# Norwegian: *number* in one



## sjiraff

Hi everyone, maybe a bit of a silly thing to get worked up over but I was watching something on NRK and the subtitles said something different from what the host said.

She said, "de har utgitt fire låter i ett" but the subtitle read "fire låter i én". I would have gone with the latter, since it's en låt she is talking about, but I'm wondering is it important to have a distinction when you want to say things like "two in one"? I know also "med ett" from the expression to mean "at once" or "instantly/right away", but I don't think this is what she meant.

Thanks

edit* corrected "med ett"


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## NorwegianNYC

The problem here is context. Both "firelåter i ett" and "fire låter i én" means "four songs in one". Whether it is "ett" or "én" depends on context. Is this four in [Masculine] or four in [Neuter]?


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## sjiraff

NorwegianNYC said:


> The problem here is context. Both "firelåter i ett" and "fire låter i én" means "four songs in one". Whether it is "ett" or "én" depends on context. Is this four in [Masculine] or four in [Neuter]?



Well she really just says "in one", I don't think it refers to any physical thing though? As in English we just mean "in one go" or "as one", since it's not referring to like "i en eske" or that they are inside of something.  I would've thought "i én" would be right, since it's as if they are releasing four songs within one song.


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## NorwegianNYC

I would say both of them works, and that this is not a grammatical, but a stylistic choice


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## sjiraff

NorwegianNYC said:


> I would say both of them works, and that this is not a grammatical, but a stylistic choice



Thanks

So it would be ok to say, for example "det er en mobiltelefon og kamera i ett" or "i én" ? (talking about a camera phone)


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## NorwegianNYC

I would rank them equally, if that is what you are asking


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## Ben Jamin

sjiraff said:


> Thanks
> 
> So it would be ok to say, for example "det er en mobiltelefon og kamera i ett" or "i én" ? (talking about a camera phone)


Here "ett" can be short for "ett stykke", but what should "én" be short for?


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## sjiraff

Ben Jamin said:


> Here "ett" can be short for "ett stykke", but what should "én" be short for?



Well this is one of the things I still haven't been able to understand about languages with genders, if you are refering to a "thing" you don't know the gender of, how are you supposed to allocate it a gender?

I never knew it would be assumed "ett stykke" since I thought it could just as well be "en ting" or "en dings" or "en greie" or something, I guess I thought "en" here since if you're talking about a camera phone (en mobil) it might be "et kamera og en telefon i én" but now you mention it I'm really not sure to be honest!

Thanks


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## Ben Jamin

sjiraff said:


> Well this is one of the things I still haven't been able to understand about languages with genders, if you are refering to a "thing" you don't know the gender of, how are you supposed to allocate it a gender?
> 
> I never knew it would be assumed "ett stykke" since I thought it could just as well be "en ting" or "en dings" or "en greie" or something, I guess I thought "en" here since if you're talking about a camera phone (en mobil) it might be "et kamera og en telefon i én" but now you mention it I'm really not sure to be honest!
> 
> Thanks


For me et"ett stykke" would be the first choice while speaking about a camera and a telephone, but I'm not a native speaker.


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## bicontinental

Ben Jamin said:


> For me et"ett stykke" would be the first choice while speaking about a camera and a telephone, but I'm not a native speaker.



I have a similar understanding of this..."en" needs a referent whereas “ett” may also imply “ett stykke” “ett hele = en selvstendig helhet” and be used without a referent…but then again, I´m not a native speaker either. Going back to the example with the camera and the phone, I would therefore say, “et kamera og en telefon _i ett,_” since I wouldn´t know what “en” was referring to. If I was talking about something like the Russian “nesting” dolls where the smaller dolls can be placed inside the largest doll, I could use either: there are …”XXX dukker i en” (since my reference is _en dukke_), or “XXX dukker i ett” (i ett hele/i ett system).

I´ll wait for the native speakers to explain 

Bic.


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## sjiraff

Thanks Ben and Bicontinental


As non-native speakers, were you guys ever taught anything about this? I actually got thinking about it today, like if someone just wants to say

When was it demolished? (referring to a "building")

if it hasn't been mentioned already, couldn't you say "når ble det(bygget) revet ned?" or "når ble den(bygningen) revet ned?". I mean sometimes there are different terms and names or "umbrella" terms for the same objects and it's not always clear what exactly you're referring to.


When you mention ett hele Bicontinental, I've never actually seen it but I have heard people say for example (talking about en film)  -  så du gjennom det hele? (Did you watch the whole thing?) instead of "den hele" even though it's en film (hele filmen), so I never say "den hele" 

Sometimes I just worry I say the wrong article


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## myšlenka

sjiraff said:


> So it would be ok to say, for example "det er en mobiltelefon og kamera i ett" or "i én" ? (talking about a camera phone)


 


NorwegianNYC said:


> I would rank them equally, if that is what you are asking





Ben Jamin said:


> For me et"ett stykke" would be the first choice while speaking about a camera and a telephone, but I'm not a native speaker.


I agree with Ben Jamin. I would use it this way:

_i én_ - the same kind of masculine objects in one.
_i ett_ - the same kind of neuter objects in one _or_ a collection of different objects in one.

I believe expressions like _denne hytta går i ett med terrenget_ is the reason for _i ett_ being used by the NRK host. It simply seems more generalized.


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## sjiraff

myšlenka said:


> I agree with Ben Jamin. I would use it this way:
> 
> _i én_ - the same kind of masculine objects in one.
> _i ett_ - the same kind of neuter objects in one _or_ a collection of different objects in one.
> 
> I believe expressions like _denne hytta går i ett med terrenget_ is the reason for _i ett_ being used by the NRK host. It simply seems more generalized.



That's very useful to know Myšlenka, do you think it would also sound ok to say (even if it's two masculine objects) "to låter i ett stykke" (just låter as an example, i know it's actually feminine) and just saying "i ett stykke" as a way of meaning "in one"?

Thanks


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## myšlenka

sjiraff said:


> That's very useful to know Myšlenka, do you think it would also sound ok to say (even if it's two masculine objects) "to låter i ett stykke" (just låter as an example, i know it's actually feminine) and just saying "i ett stykke" as a way of meaning "in one"?


Take away "stykke", then you get the intended meaning.


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## sjiraff

myšlenka said:


> Take away "stykke", then you get the intended meaning.



Ah ok, I was just wondering since people mentoned above they were thinking of it as "stykke" so I wondered if you could actually just say that.

Thanks


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## Ben Jamin

sjiraff said:


> That's very useful to know Myšlenka, do you think it would also sound ok to say (even if it's two masculine objects) "to låter i ett stykke" (just låter as an example, i know it's actually feminine) and just saying "i ett stykke" as a way of meaning "in one"?
> 
> Thanks


"Et stykke" works only with physical objects.


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