# Norwegian: laptop computer



## Grefsen

Jeg vil skrive følgende setning på norsk:

I want to write the following sentence in Norwegian:

When I travel to Norway this fall I want to bring a _*laptop computer*_ with me. 

Her er mitt forsøk: 

Here is my attempt:

Når jeg reiser til Norge denne høsten, jeg ønsker å bringe en _*bærbar **datamaskin *_med meg.

I wasn't sure what words to use for _"laptop computer,"_ but according to *lexin.no*, _*bærbar **datamaskin*_ means portable computer.


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## cevita

You can say "laptop" or "bærbar datamaskin". Both works fine.

I sometimes say "den bærbare", but mostly I use "laptop":
Jeg tar med meg den bærbare / Jeg tar med meg laptop'en (the laptop).

The grammar in the second part of your sentence is a bit off. 
It should be (...) ønsker jeg å bringe en bærbar datamaskin med meg. I don't know the rules for why, but I guess it has to do with it being a two part sentence.

But "jeg ønsker" is very formal and "bringe" is kinda outdated; we don't really use those words. 

...I was trying to come up with an example of something else, but I am not sure if I understand your sentence in English correctly. When you say you "want to bring a", do you mean you would like to bring it with you, you hope to or you are going to?

This is me kinda nitpicking, because what you wrote is understandable and works just fine (...jeg ønsker å bringe...). It's just that you seem to be real good at Norwegian, so I wanna help you get even better


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## Grefsen

cevita said:


> You can say "laptop" or "bærbar datamaskin". Both works fine.


Tusen takk for ditt raske svar!  



cevita said:


> I sometimes say "den bærbare", but mostly I use "laptop":
> Jeg tar med meg den bærbare / Jeg tar med meg laptop'en (the laptop).


Tusen takk for det!   

I think for my example it would be best for me to use *laptop'en*.


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## Grefsen

cevita said:


> The grammar in the second part of your sentence is a bit off.
> It should be (...) ønsker jeg å bringe en bærbar datamaskin med meg. I don't know the rules for why, but I guess it has to do with it being a two part sentence.
> 
> But "jeg ønsker" is very formal and "bringe" is kinda outdated; we don't really use those words.
> 
> ...I was trying to come up with an example of something else, but I am not sure if I understand your sentence in English correctly. When you say you "want to bring a", do you mean you would like to bring it with you, you hope to or you are going to?


These are very helpful corrections and also good questions you are asking. 

I can see now that my first post could have been a lot clearer.  I'm planning to buy a new laptop during the next month.  Since I don't actually have the laptop yet, I can't be 100% sure that I will be taking one with me. 

However, assuming that I am able to find a reasonably priced laptop that meets my basic needs for this trip to Norway as well as other business trips, I guess I can go ahead and be very positive and write the following* på norsk:*

I am going to take the laptop with me when I travel to Norway this fall. 

Jeg skal ta med meg laptop'en når jeg reiser til Norge denne høsten.


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## basslop

Grefsen said:


> Jeg skal ta med meg laptop'en når jeg reiser til Norge denne høsten.



Sounds good. But *laptop'en*; the *'* before the definite atricle is not correct Norwegian, is it ? Shouldn't it be  *laptopen*? Or is there a special rule for imported words? The kind *laptop-en *flickers in my mind. The more I think about it the more uncertain I become . Could someone with formal knowledge confirm how it should be ?


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## Huffameg

basslop said:


> Sounds good. But *laptop'en*; the *'* before the definite atricle is not correct Norwegian, is it ? Shouldn't it be  *laptopen*? Or is there a special rule for imported words? The kind *laptop-en *flickers in my mind. The more I think about it the more uncertain I become . Could someone with formal knowledge confirm how it should be ?



"Laptop" not being a Norwegian word (yet?) and somewhat verbal I would simply go for another word. "Bærbare" is better.


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## cevita

> the *'* before the definite atricle is not correct Norwegian, is it


According to Norsk Språkråd it should be written "laptop-en". But i have always used the *'*, because I think it looks better!



