# Norwegian: Det her er lettere



## kissthis

What does this mean:  Det her er lettere


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## Tommeliten

It means "this is easier" or more accurate "just this is easier". "Her" refers to something spesific, you could also say "dette er lettere".


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## mezzoforte

So why isn't it "Dette her...."  I thought you either say "Det der" or "Dette her"...


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## kissthis

Thank you so much! I couldn't figure that out for the life of me. <Mod note: text about new topic deleted/moved to new thread: Norwegian: I am so happy to have met you...>


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## aaspraak

mezzoforte said:


> So why isn't it "Dette her...."  I thought you either say "Det der" or "Dette her"...



I usually say *det* or *dette*. If I want to emphasize the thing I refer to, I may say *det der* or *dette her*. 

_Det her_ or _dette der_ doesn't work because the use of *det* implies that the thing is some distance away and the use of *dette* implies something close to the person saying the word.


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## Tommeliten

aaspraak said:


> I usually say *det* or *dette*. If I want to emphasize the thing I refer to, I may say *det der* or *dette her*.
> 
> _Det her_ or _dette der_ doesn't work because the use of *det* implies that the thing is some distance away and the use of *dette* implies something close to the person saying the word.


 
The formal grammar will probably support aaspraak's point of view. But in my colloquial (just north of Oslo) it's quite common to say "det her" Ex: "det her går bare ikke" (it just doesn't work). And to vulgarize the sentence even more "det herre her går bare ikke", an expression which is quite commen in my colloquial.......though I wouldn't even consider to write it!!!


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## mezzoforte

cool... so what does that mean?  What do you mean by "herre"?


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## Tommeliten

"herre" is an adverbial without any semantic significance. Refering to something close you might say "det *herre* her". Refering to something further away: "det *derre* der."
If you are familiar with norwegian rock you may have heard about det group *Di Derre. *"Di" is probably a verbal transcription of "de" and may be translated to "those over there".


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## xjm

The Minnesotan dialect of English has an almost identical construction: "this here" and "that there" are used to make "this" or "that" more specific/emphatic.  I'm betting it's an exact calque.  Could you also say "Det der bok er..." for "That (specific/emphasized) book is..."?


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## Cerb

"Den der/derre boka er" is what you're looking for. It's colloquial, but quite common. "This here" is "den her" if I got it right. Actually sounds better to me in Norwegian if it means the same thing  
If it's possible to say something like "You know this here book?" it should fit the bill.

"Den" and "derre" are interchangeable or can be used together with "derre" first. Same goes for "her" and "herre". To really make a mess you could say something like "Den herre her boka". The correct way of saying this is simply "denne boka". 

Unless der/her acts as subject it's really superfluous in these kinds of sentences and derre/herre is under any circumstance of course. You also need to be very wary of noun classes as these expressions can get very confusing without the proper article (den or det). "Det herre her" suggests something abstract (like a situation), while "den herre her" means "this thing here". I wouldn't recommend using any of this unless you're very comfortable speaking Norwegian however and I don't think anyone would ever write it.

Hope at least some of this was less confusing than I usually make it out to be  Colloquial Norwegian can be as confusing as it gets tough..


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## mezzoforte

But you would say "det herre her" for a neuter noun, right?


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## Cerb

mezzoforte said:


> But you would say "det herre her" for a neuter noun, right?


Yes, I actually edited it out as the sentence was getting too long and forgot to put it back in somewhere


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## mezzoforte

I guess you have to be careful using this expression in church...


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## Tech12

mezzoforte said:


> I guess you have to be careful using this expression in church...



Hehe. Fortunately the tones of those two words are different.


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## mezzoforte

Tech12 said:


> Hehe. Fortunately the tones of those two words are different.



in what way?


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## Pteppic

mezzoforte said:


> in what way?



*Herre* as in "Det herre her" is tone 1, *herre* as in "lord" is tone 2.


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## xjm

Pteppic said:


> *Herre* as in "Det herre her" is tone 1, *herre* as in "lord" is tone 2.


 
So, if one is a beginning speaker and does not have good tone, it would probably be best to avoid using the word with the wrong tone and sounding blasphemous?


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## Tommeliten

Herre, Father, has tone 2, herre, as in "det herre her", has tone 1.


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## Tommeliten

xjm said:


> So, if one is a beginning speaker and does not have good tone, it would probably be best to avoid using the word with the wrong tone and sounding blasphemous?


 No, honestly I think the Lord will forgive you if you are mixing the tones (you better consult a priest to be more sure...).....and anyway, there are dialects in the south-west that do not have tones but traditionally a close relationship to the Church......


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## vestfoldlilja

xjm said:


> So, if one is a beginning speaker and does not have good tone, it would probably be best to avoid using the word with the wrong tone and sounding blasphemous?




The context will most likely make people understand what you mean, and being blasphemous is pretty much not a thing here. 

Words taking God’s name in vain and different words naming the devil are by most considered to be mild  curse words these days, as oppose to earlier times when religion had a much stronger hold and influence on society and daily life. Many of them are used commonly in daily speech.


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## mezzoforte

vestfoldlilja said:


> The context will most likely make people understand what you mean, and being blasphemous is pretty much not a thing here.
> 
> Words taking God’s name in vain and different words naming the devil are by most considered to be mild  curse words these days, as oppose to earlier times when religion had a much stronger hold and influence on society and daily life. Many of them are used commonly in daily speech.



This is true for French, but they are also religious.


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## aaspraak

Tommeliten said:


> The formal grammar will probably support aaspraak's point of view. But in my colloquial (just north of Oslo) it's quite common to say "det her" Ex: "det her går bare ikke" (it just doesn't work). And to vulgarize the sentence even more "det herre her går bare ikke", an expression which is quite commen in my colloquial.......though I wouldn't even consider to write it!!!



I obviously didn't think of all uses when I wrote. I too could say "*det her*" in some cases. I don't think there are much difference between "*det her går berre ikkje*" and "*dette går berre ikkje*".

I still think "*dette der*" sounds strange.


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