# Norwegian: å dra versus å reise



## vthebee

Hei

I did a search on this forum but couldn't find an answer. I am trying to find the difference in usage between å dra and å reise in Norwegian.
I did a google search and could only find one site, which made reference to the difference. It suggested that å reise is used for long journeys only whereas å dra is used for mainly short journeys (but could also be used for long journeys). E.g. å reise would be used if I was travelling to Paris for my summer holidays (but å dra could also be used), whereas å dra would be used if I was travelling to the bank in town (but å reise could not be used).

Is this understanding correct?

Takk for hjelpen.


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## myšlenka

Å dra - to go
Å reise - to travel

So yes, your understanding is correct.


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## vthebee

Hi thanks for your reply.
Is there any difference between å dra and å gå?

Thanks.


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## myšlenka

Hi,

å gå - to walk (in most cases).

1) Jeg skal dra til London - I will go to London.
2) Jeg skal gå til London - I will walk to London.

So don't get tempted to use "å gå" where you use "to go" in English


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## NorwegianNYC

Å gå in most cases mean "to walk"


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## vthebee

Hi thanks for both replies. I'm glad I asked because I never realised that å gå in most cases is used for 'to walk'. Thanks so much, I understand the basic differences between them now much better.


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## NorwegianNYC

There are - however - certain fixed expressions where "gå" is used either similar to English or the basic meaning is not to walk:

Gå på skole = go to school/attend school
Gå på jobb = go to work
Gå på kino/konsert/teater etc. = go to/attend the movies/concert/theater etc.
Gå på piano/fotball etc. = go to/participate in piano lessons/football etc.
Gå på stønad/trygd etc. = receive welfare/benefits/compensation etc. (akin to "go on the dole")


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## Dan2

1. Suppose my wife and I are home; she sees me put on my coat and walk towards the door.  In English she'd ask, "Where are you going?"  Which Norwegian verb would be most likely in this context?  Would the following be relevant in this case?
a) We live in a small city and walk everywhere we need to go.
b) We live in a rural area and have to use our car whenever we go somewhere.

2. In English my response to the question might be, "I'm going over to Peter's house".  Which would be the most natural Norwegian verb here under each of the assumptions (a) and (b) above?

3. German, like Norwegian, distinguishes between going on foot ("gehen" in German) and going by vehicle ("fahren").  (There are exceptions, as with Norwegian.)  But German often feels the need to clarify that walking is truly meant ("zu Fuß gehen", "laufen") and I get the impression that "å gå" has an even stronger association with walking than "gehen" does.  Do any of the Norwegians here know German well enough to comment on this?  Or consider this English sentence: "He was 10 km away but I knew he badly needed help and I didn't have my car.  So I walked!"  Would "Jeg gikk!" be strongly enough associated with walking to stand by itself in this context as the equivalent of "I walked!"?

4. (Perhaps now wandering off-topic.)  Does Swedish "åka" correspond well to any single Norwegian "go" verb or is the relationship between the "go" verbs in the two languages complicated?

Thanks in advance!


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## NorwegianNYC

Hi Dan,

1) The question would be: "Hvor skal du?
2) the reply (in both cases) would be: "Jeg skal bort til Peter"
3) Yes, "jeg gikk" would suffice. When it comes to walking to the store (gå til butikken) and driving, Norwegians tend to used "dra til butikken" instead of (like German) specifying the means of transportation. To "dra til Bergen" (by plane), "dra til Moss" (by train), "dra til byen" (by subway, tram, buss, car, bicycle, boat) is contextual.
4) As far as I know, but I'll let the Swedes chip in here.


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## AutumnOwl

Dan2 said:


> 4. (Perhaps now wandering off-topic.)  Does Swedish "åka" correspond well to any single Norwegian "go" verb or is the relationship between the "go" verbs in the two languages complicated?


The Swedish "åka" corresponds somewhat with _"å dra"_, meaning to go (_åka till London, åka till jobbet_ - go to work (by car, bus), _åka bort över helgen_ - go away for the weekend. We also use "dra", perhaps a loan fro Norwegian(?), _jag ska dra till London över helgen _- I will go to London for the weekend; _det är dags att dra sig hemåt_ - it's time (for oneself) to go home.

Att gå usually means walk somewhere, but as in Norwegian there are fixed expressions:


NorwegianNYC said:


> There are - however - certain fixed  expressions where "gå" is used either similar to English or the basic  meaning is not to walk:
> 
> Gå på skole = go to school/attend school - gå i skola (attend school), gå till skolan - go (leave for) school (regardless of method of transportation)
> Gå på jobb = go to work - gå till jobbet (regardless of method of transportation)
> Gå på kino/konsert/teater etc. = go to/attend the movies/concert/theater etc. - gå på bio/konsert/teater
> Gå på piano/fotball etc. = go to/participate in piano lessons/football etc. - gå och spela piano / gå och spela fotboll (gå på fotboll means go and watch a football match, gå på piano would be _"walk on a/the piano"_)
> Gå på stønad/trygd etc. = receive welfare/benefits/compensation etc. (akin to "go on the dole") - it's possible to say "gå på understöd" but it sounds a bit odd in Swedish, "gå till socialen" - _go and apply for money for welfare from the social security system_ is more common



_"Att resa"_ corresponds with the Norwegian _"att reise"_, to travel, but we also have "att fara (bort)" for to travel, it can sound a bit old-fashioned, but it's possible to say _"Han ska fara till Indien i morgon"_ - He's going to travel to India tomorrow, and there is also the expression _"att fara bort över helgen"_ - to travel away for the weekend, meaning I won't be at home for the weekend.


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## myšlenka

Dan2 said:


> 1. Suppose my wife and I are home; she sees me put on my coat and walk towards the door.  In English she'd ask, "Where are you going?"  Which Norwegian verb would be most likely in this context?  Would the following be relevant in this case?
> a) We live in a small city and walk everywhere we need to go.
> b) We live in a rural area and have to use our car whenever we go somewhere.
> 
> 2. In English my response to the question might be, "I'm going over to Peter's house".  Which would be the most natural Norwegian verb here under each of the assumptions (a) and (b) above?



As NorwegianNYC already has shown in his translation, verbs of motion can be omitted when we have a modal verb (skulle/måtte/ville). In fact, I would consider your case 1) as a case where it's obligatory to omit the verb.


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