"Vil du være så snill å danse med meg?"
Translation:Will you please dance with me?
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sometimes this system wants the exact translation, word for word, and sometimes not... I entered "do you want to dance with me pleast ?" (yes there's a typo in "please" >_<) but "do you want" is in red... why is it not accepted ?
'Do you want to' is a neutral question that shows no clear bias towards any possible reply. You're genuinely asking someone what they themselves actually want.
And 'please' (the literal translation of 'være så snill' is 'be so kind') is a marker of an offer - meaning, you display clear bias towards the positive reply, and if the person you're asking refuse to dance with you, they know you'll be disappointed.
This means that you generally don't want to use both at the same time. Putting 'please' into a 'do you want to' question makes it sound disingenuous. It's like you're threatening someone under the guise of an innocent enquiry.
So, with this conundrum in mind, since there is no way to misinterpret the 'være så snill' part of the original sentence, the expected conclusion is that we're supposed to resolve the ambiguity by translating 'vil du' as 'will you' and not as 'do you want to'.
Is this what you would usually say when asking for a dance? The exact translation is pretty verbose.
You can think of the phrase "Vil du være så snill å.." as the same as the english phrase "would you be so kind as to.."
In normal Norwegian conversation there is no substitute for a simple "please" as is used often in English, but you could insert this phrase if you really want to try and convince someone to do something for you, like washing the dishes, or in this case asking for a dance.
You'd only ever use this if you were trying to be formal/courteous or if you were a parent talking to a child.
So if I'm getting this right, in Norway I just walk up to a woman and go "DANSE WITH ME". Got it :P
Informally you'd say "Vil du danse med meg?" or "Skal vi danse?"
You still ask, there is just no 'please'.
To be fair, I don't think you 'd say "Please dance with me" in English, either. Too much like begging!
From experience with a lot of Skandinavian dancers (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish) the most common would be "Skal vi danse" (as the English equivalent "would you like to dance"). Though sometimes a smile and a short nod to the dance floor is efficient enough ;-)
'Would you be so kind to dance with me?' accepted. That is pretty formal indeed. I love it.
Why is "være så snill" used here instead of "vær så snill"? When is each one used?
"(å) være (så snill)" is the infinitive. It's used because of the "vil du" in front of it. After verbs like "kan" and "vil" (I think they are modal verbs, correct me if I'm wrong) you always have to use the infinitive form. "vær så snill", on the other hand, is the imperative form. The sentence "Vær så snill og dans med meg." has two imperatives and is a somewhat more direct approach to the same request.
Isn't it like 'Won't you be so kind and dance with me?' I mean does this meaning can be accepted too?
as far as I get it "vil" is "to want something" or "will" and "skal" is more like "shall" or "should" In this case: vil du være = will you be (though I feel in English you would rather use "would" here???) or: vil du danse (med meg)? = do you want to dance (with me) skal vi danse (sammen) = shall we dance (together). Though I'd always be careful with these modal verbs because they can be verye false friends. ;-)
