# Norwegian: Christmas Holiday Season



## Grefsen

I'd like to write the following two sentences *på norsk:*

It has been a very special _Christmas holiday season_ for the (name of city where I live) area Norwegian community this year.   I have been to six Norwegian events during the past 3 1/2 weeks and my good friend (woman's name), who you met in Oslo last summer, has been to five of them with me.

Here is my attempt:

Her er mitt forsøk:

Det har vært en veldig spesiell _juleferien sesong_ for (navnet på byen hvor jeg bor)-område norske samfunnet i år.  Jeg har vært på  seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 1/2 uker og min gode venninne (kvinnens navn), som du møtte i Oslo sist sommer, har vært på fem av dem med meg.


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## basslop

I do not quite understand what you mean with "the (name of city where I live) area Norwegian community".

Anyway my suggestion is





> Det har vært en veldig spesiell juleferien sesong *(1)*  for (navnet på byen hvor jeg bor)-område norske samfunnet *(2)* i år. Jeg har vært på seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 1/2 uker *(3)* og min gode venninne (kvinnens navn), som du møtte i Oslo sist sommer, har vært på fem av dem med meg *(4)*.



*(1)*: juleferietid. Undefinite because it belongs to en spesiell.
*(2)*: I suggest to remove the part i don't understand:  (navnet på byen hvor jeg bor)-området. Definite which youhave in samfunnet.
*(3)*: ukene. Definite again. Uker could work too but it would sound very formal.
*(4)*: har vært med meg på fem av dem. Word order that makes a language more fluent. Often difficult to explain why.


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## Grefsen

Tusen takk for hjelpen *basslop!* 




basslop said:


> I do not quite understand what you mean with "the (name of city where I live) area Norwegian community".


I only have a few minutes before I need to get back to work, *men her er et rask svar* (but here is a quick reply):

You can fill in the parenthesis with the name of any city (I want to avoid giving out too much personal information in an open forum).

As an example:  *Los Angeles-område norske samfunnet
*(the Los Angeles area Norwegian community)*
*


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## basslop

No problem understanding the meaning of "name of city where I live". The problem, for me, is why do you put "Norwegian community" at the end? It is probably my lack of knowledge in English that appears here .


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## vestfoldlilja

My suggestions: 

1: Det har vært en (veldig) spesiell juleferie for det norske fellesskapet i (navnet på byen). Jeg har deltatt på /har vært på seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 ½ ukene, og (navn på venninnen) som du møtte i Oslo i sommer har vært med (meg) på fem av dem. 

2: Det har vært en (veldig) spesiell juleferie for det norske fellesskapet i (navnet på byen). Jeg har vært på seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 ½ ukene, og min venn/venninne; (navn) som du møtte i Oslo sist sommer, har vært med (meg) på fem av dem. 

Some points that might help you along

If it is the summer of 2009 then I think it fits better with ”…møtte i Oslo i sommer”, and not sist sommer because to me that sounds as the summer of 2008. 

_My good friend_ and _min gode venninne_ does not have the same connotations to me. They give me quite different associations. _Gode venninne_ sounds like you want to hide that she is more than a friend. While gode venninne doesn’t have to carry this association, I would suggest dropping gode and just write venn/venninne.

Expressions like _han/hun er en god venn av meg_ are common, and does not give the same associations, though god is only added sparsely and only used in relation to a just few. I’ve mentioned before that such expression of affection/love is not as common as in English and therefore superlatives often make the sentences seem over the top, and a compliment can easily be lost when superlatives are not used sparsely and within the “local” usage. 

I also think that venn/venninne can be dropped; it does not sound as natural in Norwegian as in English. Since the person you’re writing to has met the woman it is safe to assume he or she knows that person is a friend of you, and a name and a reminder that the two has met should be enough to juggle his/hers memory to the correct person. 

Samfunnet-fellesskapet: To me they both seem a little off. Samfunnet sounds better with  ”det norsk- amerikanske samfunnet as opposed to det norske samfunnet, because the latter more often than not means The Norwegian society in Norway.


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## basslop

I agree with Vestfoldlilja's comments - and finally i understood the community thing as well.


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## hanne

Grefsen, you just made me think of something. When you want to write a text in Norwegian, like the one in this post, do you then write it in English first, and translate it into Norwegian afterwards? That would be a very bad idea, but it would explain some of the mistakes you make, using English expressions in Norwegian. And it would explain why you always have a very well-written English version available of what your Norwegian sentence should express.


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## Grefsen

vestfoldlilja said:


> My suggestions:
> 
> 1: Det har vært en (veldig) spesiell juleferie for det norske fellesskapet i (navnet på byen). Jeg har deltatt på /har vært på seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 ½ ukene, og (navn på venninnen) som du møtte i Oslo i sommer har vært med (meg) på fem av dem.
> 
> 2: Det har vært en (veldig) spesiell juleferie for det norske fellesskapet i (navnet på byen). Jeg har vært på seks norske arrangementer i løpet av de siste 3 ½ ukene, og min venn/venninne; (navn) som du møtte i Oslo sist sommer, har vært med (meg) på fem av dem.


Tusen takk for det *vestfoldlilja*.   

These are both good suggestions.  



vestfoldlilja said:


> Some points that might help you along
> 
> If it is the summer of 2009 then I think it fits better with ”…møtte i Oslo i sommer”, and not sist sommer because to me that sounds as the summer of 2008.
> 
> _My good friend_ and _min gode venninne_ does not have the same connotations to me. They give me quite different associations. _Gode venninne_ sounds like you want to hide that she is more than a friend. While gode venninne doesn’t have to carry this association, I would suggest dropping gode and just write venn/venninne.
> 
> Expressions like _han/hun er en god venn av meg_ are common, and does not give the same associations, though god is only added sparsely and only used in relation to a just few. I’ve mentioned before that such expression of affection/love is not as common as in English and therefore superlatives often make the sentences seem over the top, and a compliment can easily be lost when superlatives are not used sparsely and within the “local” usage.
> 
> I also think that venn/venninne can be dropped; it does not sound as natural in Norwegian as in English. Since the person you’re writing to has met the woman it is safe to assume he or she knows that person is a friend of you, and a name and a reminder that the two has met should be enough to juggle his/hers memory to the correct person.
> 
> Samfunnet-fellesskapet: To me they both seem a little off. Samfunnet sounds better with ”det norsk- amerikanske samfunnet as opposed to det norske samfunnet, because the latter more often than not means The Norwegian society in Norway.


These are all very good points that you make.  I really appreciate all of the useful information you have provided in this very thoughtful post. 

I don't want to stray too far off topic here, but thanks for making the distinction between the use of _*"gode venninne"* and *"*_*venninne."* 

Godt Nyttår!


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## Grefsen

There are several Norwegian friends that I would like to both wish a "Happy New Year" and also write "I hope you have had a nice Christmas holiday."

Here is one attempt: 

Jeg ønsker deg et riktig godt nyttår.  Jeg også håper at du og dine familie har hadde en fin juleferie.


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