- Forum >
- Topic: Norwegian (Bokmål) >
- "Barnet er ei jente."
39 Comments
Because in different dialects the feminine articles and declensions are used in varying degrees.
In some dialects feminine inflection and articles are (or are almost) completely abandoned in favor of common gender (feminine nouns are treated as if they were masculine). In other dialects the feminine forms are used more.
In written language you can also choose whether you want to use the feminine forms or not.
Have a look at this part of the wikibook on norwegian: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Norwegian/Lesson_2#Gender_of_Nouns
All nouns are either M, F or N, and these are just to memorize. In Norwegian Bokmål it's optional to use "en" [M indefinite article] instead of "ei" [F indefinite article]. In Norwegian Nynorsk though, you can't.
I wonder why that is. In other gendered languages, it is absolutely essential that the correct genders are used for nouns. It's certainly an interesting characteristic of the language.
But some languages drop them over time. E.g. Old English had 3 genders, and modern English has none (or one, I guess, in that they are all the same one). Swedish has a few words where both can be used, and it ALSO used to have 3, but now has 2, which means at some point, people were 'misusing' nouns. To me, it's more amazing that genders survive at all. In English, people make WAY more basic errors than that.
English is special, because it's a mishmash of many, very different languages. And no central institution tried to freeze organic development. And I don't mean this as a criticism: it's not only a weakness, but also a strength, adding to its insane beauty :D
It used to be like that when I went to school in the 90s. So if you use the male form on a feminine noun you would get an angry face from me.
745
For a feminine noun, you can choose whether to use the masculine or the feminine article "en or ei". "Jente" is a feminine Norwegian noun, it’s correct to say both "ei jente" and "en jente". This only applies to feminine nouns.
I swear I cannot hear the difference between "barna" and "barnet" as well as "jenta" and "jente" in these listening exercises...
- 477
If you cant hear the difference use context. 'Jente' will almost always have a word like 'ei' or 'noen' or somthing else to show it is indefinite- ei jente/a girl noen jente/any girl. "Ei jenta" would mean "a the girl" sounds as bad in Norwegian as it does in english
I'm remarkably hopeless as hearing the difference between "jente" and "jenta". I would like to be able to hear them back to back but haven't found that option yet.
Jenta is pronounced /jɛntɑ/ while jente is pronounced /jɛntə/.
Also, pay attention to the presence of the indefinite article. If there isn't any, you're dealing with definite singular of that particular noun ( jenta ).
Click here for the IPA guide. Follow these links for Forvo pronunciations ( en jente, jenta ).
P.S. Let's hope this makes you remarkably efficient in differentiating these two. We are here to fight despair with hope!
I can hear it with the female speaking but the male is unlistenable. Sounds like he skips words. Sounds like "Barna er jenta" to me. I don't like having to guess the sentence using the given words just because I can't understand him.
Someone can help me with this, I don't have clear yet when i have to use "jente" or "jenta"
Along with these translations:
- entall - singular
- flertall - plural
- ubestemt - indefinite
- bestemt - definite
So you have to memorize the gender of each noun and there's no way to see which gender it has? Damn, that's exactly like in German and so difficult :/
In contrast to German, however, these articles are fixed. E.g. it's always en and -en, not like in German either ein, einen or einem / der, den or dem. But yes, like most languages with genders, you'll have to memorize it.
I get confused. 'Jente' is feminine or neuter? In other words, when we should use en jente and when ei jente?
The word jente is of feminine gender but can take the masculine indefinite article en as well.
Please refer to @En-tyskr-i-Norge's reply on this page for more info.
I thought that en could be used instead of ei...but maybe I was wrong. I wrote "en jente" but it resulted as an error
In a listening exercise, you have to input what you've heard and not what you usually associate with that particular word (Barnet er ei jente vs. Barnet er en jente) and everything will work smoothly.
In all other cases, en jente and ei jente are equally correct which means the application should accept both variants.
- 320
Twice as I have done this practice session I have chosen "jenta" instead of "jente". Both time it has been marked correct, when I believe that Jenta is not correct here. (it is marked correct without alternate correct translation.) Also, Jente/Jenta doesn't follow the pattern of other nouns like Boy/The boy, etc where the article is added to the end: Gutt/Gutten (is that correct?) Is Jente/Jenta irregular, or did I miss something?? Thanks for your help.
- 88
Jente is feminine, and feminine nouns add an a En gutt / Gutten Et barn / Barnet Ei jente / Jenta So, if I'm not mistaken, since bok is also feminine, in theory if instead of using en bok / boken, using ei bok / boka should be correct. If not, jente is irregular, but i dont think so
I always get confused with the jenta or jente. In what sentence would you change the the end to a or e?
"Jente" is the indefinite singular. Any unspecific girl is "en / ei jente" = "a girl".
"Jenta" is the definite singular. Any specific girl is "jenta" = "the girl".
- "A girl is reading a book" = "Ei jente leser ei bok"
- "The girl is reading a book" = "Jenta leser ei bok"
Female nouns are usually "ei": "Ei jente", "ei bok", "ei flaske". But they can also use the male form "en": "En jente", "en bok", "en flaske". Some Norwegian regions / dialects insist on using the female forms, others don't.
it really sounds like "jenta" not "jente". Is the pronunciation so similar or just the text-to-speech cråp?
I promise I am not following you and telling you what you should hear but TTS is not at fault here either. Look at the graph below to see how close ɑ (open back unrounded vowel) is to ə (mid central vowel).
Although the current match result is 0:2, I'm sure that you'll end up striking those goals as you become more and more surrounded by the language itself and exposed to its sounds. Give your ears time and it will click in your mind. Also, we are always here when people need help.
I continue to have my answers marked as correct went why are not. For example I entered this:
Barne er ei jente.
and it said it was correct but it is not the correct answer listed here. I do report it with the flag. It is time consuming to have to check here every time I get a correct answer to see if it is actually correct. Does anyone one know why there are so many of this kind incorrect responses from Duolingo?
Duolingo ignores minor spelling mistakes and marks the answer as correct, but usually with the hint that you had a typo.
When do we actually use "barnen' and "barnet'? I get confused sometimes because they both mean "the child"?
There is no "barnen". "Barn" is a neuter noun. "A child" = "et barn". Thus the definite form is "barnet" = "The child."
No, they are pronounced very differently. In jenta the a is pronounced like the a in car. In jente the e is pronounced like the e in get.
