"Sjefene deres liker dem ikke."

Translation: Their bosses do not like them.

[zebmccorkle]

Why is it not "liker ikke dem?"

[Deliciae]

That would be another viable option, with a slightly different connotation.

"De liker ikke dem" = "They don't like them" ...but someone else. The focus is on the object.
"De liker dem ikke" = "They don't like them" ...focus is on either the verb itself or the negation.

[sharonfaye]

I still don't understand. :(

[BlakeNobes]

I'm not a pro... but it seems like the "...liker dem ikke" version is more direct and definitive way of saying it. Where as the "...liker ikke dem" means the same thing but is typically used when you want to add more info after the statement. I could be wrong.

[LilTweetingBird]

Based on Deliciae's response, it sounds like you wouldn't say, "They like not them" unless that's only the beginning of a sentence that would be followed by further clarification. For example, "They like not them, but us." When it's just a complete sentence by itself, it makes more sense to say, "They like them not." What comes to mind for me is the phrase, "He loves me, he loves me not."

[osakawilson]

So we just have to work out from context whether it is 'yours' or 'theirs' when 'deres' appears?

[vildand91]

This is different from English. In Norwegian "deres" is plural, so it refers to a group of people. One person, singular, is specified using "din" or "dine". (If someone wanted to be very archaic, "Deres" could be used when referring to one person.)

[LINHARS]

No not anymore. "Din" and "dine" are never "Deres" except if you are talking to the king.

[Bronzdragon]

Yes, just like how in English, you have to work out from context if you mean one or multiple people with 'you'.

[e-lt]

not being funny but i still get confused when to put ikke after the verb or at the end of the sentence

[Wolfgang9.2]

How do i say "Your bosses don't like them." ? Your as a plural meaning. So that the short form for example "Your bosses don't like the suppliers" the first sentence is.

[Deliciae]

You would use "deres" for both "their" and "your" (plural).

[Wolfgang9.2]

So it's context again, isn't it?
Thank you very much :)

[Deliciae]

Yes, context is key. :)

[Osebrand]

I hope I got this right:

“Their bosses do not like them.” = “Sjefene deres liker dem ikke.”

“Your (pl.) bosses do not like them.” = “Sjefene deres liker dem ikke.”

“Their bosses do not like you (pl.).” = “Sjefene deres liker dere ikke.”

“Your (pl.) bosses do not like you (pl.).” = “Sjefene deres liker dere ikke.”

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/nb/Pronouns/tips-and-notes , https://www.duolingo.com/skill/nb/Possessives/tips-and-notes

[AlatheaAnd]

Why is "Your bosses do not like them" not accepted?

[Bruce-CallMeSoda]

I was just thinking (overthinking?) about this sentence, and I''m thinking that if the sentence had been "They are not liked by their bosses", we would have said "... sjefene sine". I love how the word "sine" avoids the English ambiguity present with "their" (their own bosses, or someone else's bosses?), so I'm a little disappointed :-) in "sjefene deres" here, which is even more ambiguous than English (it is: your bosses? their own bosses? Someone else's bosses?). So I've been wondering if we could say "Sjefene sine liker dem ikke". I realize that here "sine" is referring to "dem" which is later in the sentence, but still, the meaning of "Sjefene sine liker dem ikke" seems clear, so I am wondering if we can say that.