Questions & Answers about Ingen kan jukse.
What does ingen mean here?
Ingen means no one / nobody in this sentence.
So Ingen kan jukse means No one can cheat or Nobody can cheat.
A useful thing to remember is that ingen can also mean no / none in other contexts, depending on what it refers to.
Examples:
- Ingen kom. = Nobody came.
- Jeg har ingen penger. = I have no money.
In your sentence, ingen stands alone as the subject, so it means no one.
Why is the verb kan in second position?
Norwegian main clauses usually follow the V2 rule (verb second), which means the finite verb comes in the second position.
In Ingen kan jukse:
- Ingen = subject
- kan = finite verb
- jukse = main verb
So the structure is:
- Subject + finite verb + infinitive
This is completely normal Norwegian word order.
What exactly does kan mean here?
Kan is the present tense of kunne, and here it means can / is able to.
So:
- kan = can
- kunne = to be able to / can (dictionary form)
Examples:
- Jeg kan svømme. = I can swim.
- Hun kan ikke komme. = She cannot come.
In Ingen kan jukse, kan shows ability or possibility.
Why is it jukse and not å jukse?
Because after a modal verb like kan, Norwegian normally uses the bare infinitive—that is, the infinitive without å.
So:
- kan jukse = can cheat not
- kan å jukse ✗
This is similar to English:
- can cheat not
- can to cheat
Other modal verbs work the same way:
Is jukse the infinitive form?
Yes. Jukse is the infinitive form, meaning to cheat.
Its forms are:
- å jukse = to cheat
- jukser = cheats / is cheating
- jukset = cheated / has cheated
In your sentence, it appears after kan, so it stays in the bare infinitive form:
- Ingen kan jukse.
Does jukse mean the same as English cheat in every situation?
Often yes, but it most commonly means cheat in the sense of:
- cheating on a test
- cheating in a game
- breaking rules unfairly
Examples:
- Han jukset på prøven. = He cheated on the test.
- Du kan ikke jukse i dette spillet. = You can't cheat in this game.
Depending on context, English cheat can also mean things like be unfaithful, and Norwegian may use other expressions for that. So jukse overlaps a lot with English cheat, but not always perfectly in every context.
Is ingen singular or plural? Why is it kan?
In sentences like this, ingen behaves grammatically like a singular subject, so the verb is singular:
- Ingen kan jukse.
Norwegian present-tense verbs do not change much by person or number anyway, so kan is the same form no matter who the subject is:
- Jeg kan
- du kan
- han kan
- vi kan
- ingen kan
So you do not need to worry about a special plural verb form here.
How would you negate this sentence? Can I say Ingen kan ikke jukse?
Normally, no—Ingen kan ikke jukse is not the natural way to say it.
That creates a kind of double negative problem. Since ingen already means no one, you usually do not add ikke unless you are saying something very specific and contrastive.
Natural forms are:
- Ingen kan jukse. = No one can cheat.
- Noen kan ikke jukse. = Some people cannot cheat.
- Ikke alle kan jukse. = Not everyone can cheat.
So if the idea is simply nobody can cheat, Ingen kan jukse is already complete.
How is Ingen kan jukse pronounced?
Could I also say Ingen kan bedra instead of Ingen kan jukse?
Not usually if you mean cheat in the sense of breaking rules in a game, test, or competition.
- jukse = cheat, fudge, break rules unfairly
- bedra often means deceive or, in some contexts, commit fraud or be unfaithful
So:
- Ingen kan jukse. = No one can cheat.
is the natural choice for games, exams, rules, and similar situations.
Is this a general statement, or can it refer to a specific situation?
It can be either, depending on context.
It might mean a general truth:
- Ingen kan jukse i lengden. = No one can cheat in the long run.
Or it can refer to a specific situation:
- In a secure online test system: Ingen kan jukse. = No one can cheat.
Without context, it sounds like a broad statement: Nobody can cheat.
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