Month: April 2010

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Comparatives and Superlatives

This was a resource I could not find anywhere else. List of Adjectives and their compartive and superlatives.

Comparitives and superlatives are words used to compare things and show which are “more” of or “the most” of something. For example:

ADJECTIVE COMPARITIVE SUPERLATIVE
English cold colder coldest
Norsk kald kaldere kaldest

Which looks nice and simple and used in sentences is nice and simple; for this word.

  • I am cold
  • He is colder
  • She is coldest
  • She is colder than me.

In Norwegian that is:

  • Jeg er kald
  • Han er kaldere.
  • Hun er kaldest
  • Hun er kaldere enn meg.

Where it gets interesting is the same place it gets intersting in english. Where not all words follow the pattern above of adding ere and est to the adjective to form the compartive and superlative forms. For example:

ADJECTIVE COMPARITIVE SUPERLATIVE
English good better best
Norsk god bedre best
English practical more practical most practical
Norsk praktisk mer praktisk mest praktisk

I thought there must be a list of these somewhere, but I looked in my text book and asked my teacher for a list and looked online and have not found one. So I have been collecting them as I come across them and making a full list I can refer to when I get stuck. People in clas have asked for copies of this so I thought I would put it up here for you too.

ADJECTIVE COMPARITIVE SUPERLATIVE English
absolutt mer absolutt mest absolutt absolute
alvorlig mer alvorlig / alvorligere mest alvorlig / alvorligst serious, earnest
bakkete mer bakkete mest bakkete hilly
bekymringsverdig mer bekymringsverdig mest bekymringsverdig –
blakk blakkere blakkest pale, broke, penniless
blek blekere blekest pale
bra bedre best good, fine
få færre Færrest few
fin finere finest fine, choice
gammel eldre eldst old
gjerne heller helst gladly
god bedre best good
grønn grønnere grønnest green
ille verre verst bad
interessant mer interessant mest interessant interesting
kald kaldere kaldest cold
kaotisk mer kaotisk mest kaotisk chaotic
lang langre lengre lengst long (distance)
lenge lenger lengst long (time)
lett lettere lettest light (weight)
levende mer levende mest levende living
mange flere flest many
morsom morsommere morsomst funny
mye mer mest more
opprørsk mer opprørsk mest opprørsk rebellious
nye nyere nyeste new
pen penere penest pretty
praktisk mer praktisk mest praktisk pratical
snill snillere snillest kind
stor større størst big
tung tyngre tyngst heavy
ung yngre yngst young
vond verre verst painful
øverst top, upper, highest

This list is not everything. If you know some that are not here please let me know, and I will add them.

Remember to match the adjective with the gender of the noun it is describing.

I hope this list is as much help to you as it has been to me and my classmates.

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Spring

I love seasons and spring and autumn are my favourites so its so wonderful to see so many signs spring is coming around. Today is my father´s birthday so I thought I would document the day and the signs spring is a-coming.

This is the back yard currently, the sun is shining bright and the snow is melting.
Snow melting back from the house, midwinter snow was covering windowsill and our cute little splant
Love the bright blue sky behind the budding blossoms. Even though snow is still onthe ground these trees believe sring is coming.
See snow on the ground and trees are sure spring is coming. Good to see these signs.
This rock face was covered in snow only a few weeks back.
Road had hard winter
This road has had a hard winter, potholes all along it
A steady flow of water is flowing over this rock as the sun melts the snow
I love the way the bright sun today just makes this evergreen so vivid.
I am kinda waiting for the rose bushes to decide spring is coming too. At the moment they are kinda beautiful in their stark thorniness.
Their bright red hips are what helps them look beautiful, even though they have been damaged by the ravages of winter.
Here is the valley below, odd to me that the snow clings to the valley floor, I am used to it clinging to the high places.

It´s a beautiful day today, got very warm out on walk even in mid-lengthed sleeves. Norway is a country for those who love seeing the seasons change as the changes are so dramatic, and wonderful.

