isn't it?)


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## Grefsen

oskhen said:


> In one word (as all compound words in Norwegian are!) including an "s": "bursdagshilsen*.*". But not alone in front of your name, you need the "fra". You could also write it in plural. At least "hilsener fra" or "mange hilsener fra" is quite common. (Isn't it?)


Does *"bursdagshilsener fra"* sound a little better than *"bursdagshilsen fra" kanskje?*


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## Grefsen

Grefsen said:


> Does *"bursdagshilsener fra"* sound a little better than *"bursdagshilsen fra" kanskje?*


I used *"bursdagshilsener fra*" (birthday greetings from) at the end of the card and received a nice reply that included *"takk for bursdagshilsen."    *

However,  I'm wondering if it would have been better to have ended my card using *"bursdagshilsen fra"* (birthday greeting from) instead of  *"bursdagshilsener fra?"*


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## oskhen

Grefsen said:


> However, I'm wondering if it would have been better to have ended my card using *"bursdagshilsen fra"* (birthday greeting from) instead of *"bursdagshilsener fra?"*


 
Perhaps to some. To me, however, the one is more or less as good as the other.


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## Grefsen

oskhen said:


> Perhaps to some. To me, however, the one is more or less as good as the other.


*Tusen takk for ditt raske svar! *(Hopefully I got it right this time.   )

The main reason why I was asking is because it has been my experience that *"Hilsen fra"* is used much more often *på norsk* than *"Hilsener fra." * I know this isn't scientific at all, but I just did a Google search and discovered that *"Hilsen fra"* has approximately 20 times as many results as *"Hilsener fra."

*The exact opposite seems to be true in American English.  To me it sounds much more natural to say "Greetings from" than "Greeting from." When I just did a Google search "Greetings from" had approximately 15 times as many results as "Greeting from."


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## Grefsen

Cerb said:


> "Kjære" feels a bit dated to me as well, but it's perfectly normal. It might feel more natural to someone older than me (I'm 27). I prefer simply "Hei!" which is a bit informal. They work the same way as "dear" and "Hi!".
> 
> "Kjærlig hilsen" is very personal or even intimate in Norwegian. I'd use "Hilsen" followed by your name. "Klem" is used as well to close friends. "Med vennlig hilsen" or "MVH" should be used for any formal letter, but doesn't sound good when writing to a friend for just that reason.


*Velkommen til Nordisk språkforumet Cerb! *

It is really nice to have so many excellents posts from new members.  I really appreciate your contributions to the forum *Cerb *and I hope you will become a regular here.


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## aaspraak

vestfoldlilja said:


> I think the most used ending in a letter is a from of hilsen, and not hadet, eller hadet det bra.



Personally I only find using *ha det* or *ha det bra* in writing naturally if it is some kind of chatting, like MSN. 

At the end of letters or e-mail I'd use *helsing* (the same word as hilsen, but nynorsk) or *klem*. I end formal letters or e-mails with *med helsing* or *med venleg helsing*. I think just *med helsing* sounds better when writing nynorsk. If I write bokmål I'll probably end formal letters with *med vennlig hilsen*.

To start a letter I'd use *kjære (name of person or mor/far/etc.)! *if I write to my parents or grandparents and maybe to other relatives. To friends I normally use *hei!* or *hei (name)!*.


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## Grefsen

aaspraak said:


> Personally I only find using *ha det* or *ha det bra* in writing naturally if it is some kind of chatting, like MSN.


My *norske venner* rarely ever end an e-mail with "*ha det"* or *"ha det bra,"* but they do occassional end our Skype or Facebook chats this way.  Quite a few are also using "bye bye" too even when the rest of our chat has been mostly in Norwegian.  



aaspraak said:


> At the end of letters or e-mail I'd use *helsing* (the same word as hilsen, but nynorsk) or *klem*. I end formal letters or e-mails with *med helsing* or *med venleg helsing*. I think just *med helsing* sounds better when writing nynorsk. If I write bokmål I'll probably end formal letters with *med vennlig hilsen*.


This is interesting to learn what the nynorsk equivalent of "*med vennlig hilsen" *is.  Here is the link to thread from May/June of last year where the use of "*med vennlig hilsen"  *was discussed in some detail:

http://forum.wordreference.com/show...light=would+med+vennlig+hilsen+be#post5153843


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## Cerb

Grefsen said:


> *Velkommen til Nordisk språkforumet Cerb! *
> 
> It is really nice to have so many excellents posts from new members.  I really appreciate your contributions to the forum *Cerb *and I hope you will become a regular here.


Thank you  

I read the thread you posted and I seems I have the same idea about "MVH" as Office_Angel:



			
				Office_Angel said:
			
		

> My Norwegian work colleagues use Med Vennlig Hilsen at the end of their emails - abbreviating it to MVH.


I'd never use it when writing to friends or family, but I've come to expect it in any formal letter and always use it myself in formal letters no matter the content ("Your payment is overdue..").

"Ha det bra"/"ha det" is similar to "good bye"/"bye". It doesn't really work well for ending a letter. It's something you say when you're leaving someone or something (going somewhere else).


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