De liker å prute.

De can mean two different things in Norwegian, depending on context:

• they
• you in a very formal/polite sense

So De liker å prute. can mean either:

• They like to haggle
• You like to haggle (formal, old-fashioned, or very polite)

In modern everyday Norwegian, the formal you use of De is much less common than it used to be. Most of the time, people just use du for you.

Because De is at the beginning of the sentence, it is capitalized anyway, so you need context to know which meaning is intended.

It is capitalized for one of two possible reasons:

• It is the first word of the sentence, so it must be capitalized.
• In some writing, De with a capital D can also mark the formal/polite you.

That means this sentence is a little ambiguous by itself.

If the word appeared in the middle of a sentence:

• de usually means they
• De may mean formal you

In modern Norwegian, many people avoid De as formal you altogether, so context is very important.

Because liker is the present tense of the verb å like (to like).

So:

• å like = to like
• liker = like / likes

Norwegian verbs do not change according to the subject the way English verbs sometimes do. The same present-tense form is used with all subjects:

• jeg liker = I like
• du liker = you like
• han liker = he likes
• de liker = they like

So liker works for both they like and you like.

å is the infinitive marker, similar to to in English.

So:

• å prute = to haggle
• å like = to like

In De liker å prute, the structure is:

• De = subject
• liker = main verb
• å prute = infinitive phrase, meaning to haggle

This is very similar to English like to haggle.

Å prute means to haggle, to bargain, or to negotiate the price down.

It is used when someone tries to get a lower price for something, especially in markets, informal sales, or situations where prices are negotiable.

Examples:

• Han liker å prute på prisen. = He likes to haggle over the price.
• Kan man prute her? = Can you haggle here?

So the sentence suggests that the person or people enjoy bargaining about prices.

Yes, in this sentence the word order is very close to English:

• De = They / You
• liker = like
• å prute = to haggle

So it follows a simple pattern:

subject + present-tense verb + infinitive phrase

That gives:

De liker å prute. = They like to haggle.

This is one of those cases where Norwegian and English line up quite neatly.

You can form noun-based expressions in Norwegian, but De liker å prute is the most natural and straightforward way to say They like to haggle.

Using the infinitive after liker is very common:

• Jeg liker å lese. = I like to read
• Vi liker å reise. = We like to travel
• De liker å prute. = They like to haggle

A form like pruting would mean something like haggling as a noun, but it is less likely to be the first choice here.

You add ikke after the verb:

• De liker ikke å prute.

That means:

• They do not like to haggle
• or You do not like to haggle (formal)

This is a very useful pattern:

• Jeg liker ikke kaffe. = I do not like coffee
• Hun liker ikke å vente. = She does not like to wait

So the pattern is:

subject + verb + ikke + rest

In Norwegian main questions, the verb usually comes before the subject:

• Liker de å prute?

This means:

• Do they like to haggle?

If you wanted the formal you version, you might write:

• Liker De å prute?

That would mean:

• Do you like to haggle? (formal)

This verb-first pattern is very common in Norwegian yes/no questions.

A rough approximation for an English speaker is:

• De ≈ deh
• liker ≈ LEE-ker or LEE-kər
• å ≈ a long aw/o sound
• prute ≈ PROO-teh

So roughly:

deh LEE-kər aw PROO-teh

A few notes:

• The r in Norwegian is usually clearer than in many English accents.
• The u in prute is not exactly like English oo, but PROO-teh is a helpful approximation.
• Exact pronunciation varies by dialect.

Yes, the sentence itself is grammatically natural.

However, one detail may sound unusual depending on meaning:

• If it means They like to haggle, then this is perfectly ordinary, though many writers would normally write de in lowercase if it were not at the start of the sentence.
• If it means You like to haggle, using De as formal you can sound old-fashioned, very formal, or business-like in modern Norwegian.

In everyday speech, most people would simply say:

• Du liker å prute. = You like to haggle

So the grammar is natural, but the formal you reading is less common today.