Bergensbanen minutt for minutt

"Ride" the Bergen to Oslo train here at NRK.

Word of the day = Krus (Dagens ord)

IKEA 365+ krus.

The Word of the Day is krus, "mug", en stor kopp til å drikke av.

Kruset is the definite singular ("the mug").

Krus is the indefinite plural ("mugs").

Krusene (or krusa) is the definite plural ("the mugs").

Vel, teknisk det er et krus, ikke en kopp, ikke sant.
Well, technically that's a mug, not a cup, isn't it.

Å bety = To mean (Uke 48)

Å bety, the Verb of the Week, is "to mean, to signify" (thus the noun betydning, "meaning, importance, significance", and the adjectives betydelig, "considerable" and betydningsfull, "meaningful, important"). Bety is often used with the demonstrative pronouns det or dette, "it" or "that", or the interrogative hva, "what?".

Note that this is not quite the same as the verb å mene, "to mean, intend, have in mind".

det betyr = it means (present tense)
det betydde = it meant (past tense)
det har betydd = it has meant (past participle)

Here are a few examples of its use:

Vår betyr at sommeren kommer.
Spring means that summer is coming.

Hva betyr dette røde merket ved siden av navnet mitt?
What does this red mark mean next to my name?

Sangen vil ikke bety mye om du ikke forstår italiensk.
The song will not mean much if you don’t understand Italian.

Det var pinlig! Jeg trodde skiltet betydde "kvinner".
That was embarrassing! I thought the sign meant "women".

Å legge = To lay, place (Uke 47)

The Verb of the Week is å legge, to lay, place, or put.

So what is the difference between "lay" and "lie"?

"To lay" is the infinitive of the transitive verb meaning to make someone or something else prone on a surface. It is transitive because the subject of the sentence is taking action on someone else or something else, i.e. the direct object of the sentence. A direct object is therefore mandatory: "I lay (put) the book on the table" .

"To lie" is the infinitive of the intransitive verb meaning to make oneself prone (to recline) on a surface. The subject of the sentence (the doer, in this case "I") does nothing to anything or anyone else and does not, therefore, require a direct object: "I lie".

It may be helpful to remember that the word "transitive" includes trans- meaning "across" (trans-continental, transport, etc.), which "reaches across" or "transfers the action" from the actor to the acted-upon. "Intransitive" therefore has no action taken.

For "to lie" meaning to tell an untruth, use å lyve.

Here are the conjugations of this irregular verb --

jeg legger = I lay/put (present tense)
jeg har lagt = I have laid/put (present perfect tense)
jeg la = I laid/put (past tense)
jeg hadde lagt = I had laid/put (past perfect tense)
jeg vil legge = I will lay/put (future)
jeg vil ha lagt = I will have laid/put (future perfect)
jeg ville legge = I would lay/put (present conditional)
jeg ville ha lagt = I would have laid/put (perfect conditional)

And here are some examples of its use --

Høna legger egg.
The hen lays eggs.

Hun la ut sine kort og sa «Gin!»
She laid down her cards and said "Gin!"

Etter frokost, la far sin avis og gjorde en kunngjørelse.
After breakfast, father put down his paper and made an announcement.

Nå som våren kommer, må vi legge bort våre ski.
Now that summer is coming, we must put away our skis.

Å møte = To meet (Uke 45)

Filmen "Så møtes vi i morgen" (1946).

This week's verb is å møte, "to meet". It can be either transitive, taking a direct object such as the person or thing that is met, or intransitive -- a group can "møte".

This verb can be used in the s-passive form also: møtes. The passive voice is used when one wishes to emphasize the object or the result of an action, rather than who is doing it. This passive voice can be formed by adding an -s to the infinitive of the verb. It is commonly used after the modal helping verbs -- skal, kan, må, bør.

jeg møter = I meet (present tense)
jeg har møtt = I have met (present perfect tense)
jeg møtte = I met (past tense)
jeg hadde møtt = I had met (past perfect)
jeg vil møte = I will meet (future)
jeg vil ha møtt = I will have met (future perfect)
jeg ville møte = I would meet (present conditional)
jeg ville ha møtt = I would have met (perfect conditional)

Kari og Jan møtte hverandre på jernbanestasjonen. Det var en rørende scene.
Kari and Jan met at the train station. It was a touching scene.

Jeg møtte broren din igår. Han er veldig søt.
I met your brother yesterday. He’s very cute.

Hallvard sa at han ville møte oss i pausen, men jeg kan ikke se ham.
Hallvard said he’d meet us in the interval, but I don’t see him.

Jeg skal ikke gå glipp av denne festen for alt i verden. Jeg ønsker å møte Linns forlovede.
I’m not going to miss this party for anything. I want to meet Linn’s fiancé.