Filler words in Norwegian
Can’t learn a language without fillers!
altså - “well…” or “so…”
It’s often used to enhance confidence, whether it’s strong or weak.
Altså, mamma sa at jeg får lov til å gjøre det.. / Well, mum said I’m allowed to do it..
vel - “well”, can be used in the same way as in English. You can also combine it with altså:
Vel, altså, her er planen… / Well, so, here is the plan…
liksom - the Norwegian equivalent to “like” - use it everywhere! It can also be used to enhance sarcasm.
Har du liksom tenkt å gå med det der? / Are you seriously like, going to wear that thing?
da - this literally means then, but we often use it to end sentences, especially if we’re saying something that another person might want to argue with. And since it means ‘then’, you can also use it in the same way as in English.
Jeg skulle jo liksom bare prøve den på, da. / I was just going to like, try it on.
ehh / øhh - uhh, uhm. Super useful.
på en måte - “in a way” or “kind of”.
Han er litt merkelig, på en måte. / He’s a little strange, kind of.
bare - “just”
Jeg skal bare innom butikken. / I’m just gonna pop by the store.
ikke sant? - translates to “not true”, but is used for saying “right?” “don’t you agree?”.
Around Bergen, people usually drop the “ikke” and just say “sant”. I’m from Bergen so I didn’t know that not everyone says this until I googled it lol.
skjønner du / skjø’ - used at the end of sentences in the same way as “you see” in English. It comes from the word “å skjønne”, which means to understand, to realize or to “get it”. “Skjø’” is not really used in the southern regions, but if you’re around Trøndelag, you’ll hear this a lot. In other regions one would say “skjønner du”.
Han er lærer, skjø’/skjønner du. / He is a teacher, you see.
Feel free to ask me questions about these or request more specific fillers!
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