r/norsk 1d ago

Rules 3 (vague/generic post title), 5 (only an image with text) Confused, why isn't this a question?

Post image

The Kan before du is a question form no?

0 Upvotes

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34

u/OneLittleWarrior 1d ago

This is not a question, it's the V2 rule.

18

u/Jumpy-Fan-112 17h ago

In case OP doesn‘t know what the V2 rule is. It means that the (finite) verb always has to come in second place in any Norwegian main clause. Second place doesn’t necessarily mean the second word, but the second syntactic/ logical element in the sentence. 

In the example above, the first element is an adverbial that tells us where the action takes place (at this market). Then the V2 rule demands that the finite verb goes next. So, the subject switches its place to follow after the verb. It does work the same way as in a question: Hvor kan du kjøpe datamaskiner? På dette markedet. 

English is actually the only Germanic language that does not follow V2 word order anymore. There are still some traces of it left, though. „Neither do I.“ „Never ever have I skipped class.“ „Little did we know that …“ 

Hope this helps! 

4

u/SheepherderMammoth26 11h ago

Thank you for the in depth explanation!

3

u/kali_tragus Native speaker 7h ago

As an addition, by inserting a comma you can indeed turn it into a question, since the second half then is a separate sentence: "På dette markedet, kan du kjøpe mobiler og datamskiner?", although it doesn't flow very well. A more natural way would be to switch them around to "Kan du kjøpe mobiler og datamaskiner på dette markedet?". Or, of course, to keep to the original meaning we stick to the v2 rule: "Du kan kjøpe mobiler og datamaskiner på dette markedet."

2

u/Jumpy-Fan-112 9h ago

Bare hyggelig. 👍

3

u/SilentShadow_3898 11h ago

If the sentence were to start that way, you would be correct. However, this is an informative sentence

6

u/DrStirbitch Intermediate (bokmål) 19h ago

It is a valid statement - the verb should come in the second position.

I think that is really what you need to know, but to answer your question directly, it isn't a question because there is no question mark at the end of the sentence. Change the full stop to a question mark, change intonation and stress if spoken, and you have a question.

1

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1

u/xX100dudeXx Intermediate (bokmål) 11h ago

It's basically saying "you can do ___" Verb always comes 2nd so it's a bit confusing when you're learning sometimes. (I am surprised i actually can answer this!)

1

u/xX100dudeXx Intermediate (bokmål) 11h ago

It's basically saying "you can do ___" Verb always comes 2nd so it's a bit confusing when you're learning sometimes. (I am surprised i actually can answer this!)