> "Laptop" not being a Norwegian word


When does someone ever say "jeg skal ta med meg den bærbare datamaskinen min". It is way to long. Most people say "jeg skal ta med meg laptop'en."

Norsk Språkråd is working very hard to make English imported words into the Norwegian language Norwegian. They have a long list at their web site including suggestions to replacement words.
Words like "bayboom" is suggested to be "babybølgebarn", "catwalk" to be "motemolo" etc. 
I don't think anyone will ever use the Norwegian suggestions.

Buth both work, so use the one you'd like


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## basslop

I agree that *(den) bærbare datamaskin(en)* is very long. Maybe that is one reason why* laptop* is preferred. A briefer variant often used is just *bærbare*, at least when implied there is talk about computers: *Jeg kal ta med meg min bærbare*


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## SweetCherry

No one is mentioning bærbar PC as an option? I have heard it many times. 
When it is about English imported words, people usually write laptop*en, *but also laptop*'n*, like they would do in Norwegian, and as for the abbreviations, they use apostrophe (*sms'n*), because it is pronounced in this way, I guess. 
I haven't been seeing laptop*-en* in use, and laptop*'en* is definitely not correct (what is the apostrophe standing for?).
I hope a native speaker can confirm this or correct me, I am just an amateur.


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## Grefsen

Tusen takk til alle for deres forslag. 



SweetCherry said:


> No one is mentioning bærbar PC as an option? I have heard it many times.


This could be important for me to include since at this time I prefer getting a PC laptop instead of a Macbook.  
 


SweetCherry said:


> When it is about English imported words, people usually write laptop*en, *but also laptop*'n*, like they would do in Norwegian, and as for the abbreviations, they use apostrophe (*sms'n*), because it is pronounced in this way, I guess.
> I haven't been seeing laptop*-en* in use, and laptop*'en* is definitely not correct (what is the apostrophe standing for?).
> I hope a native speaker can confirm this or correct me, I am just an amateur.


*Tusen takk for det! *   This is a really helpful explanation. 

Here is the message I would like to post on Facebook:

I am planning to buy a new laptop during the next month and wondered if any of my Facebook friends have advice for me about purchasing a laptop as well as traveling to Norway with one.

Jeg planlegger å kjøpe en ny bærbar PC i løpet av neste måned, og lurte på om noen av mine Facebook-venner har råd til meg om å kjøpe en bærbar PC som reiser til Norge med én.


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## Aleco

Throwing in something at the end 

I never hear "laptop" used around here. Just "bærbar" or "den bærbare" in the definite form. Alternatively just "data". 

ha råd til = afford. So I thought you wanted to write that you want someone to buy one for you!

Jeg planlegger å kjøpe *(*en*)* ny bærbar PC i løpet av neste måned, og lurte på om noen av mine Facebook-venner har *noen forslag angående kjøp av (*en*)* bærbar PC som *jeg kan ta med* til Norge. 

***********************************

*Laptop-en* is the correct word if they use that. But that's since it's not an official word. If it was, it wouldn't need the hyphen. Norwegians tend to overuse apostrophs. Hyphens should always be used when linking foreign words and shortenings with anything *except the genitive s*. 
PC-er, PC-en, Wal Mart-ene, Mærsk-varer, McDonald's-drikke, Mall of Americas handlevogner.

I am not sure about personal names though... If you for some reaosn want to talk about more than one Hansen, I'm not sure if it should be Hansener or Hansen-er though.


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## Cerb

SweetCherry said:


> No one is mentioning bærbar PC as an option? I have heard it many times.
> When it is about English imported words, people usually write laptop*en, *but also laptop*'n*, like they would do in Norwegian, and as for the abbreviations, they use apostrophe (*sms'n*), because it is pronounced in this way, I guess.
> I haven't been seeing laptop*-en* in use, and laptop*'en* is definitely not correct (what is the apostrophe standing for?).
> I hope a native speaker can confirm this or correct me, I am just an amateur.


