# Norwegian: Congratulating new grandparents



## Grefsen

What are some of the different ways one can congratulate someone på norsk on recently becoming a grandmother?  I know you can keep it very short and simple and use "Gratulerer som bestemor," but what are some other examples?  

I thought I would add too that the person I know in Norway who just became a grandmother is in her mid 40's and this is the first time she has ever been a grandmother.   Would something like the following be appropriate?

Gratulerer som nybakt 1.gangs bestemor.

På forhånd takk!


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## oskhen

First, I would have written "førstegangs", not 1.gangs. But it seems a bit superfluous when you already have "nybakt". I admit that I'm not completely sure, but in my mind you're more or less saying the same thing twice. Just "Gratulerer som nybakt bestemor" is very idiomatic, though. "Gratulerer som førstegangs bestemor" less so, but it looks fine to me.

I can't really think of other suggestions at the moment.


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## Tjahzi

Shouldn't _førstegangsbestemor _be written as one word? I very much agree about it being too long to be really idiomatic though!


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## oskhen

Tjahzi said:


> Shouldn't _førstegangsbestemor _be written as one word?



Yes, that's probably better. I think one could get away with both, though.


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## Grefsen

oskhen said:


> First, I would have written "førstegangs", not 1.gangs. But it seems a bit superfluous when you already have "nybakt". I admit that I'm not completely sure, but in my mind you're more or less  saying the same thing twice.


I thought that _nybakt_ was used to mean that the grandchild had just been born recently and that _førstegangs_ could also be used as well because it was the first grandchild for this person.


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## mnl

_Nerd alert - feel free to skip this comment:
_


oskhen said:


> ... I think "førstegangs" could stand as an independent adjective.



Though I can't really speak for Norwegian, in Danish that ending "s" would be either a "fuge-s" (translates to something like a "joining s", no idea if it has a real English name) or a genitive marker/suffix.

The problem in that case is, if the word is independent (and hence not joined,) you can't have a "joining s" there, sort of by definition.

On the other hand, if that "s" is seen as a genitive marker, the word can't be an adjective, as adjectives don't take genitive markers [1]. 

Hence, if this reasoning stands, it has to be written as one word. Or is it too simplistic?

[1] When used as adjectives, that is. When used as nouns, they can: "De små har taget de stores bold". Please correct me if I am wrong on this.


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## basslop

Grefsen said:


> I thought that _nybakt_ was used to mean that the grandchild had just been born recently and that _førstegangs_ could also be used as well because it was the first grandchild for this person.



I agree more with Grefsen than Oskhen here


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## hanne

mnl said:


> Though I can't really speak for Norwegian, in Danish that ending "s" would be either a "fuge-s" (translates to something like a "joining s", no idea if it has a real English name) or a genitive marker/suffix.



I'm not sure it's a fuge-s. I'm not saying it isn't, I'm just saying that I'm not sure . I've been around here too long, and seen too many reasons for putting letters in particular places, that nothing surprises me anymore. So there could be some other reason for that s being there.
How about "førsteklasses hotel"? I'm still not saying that "førstegangs bedstemor" is a valid concept, I don't think it is, but I haven't seen an argument that convinced me yet.

And then I agree more with oskhen than with Grefsen and basslop here, that "nybagt" means that the person has become something they weren't before - like a parent or a grandparent. Someone who just had her second child isn't a "nybagt mor" in my book.


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## oskhen

hanne said:


> Someone who just had her second child isn't a "nybagt mor" in my book.



I suppose it's superfluous that I write this, but I agree


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## vestfoldlilja

To me _nybakt_ seems like an odd word to use for someone becoming parents/grandparents for the second time. You are only a _nybakt_ parent/grandparent after the first child.

_Førstegangs_ is a word I mostly connect with mothers who are in the process of giving birth. The phrase _førstegangsfødende_ is commonly used about women who are carrying or delivering their first child, or who have recently done so. 

A grandparent might say “jeg har blitt bestemor for første gang”, but to me _førstegangsbestemor_ sounds strange. 

You can just remove _bakt_ from _ny_ and then the sentence works just as well regardless of how many grandchildren she has. 

Gratulerer som nybakt bestemor or just gratulerer som (ny)bestemor works fine and are commonly used.


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