"Ønskestjernen"

Når en stjerne faller ned
Er de skjebnens tråd du ser,
Da kan alt bli sant
Som du har håpet på.
Er ditt hjerte fylt av tro
På en drøm du vet er god,
Da vil alt bli sant
Som du har ønsket nå.
Skinner her
Skjebnen vår er en venn
Som våger å stå frem
Med sine drømmer.
Som et lyn fra himlen blå
Er de skjebnens tråd du så
Det du ønsket, tar den fatt
Det vil du få.

From the Norwegian version of Disney's "Pinocchio", sweetly sung by Øivind Blunck as Jimmi Gresshoppe. It's a lovely piece of translation, too, capturing the essence of the song as well as retaining something of the poetry of the lyrics.

Hvor er du fra?

Cath er fra Australia.
Cath is from Australia.

Arne er fra Norge.
Arne is from Norway.

Bob er amerikansk.
Bob is American.

Ryskel er nederlandsk.
Ryskel is Dutch.

Er ikke Alan engelsk? Nei, han er skotsk.
Isn't Alan English? No, he is Scots.

Stéphane er fra Barre-des-Cévennes, sør i Frankrike.
Stéphane is from Barre-des-Cévennes, in the south of France.

Min mor er fra Italia, og min far er norsk.
My mother is from Italy, and my father is Norwegian.

Å holde = To hold (Uke 42)

En gamle 2CV. (Foto: Egil Eriksson)

Å holde is the Verb of the Week. It means "to hold, to keep". Generally, it is a transitive verb, one that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects -- I don't just hold, for instance, I hold the book. Å holde also has an intransitive form, meaning "to suffice". It is also found with prepositions in a number of Norwegian idiomatic uses.

jeg holder = I hold (present tense)
jeg har holdt = I have held (present perfect tense)
jeg holdt = I held (past)
jeg hadde holdt = I had held (past perfect)
jeg vil holde = I will hold (future)
jeg vil ha holdt = I will have held (future perfect)
jeg ville holde = I would hold (present conditional)
jeg ville ha holdt = I would have held (perfect conditional)

hold an = hold on (stop)
hold av = to love, be fond of
hold igjen = to hold back, restrain, keep shut
hold for = to consider to be, take as being
hold med = to agree, side with
hold opp (med) = to cease, stop
hold opp = to hold up, rob
hold til = to live, stay, have lodgings

Bussen kommer. Hold pengene klar.
The bus is coming. Have your money ready.

Bibliotekaren skal holde av boka for meg til i morgen.
The librarian will hold the book for me until tomorrow.

De holdt et møte, men ingenting ble avgjort.
They held a meeting, but nothing was decided.

Hold fast! Veien er humpete.
Hold on! The road is bumpy.

Inversjon = Inversion

In simple sentences in Norwegian, the subject is placed first, as in English:

Det regner i dag.
It is raining today.

Jeg snakker litt norsk.
I speak a little Norwegian.

Kjell skal ski i ettermiddag.
Kjell shall ski this afternoon.

Vi må gå nå.
We must go now.

Han elsket henne.
He loved her.

But if the sentence begins with any part of the predicate -- e.g. an object, a place or time adverb -- the order of subject and verb is inverted. This is also found in English, but not to the same extent as in Norwegian. (Note also that the comma is less frequent in Norwegian than it might be in English.)

I dag regner det.
Today it is raining.

Nå kan jeg snakke litt norsk.
Now I can speak a little Norwegian.

I ettermiddag skal Kjell ski.
In the afternoon, Kjell shall ski.

Nå må vi gå.
Now must we go.

Tydeligvis elsket han henne.
Obviously, he loved her.

Beginning with a verb turns the sentence into a question -- a topic for another post.

Å skje = To happen (Uke 41)

Foto: bcostin.

The Verb of the Week is å skje, "to happen, occur, take place".

det skjer = it happens (present tense)
det skjedde = it happened (past tense)
det har skjedd = it has happened (past participle)

Here are some sentences using å skje --

Hva vil skje hvis jeg trykker på denne knappen?
What will happen if I press this button?

Au! Dette skjer altfor ofte. Jeg må få reparert trinnet.
Ouch! This happens too often. I must get the step fixed.

Hva skjedde etterpå?
What happened then?