# Norwegian: vil den møtes om igjen



## CarlitosMS

Hello everybody
I would like to know the meaning of this sentence:

Context:
Slik er kjærlighetens vei når den møter deg og meg
Først når vi lærer og forstår, vil den møtes om igjen
(I evighet, Elisabeth Andreassen)

Kind regards
Carlos M.S.


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## P2Grafn0l

I have translated it for you, and I hope it is clear:

_Thus is the way of love when it meets you and me, only when we learn/teach and understand, w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶  again._

I am not that sure about _først når_, for I just know that they mean _first_ and _when_ individually, but I think the meaning of the sentence, is clear, nonetheless.


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## myšlenka

CarlitosMS said:


> [...] vil den møtes om igjen





P2Grafn0l said:


> [...]_ will it be met again._


Or rather "it wants to meet again".


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## Svenke

Actually, the text should be like this:

Slik er kjærlighetens vei når den møter deg og meg
Først når vi lærer og forstår, vil den modnes og bli vår


The second line means: 'Only when we learn and understand, it (= the way/road of love) will mature and become ours.'


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## CarlitosMS

But I was actually talking about the live version sung on 18th May 1996 in Oslo.


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## Svenke

I see. But the line "... vil den møtes om igjen" doesn't make much sense. It means 'it will meet each other again'.
The verb _møtes _either needs a plural subject (_De møttes på skolen_ 'They met (each other) at school'), or if the subject is singular, you need to say who he/she met with (_Han møttes med henne på skolen_ 'He met (with) her at school').


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## myšlenka

Svenke said:


> I see. But the line "... vil den møtes om igjen" doesn't make much sense. It means 'it will meet each other again'.


Where is the "each other"-part? 





Svenke said:


> The verb _møtes _either needs a plural subject (_De møttes på skolen_ 'They met (each other) at school'), or if the subject is singular, you need to say who he/she met with (_Han møttes med henne på skolen_ 'He met (with) her at school').


I have no problems with phrases like _Jeg spurte om hun ville møtes og drikke litt vin_ (singular subject).


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## Svenke

I agree that your example is okay. But there is clearly an understood 'with me' there. One person cannot _møtes._
The song version with "vil den møtes om igjen" sounds bad to me.
But assuming that it means 'it (love / love's way) will (wish to) meet (with) you and me again', I guess it's not ungrammatical. Love cannot meet without meeting someone or something.


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## winenous

P2Grafn0l said:


> _Thus is the way of love when it meets you and me, only when we learn/teach and understand, w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶  again._



Can someone explain what is wrong with this translation. It sounds fine to me, but then I am not Norwegian.

I understand phrases like "vi møtes", but cannot "møtes" also be a normal passive verb? So "den vil møtes" means "it will be met" in the same way as "den kan brukes" translates as "it can be used"?


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## raumar

First, I think we should make it clear that "å møte" and "å møtes" are two different verbs. As Svenke has explained, "møtes" means "meet each other". I believe this is called a reciprocal verb (I hope someone can correct me if I am wrong). 

I think the problem with the translation is that the natural Norwegian translation of "It will be met" is "den/det vil bli møtt". "Møtes" as a passive form seems to be unusual in Norwegian,  maybe because it can be confused with the reciprocal verb.

For example: If I read the sentence "Han møtes på flyplassen" (instead of "Han blir møtt på flyplassen"), I would read "møtes" as a reciprocal verb -- not a passive form of "møte" -- and ask "_møtes_ with whom?"


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## winenous

Thanks, raumar, for the explanation. I am still not sure I fully understand, but I know some things just ARE - whether you understand them or not.


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## P2Grafn0l

Du har forklart det helt klart, Raumar.  
Takk, og alle også, tusen takk!


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## winenous

P2Grafn0l said:


> _Thus is the way of love when it meets you and me, only when we learn/teach and understand, w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶ again._





winenous said:


> Can someone explain what is wrong with this translation. It sounds fine to me, but then I am not Norwegian?


I have just been discussing this with my Norwegian wife, and unprompted she came to the same conclusion as me: In English it would translate as "will be met again"

She thought "vil den møtes om igjen" sounds like good Norwegian, but is a bit old-fashioned. It is fair to add that she has lived in England for three decades now, so may not be fully aware how the language has evolved in that time, but remember that song was sung over 20 years ago too.

(Edited for clarity, and to correct some timespans)


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## raumar

Well - I agree with Svenke's post #8: the "vil den møtes om igjen" version may not necessarily be ungrammatical, but it does not sound good - no matter how it is translated. 

We should keep in mind that this seems to be the official version of the lyrics, and presumably what the songwriter wrote: 


Svenke said:


> Slik er kjærlighetens vei når den møter deg og meg
> Først når vi lærer og forstår, vil den modnes og bli vår


This is the version I find at song lyrics websites, and also what she sings in the video that Svenke posted in post #4. (I haven't checked all YouTube versions of the song, though...)

"Vil den modnes og bli vår" makes sense, and it rhymes. The question is where the "vil den møtes om igjen" version came from. We will probably never know the answer, but my guess is that the singer forgot the lyrics in the Eurovision final, and improvised.


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## CarlitosMS

By the way, does the "den" appearing in the lyrics refers to "kjærlighet" or "vei"?


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## raumar

Svenke said:


> Slik er kjærlighetens vei når den møter deg og meg
> Først når vi lærer og forstår, vil den modnes og bli vår



Well, "_den_" could certainly refer to "_kjærlighetens vei_", at least in the first line, but it could also refer to "_kjærligheten_". 

It makes more sense if it refers to "_kjærligheten_", especially in the second line ("_kjærligheten modnes_") but also in the first ("_kjærligheten møter deg og meg_"). 

Anyway, I don't think this distiction matters much, since "_kjærlighetens vei_" may be a poetic way to express "_kjærlighet_". And we can't really expect Eurovision Song Contest lyrics to be logically coherent.


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