Happy birthday Dad!

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Think

An english dictionary says that think means:

    transitive verb thought, thinking think′·ing
    to form or have in the mind; conceive thinking good thoughts
    to hold in one’s opinion; judge; consider many think her charming
    to believe; surmise; expect they think they can come
    to determine, resolve, work out, etc. by reasoning think what your next move should be
    NOW RARE to purpose; intend thinking to do right
    to bring to mind; form an idea of think what the future holds
    to recall; recollect think what joy was ours
    to have the mind turned steadily toward; have constantly in mind think success
    Etymology: < ME thenchen, to think, confused with thinchen, to seem < OE thencan < PGmc *thankjan, to think: for IE base see thank intransitive verb
    to use the mind for arriving at conclusions, making decisions, drawing inferences, etc.; reflect; reason learn to think
    to have an opinion, belief, expectation, etc. I just think so
    to weigh something mentally; reflect think before you act
    to call to mind; recall; remember: with of or about
    to have an opinion, judgment, etc.: with of or about
    to allow oneself to consider: with of or about
    to have regard for; consider the welfare of: with of or about
    to discover or invent; conceive (of)

Which is an awful lot for one word.

In Norwegian there are 3 words I have learnt for for think:

    – synes
    – tror
    – tenke

My teacher says that even at the stage of taking the Bergen test some people stumble on when to use these words. So its important to get them straight.

Bearing in mind that I am still a student myself, these words mean:

Synes

This means think as in to have a personal opinion about something, as in:

    I think the Mona Lisa is overrated.
    I think this is the best steak I have ever eaten.
    I think she looks Scandinavian.

These are all personal opinions and no one can refute what you think as it´s what you think. They can respond with what they think, as they may love the Mona Lisa ie they have a different personal opinion.

Examples in norwegian:

    Jeg syns et bilde er dårlig.
    I Storbritannia synes de maten fra det asiatiske landet er så god at indisk curry er adoptert som den uoffisielle nasjonalretten!
    Hvilket land synes du lager best talenter i fotballen?

So if its not a fact or factual but is your opinion you can use synes.

Tror

Tror means think as when you are unsure of something but you think it will turn out true. It is sometimes shown in dictionaries as believe to indicate this. Examples of the use of think this way:

    I think it is going to rain tomorrow.
    I think she will come in the morning.
    Do you think the All Blacks will in the Web Ellis Cup next time?

You cannot use this to say ´I think it rained here yesterday´ unless you were not here or not aware of the weather for some reason or other. I am presuming you could use tror if you had been in a coma woke up and thought the grass was greener so it must have rained or something. But you can´t use it when something is a fact and you know.

Examples in norwegian:

    Flertallet av nordmenn tror været vil bli mer ekstremt fremover.
    De tror Gud kommer fra Amerika.
    Dere fotballfolk er så selvgode at dere tror fotball er alt her i livet, og at ALLE må være interessert i det.

So you use tror when you believe or make and educated guess about something.

Tenke

Tenke is when you are thinking to yourself in your head (pondering) or when you intend to do something. For example:

    Why won´t you answer me? I am just thinking it over first.
    I think a lot about world pollution, and it worries me.

    I am thinking of going to university next year.
    I think I will fix the car tomorrow.

Examples in norwegian:

    Skaff deg informasjon, innsyn og innsikt til å tenke selv!
    Vi må tenke positive tanker om fremtiden.
    Det du tenker på, blir virkelighet.

    Jeg kan tenke meg å undervise i spansk.
    Vi tenker 65.000 tanker om dagen.

So tenke is more about what is going on in your head, to me.

Conclusion

So there we have it. Three words that in english you can just say think for but in norwegian are more specific. Of course there are specific words in english too, just important to get these straight in norwegian I am told.

My advice is to now go talk to your teacher, or a norwegian and try out some examples of your own and make sure you have the distinctions right and I have not mislead you, remember, I am still learning too.