Så vidt vi skjønner, har motstanderlaget tapt.

to have

Breakdown of Så vidt vi skjønner, har motstanderlaget tapt.

• vi: we
• tape: to lose
• skjønne: to understand; get

Questions & Answers about Så vidt vi skjønner, har motstanderlaget tapt.

What does så vidt mean in this sentence?

Here så vidt means something like as far as or to the best of our understanding. It is used to show that the speaker is not claiming complete certainty.

A very common pattern in Norwegian is:

• Så vidt jeg vet = as far as I know
• Så vidt jeg kan se = as far as I can see
• Så vidt vi skjønner = as far as we understand / as far as we can tell

So it adds a cautious, limited point of view.

Why is it har motstanderlaget tapt and not motstanderlaget har tapt?

This is because Norwegian follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

The sentence starts with Så vidt vi skjønner, which takes the first slot. Because of that, the finite verb har must come next:

• Så vidt vi skjønner, har motstanderlaget tapt.

If you removed that opening part, you would get the more basic word order:

• Motstanderlaget har tapt.

So the inversion is completely normal.

What is skjønner?