# Norwegian: Basic phrases



## SaritaSarang

hello,
well im a norwegian girl but i was born in the u.s and brought up speaking
english and spanish, but no norwegian. it stopped being taught in my family at my mom and her siblings, and my grandma died so i have no one in my family who speaks it here in the u.s. I would like to learn the language someday, but for now would just like to know some basic words/phrases like how are you and yes and etc.. when i learn a new lanuage i start with the very basics like this, so if anyone here knows any, please let me know!  
Also, im not quite sure if Norwegian is written using a different alphabet than English, but if it is, i have no idea how to read it, so if you post any words could you please write them in english letters? thanks!!!


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## jimreilly

I think your post belongs in Other languages, not Slavic language, as Norwegian is not a Slavic language! It is a Germanic language, like English is, and is very close to Danish and Swedish. Icelandic is also very much like medieval Norwegian was.

Hvordan går det, sarita? That means "How are you doing?" (more literally, "how goes it?").

Norwegian uses our alphabet plus a few more letters:
æ, pronounced much like the "a" in "sat"
å, pronounced like some "o"'s; in the old spelling of                   Norwegian it used to be spelled "aa" (as in går above)
ø  in the same family as the German "ö"

You can find lots of websites about Norwegian if you do a Google search. Good luck! And shame on them for not teaching you some Norwegian when you were little....


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## elroy

Hei./Hallo. = Hello.
God morgen. = Good morning.
God dag. = Good day.
God kveld. = Good evening.
God natt. = Good night.
Ha det./Ha det bra./Ha det godt./Morna./Adjø. = Goodbye./Take care.
Hvordan går det?/Hvordan har du det?/Hvordan står det til? = How are you?/How's it going?
Takk, bare bra. = Fine, thanks.
Takk, ganske bra. = I'm ok, thanks.
Takk, ikke så verst. = Not bad, thanks.
Takk, sånn passe. = It's going all right, thanks.
Dårlig. = Bad.
Jeg heter X. = My name is X.
Hva heter du? = What is your name?
Jeg er fra X. = I am from X.
Hvor kommer du fra? = Where are you from?
Hva gjør du? = What do you do?
Jeg studerer. = I study.
Jeg er student. = I am a student.
Jeg arbeider. = I work.
Jeg er lærer. = I am a teacher.

Pronunciation peculiarities:
*The final "d" in "god" is not pronounced.
*The final "t" in "det" is not pronounced.
*"Gjør" is pronounced kind of like "your" in English. 
*"Er" is pronounced like "are" in English.
*"Jeg" is pronounced "yahy."
*The "h" in "hvordan," "hvor," and "hva" is not pronounced. 

That should get you started. If you have specific words/phrases that you'd like translated, let us know and we'll try to help you out. All the best!


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## SaritaSarang

thank you *elroy*! this is very helpful!  as for *jimreilly*, i didnt know that norwegian wasnt a slavic language, im very sorry for this mistake. as for your comment about not teaching me when i was little, my grandmother died when i was only a few months old, her being the only one who spoke it here in america.  though i really wish i had learned it, i suppose that i should be thankful i was brought up speaking two of the united states most useful languages, english and spanish.


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## jimreilly

My apologies, Sarita, I made the unwarranted assumption that your household was like mine, where the language of two of my grandparents was deliberately not taught. I'm sorry! Best of luck in your studies--


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## Gremli Skremli

I´m Norwegian and can help you if you have any questions.


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## gisele73

I can also help you if there's anything you need to know. I'm Peruvian living in Norway, and I'm fluent in English too, being Spanish my native language.
As for Norwegian, like the others said, it is not a Slavic language, it is Germanic, Scandinavian (probably you got confused between Slavic and Scandinavian).

Ha det bra!


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## Christhiane

I'm another Norwegian willing to help. =)


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Hey guys!

I'm Venezuelan, and willing to _receive_ help!  I hope the mods allow me to post this here (please, please!  ).

I don't know a single word of Norwegian, nor I have the slightest idea of its pronounciation or grammar, but it's never too late, right? 

I just wonder if you could help me figure out the right pronounciation of those basic phrases that elroy posted. My mother-in-law (who doesn't speak English at all) is currently working for a Norwegian woman (who doesn't speak Spanish), so we kind of need a hand with her boss' native tongue... 

Could you please help us? I just want to know how to pronounce those words (I'm a Spanish-English teacher, so you can use any of those languages as a reference).

Oh, and PM's are welcome, too. 

Thanks in advance, guys!

Venezuelan_sweetie.


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## Grefsen

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> I'm Venezuelan, and willing to _receive_ help!  I hope the mods allow me to post this here (please, please!  ).
> 
> I don't know a single word of Norwegian, nor I have the slightest idea of its pronounciation or grammar, but it's never too late, right?
> 
> I just wonder if you could help me figure out the right pronounciation of those basic phrases that elroy posted. My mother-in-law (who doesn't speak English at all) is currently working for a Norwegian woman (who doesn't speak Spanish), so we kind of need a hand with her boss' native tongue...



Hola VS!    Too bad that your mother-in-law doesn't speak English because most Norwegians under the age of about 65 are either fluent or at least conversational in English.  

In any event, I'm a Norwegian-American who is also a student of Norwegian and probably not the best source for help with Norwegian pronounciation, but since you were so kind and helped me  with "espanol" when I was new to this site, I can at least start out with a couple of the basics and hopefully a native Norwegian speaker can add to the list for you.  

God morgen *(goo-mawrn')* = Good morning
God dag  *(goo-dog')*= Good day

I'm wondering too if someone knows of a link to a site that can give us some more help with Norwegian pronounciation.  

Now I need to get ready for another fun day of work.  

Saludos!


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Thanks, Grefsen!  That's very nice of you.  

As I said, I truly appreciate any help, darling, no matter how small you think it is.





Grefsen said:


> I'm wondering too if someone knows of a link to a site that can give us some more help with Norwegian pronounciation.


As a matter of fact, I think there is someone.  Let me find out about it and I'll post it here (or send you a PM instead).

Regards,
VS.


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## cherine

Hello guys,

If you look at the resources sticky in this forum, you'll find a post dedicated to Norwegian. I hope you'll find it interesting.

I'm closing this thread because it's a bit too vague, and invite whoever's interested in Norwegian to open new thread*s* with more precise questions. After all, we can't learn a language in one thread, can we?


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