From what I can gather on Språkrådets site, using a hyphen or not in these cases has to do with how common the borrowed word is. "Laptop" has not made it to the Norwegian dictionaries yet, while words like "pub" and "guide" have and are written without a hyphen when put in other forms ("puben", "guiden" etc). "Laptop-en" does not look good to me, but this probably has to do with how often I use that word. I'd assume most people would write "laptopen" without looking it up and I'm certain that spelling will enter the dictionaries given some time.

Apostrophes are used for possessive in a very limited number of cases, but as a rule not used like you would in English. They're never used for nouns alone unless you want to show a missing letter which again is very uncommon in Norwegian. "Sms'n" and "laptop'n" could be examples of that, but are very far-fetched in my opinion and possibly even wrong. It is used for getting closer to the pronunciation, but it's more of an informal thing. Språkrådet lists examples such as "gla'nyhet" and "fatter'n".


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## SweetCherry

Thank you for your answers, Aleco and Cerb. 
It is obvious that what is gramatically correct does not necessarily be in use. As someone said before, *den bærbare datamaskinen min *is completely correct, but no one ever says it.
That's why no one can ever learn to speak the language relying on books only, if he doesn't want to sound weird.


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## oskhen

Grefsen said:


> as well as traveling to Norway with one.


 
Shouldn't this be "så vel som å reise til Norge med en" or, perhaps better, "så vel som å ta med en til Norge".

Concerning laptop: the words I always use talking about mine is "laptop" or "bærbar pc".

If someone says "datamaskin", it sounds to me like they're either talking about an advanced type of computer that's not a pc, like som kind of supercomputer, or that they're a billion years old and know nothing about computers at all .


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## SweetCherry

oskhen said:


> Shouldn't this be "så vel som å reise til Norge med en" or, perhaps better, "så vel som å ta med en til Norge".
> 
> Concerning laptop: the words I always use talking about mine is "laptop" or "bærbar pc".
> 
> If someone says "datamaskin", it sounds to me like they're either talking about an advanced type of computer that's not a pc, like som kind of supercomputer, or that they're a billion years old and know nothing about computers at all .


 
Are you working in IT sector? 

Grefsen, you want people to *recommend* you a laptop?
And to give you advice about... what? _How to travel to Norway with one_? 
I don't quite understand what you are trying to say, maybe the others don't too, since no one dared to wrote the whole sentence.


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## oskhen

SweetCherry said:


> Are you working in IT sector?
> 
> No, definitely not, so don't take my views on the matter too seriously.
> 
> Grefsen, you want people to *recommend* you a laptop?
> And to give you advice about... what? _How to travel to Norway with one_?
> I don't quite understand what you are trying to say, maybe the others don't too, since no one dared to wrote the whole sentence.
> 
> You may be right


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## Grefsen

SweetCherry said:


> Are you working in IT sector?
> 
> Grefsen, you want people to *recommend* you a laptop?
> And to give you advice about... what? _How to travel to Norway with one_?
> I don't quite understand what you are trying to say, maybe the others don't too, since no one dared to wrote the whole sentence.


My answers to your questions are "yes" and "yes."   I don't know much about buying laptops and have no experience going through airport security with one.  Do I just need a good carrying case for the laptop or are there any other precautions I need to take especially before traveling from California to Norway?  Besides a voltage converter, are there other adaptors I need, or are there any special hardware requirements for a laptop that I purchase in the U.S. in order for it to work properly when I am in Norway?  

Most of my Facebook friends live in Norway, and many of them work in IT and travel regularly outside of their home country with their laptops.  I'm sure that I could get good advice from some of these friends as long as I manage to ask the appropriate questions.  

If anyone has any further questions or even some advice for me, could you please send me an e-mail or a PM.  I'm really learning a lot from this thread and I don't want to see it drift off topic. 

*På forhånd takk for hjelpen. 
*


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