# Norwegian: å duge (verb)



## sjiraff

Hello, I have a quesiton regarding the verb "å duge".

So far I have only ever really seen it used as a way of saying "make do" (Such as, _teip fikk duge for å sperre lekkasjen_ - tape 'made do' to block the leak)

But in the dictionary I also saw this: *Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det?*

And I'm wondering if anyone knows what this means exactly, and how _duge _should be used.

Many thanks.


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## NorwegianNYC

DUGE = fit, be fit for, avail, be helpful, be of use, useful


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## NorwegianNYC

The word is related to English 'deed'


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## sjiraff

NorwegianNYC said:


> DUGE = fit, be fit for, avail, be helpful, be of use, useful



Hmm, so is "Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det?" like saying, "hvorfor skulle jeg klare det?" ? Even then it seems kind of odd, is the person asking why they would be of use for something?

Thanks!


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## NorwegianNYC

sjiraff said:


> Hmm, so is "Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det?" like saying, "hvorfor skulle jeg klare det?" ? Even then it seems kind of odd, is the person asking why they would be of use for something?
> 
> Thanks!


No. _Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det_ means "In what way would I be useful in that regard".
_Hvorfor skulle jeg klare det_ means "How would I be able to do/manage that"


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## sjiraff

NorwegianNYC said:


> No. _Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det_ means "In what way would I be useful in that regard".
> _Hvorfor skulle jeg klare det_ means "How would I be able to do/manage that"


Hmm, you mean "*Hvordan *skulle jeg klare det" would mean "How would I be able to" right? I was a bit thrown off because the quote uses "hvorfor" and made me question more how "Duge" is used.

So, is "duge" in that sense different from its usage in things such as "Denne maskinen får duge inntil videre" (This machine will have to do for now, quoted from Ultralingua dictionary) ?

Thanks!


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## NorwegianNYC

Well, 





sjiraff said:


> This machine will have to do for now


 is also This machine will have to be of use for now/This machine will have to do the job for now/This machine will have to do the trick for now. And this is the exact same meaning of "duge" as in "Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det?" = How would I be able to be useful/do the job/be of use for this?


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## raumar

Sjiraff, the reason why you have problems with "duge" might be that this word appears together with the modal auxiliary "få" in your examples. The combination means something different from "duge" alone. 

Han duger for dette arbeidet - He is fit for this job. 
Han får duge for dette arbeidet - He will have to do for this job. 

By the way, another possible translation of "Hvorfor skulle jeg duge til det?" is "Why do you think I would be useful/fit for this?"


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## sjiraff

Thanks Raumar! I wasn't quite sure on what the meaning of the word was, sometimes it can be hard to get a proper grip even from dictionary definitions of how a word is used. Kind of similar to "å ha det som skal til" I guess too.

Thank you!


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## NorwegianNYC

"Å ha det som skal til" is similar, but then you lose the option of having adverbs attached (duge bra, duge dårlig)


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## sjiraff

NorwegianNYC said:


> "Å ha det som skal til" is similar, but then you lose the option of having adverbs attached (duge bra, duge dårlig)



Ahh yeah good point actually, i'm assuming om noen duger dårlig for noe it means they're "illsuited" for it?


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## NorwegianNYC

I would say so - yes


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