Norwegian: Er det <sånn> at vi kan kjøre med deg hjem?

[Jeg heter Anderson]

In this sentence, I didn't understand the use of "sånn", could someone help me?

Er det sånn at vi kan kjøre med deg hjem?

Takk

 

[basslop]

This is typical informal spoken language. In English it means something like: Is it so that we c ... or maybe there is a better way to express the informality in English.

 

[serbianfan]

In more formal language, it could be "Is it the case that..." but we don't actually say that. UK speakers might say something like: "So does that mean you'll drive us home?" or if the "hjem" refers to the driver's home: "So you'll take us to your house then?"

 

[basslop]

In more formal language, it could be "Is it the case that..." but we don't actually say that. UK speakers might say something like: "So does that mean you'll drive us home?" or if the "hjem" refers to the driver's home: "So you'll take us to your house then?"

You understood my question even though it was cut off . I typed it on a tiny screen with an unfamiliar keyboard so I did not notice that some of it was left out . What I meant to write was: .... Is it so that we can drive home with you? ... I realize now this is "Norwenglish".

 

[serbianfan]

Sometimes expressions that are not really English (e.g. Norwenglish) can be useful for the learner, as long as you make it clear that English people don't normally use them. It may be that "Is it so that..." is a common way of saying things in Portuguese, which would make it easier to understand for "Anderson". You can certainly say "Es así que..." in Spanish, which means the same.

 

[winenous]

Maybe it helps to know that constructions in Norwegian often use "at", so there are also expressions such as "Jeg liker at vi kan oppleve stillheten". That too has a word-for-word translation into English, which is rather stilted, but understandable and arguably correct.

I like that (sic) the construction is so direct in Norwegian