# Norwegian: Bare bra/fint



## jinmin1988

> --Hvordan har du det?
> --Bare bra/fint, takk.


 
Does "Bare bra/fint" means "Very well" or "It's just OK"? Which is closer?


Thanks a lot.


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## kirsitn

That depends on how honest the person saying it wishes to be in the given situation. When talking to someone you don't know very well it could really mean more or less anything since most Norwegians tend to answer in a polite "everything is fine" kind of way to other people than close friends.


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## Dan2

Since "bare" means "only", I think jenmin's question is: does "bare bra" mean "only _good_, not great, not wonderful"?  Or, does it mean "only good" in a _positive _sense: "nothing but good, no bad".  I think it's a positive statement, but let's hear from a native speaker.

(In English, if I said a film was "only good", that would not be a very positive evaluation.)


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## Cerb

You're right Dan2. "Nothing but good" is a good description of "bare bra". It's really only used for responding to people asking you how you are. "Fint"

As a sidenote, Norwegians don't use "how are you" as a phrase to the same extent as in english speaking countries. While we do have the phrase "hvordan går det?", people might start elaborating if you ask them


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## Klatremus

To elaborate somewhat on the previous replies; this is how I use "bare bra". I think I only use it to answer "Hvordan går det"/"Står til?"
1. If it is someone I don't know very well and/or don't want to go into too much how I am. Many norwegians will say "Bare bra" even if things are not so OK, only with (close) friends will they say something else than "Bare bra".

2. To my friends if there is nothing special (worth mentioning) going on (quite like "ca va"/"ca va bien" in french, I think).

3. I think it can be used to mean "Very well" as well, but personally I do not use it like that. So I don't think you should always assume that all is well/nothing but good, when someone replies "Bare bra" to your "Hvordan går det?"

"Bare fint" is not a phrase I use, but "Fint" (= good) is used to answer "Hvordan går det?" (and in many other contexts). One would usually not say "Fint" if it is not good, but like Kirsitn said: 


> When talking to someone you don't know very well it could really mean more or less anything since most Norwegians tend to answer in a polite "everything is fine" kind of way to other people than close friends.


And a "Fint"/"Bare bra" answer to you "Hvordan går det" can also mean: "I don't want to talk about it".


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## Cerb

Klatremus said:


> "Bare fint" is not a phrase I use, but "Fint" (= good) is used to answer "Hvordan går det?" (and in many other contexts). One would usually not say "Fint" if it is not good, but like Kirsitn said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When talking to someone you don't know very well it could really mean more or less anything since most Norwegians tend to answer in a polite "everything is fine" kind of way to other people than close friends.
Click to expand...

I'd argue you'll see this to a much larger extent in English. The proper response in English is to simply say "I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" or similar. It's not an invitation to start talking about how you are.

It is used in the same manner in Norwegian as well of course and "takk, bare bra" is a common and polite response. It's just not quite as insitutionalised.


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## jinmin1988

Thank you for your replies. I wonder if "Hvordan går det"/"Står til?" is more popluar than "Hvordan har du det?" in Norwegian now?


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## kirsitn

jinmin1988 said:


> Thank you for your replies. I wonder if "Hvordan går det"/"Står til?" is more popluar than "Hvordan har du det?" in Norwegian now?



Definitely yes. Hvordan går det? is a general, polite question where the person being asked may choose the "depth" of the response depending on the situation, whereas Hvordan har du det? seems more intimate and is not something I would normally say unless I knew the person quite well.


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## louisjanus

I've also heard "Går det?"

And "Hvordan står det til?" sounds very text bookish


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## Tech12

louisjanus said:


> I've also heard "Går det?"



I've never heard this.



> And "Hvordan står det til?" sounds very text bookish


Agreed.


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