"He blow-dries his hair."

Translation: Han føner håret.

[Alathat]

Hvorfor er "Han føner håret sitt" ikke riktig?

[alek_d]

Det er det og vi godtar det nå.

[UtkarshSyng]

Why not 'hans hår'?

[Matsukasa]

It would imply that the subject(=he) is blowing someone elses hair. Technically it is not wrong, as the English sentence is ambiguous, but it would not mean the same:
Han føner håret (sitt).He blow-dries his (own) hair.
Han føner hans hår/håret hans. He blow-dries his (someone else's) hair.

[UtkarshSyng]

Hmm, now I remember that bit from the earlier lessons. Thanks!

[AngharadHafod]

So Han føner håret sitt would be OK but the sitt is not needed in Norwegian (unlike the his in English)?

[alek_d]

Yeah, we assume that the hair is his own.

[effyleven]

How do we say "dries"... as distinct from "blow-dries?"

[zpHi3R]

Tørker? Føner is specifically blow drying.

[Randi643747]

Question because Norwegian and German sometimes have similar constructions and idioms: Could you use "føne" as a reflexive verb, ie say "Han føner seg"? Would that be weird, or would people think that he's blow-drying his entire body, or would it be understood that he's just drying his hair?