Questions & Answers about Vi går inn i salen.
Why is går used here? Does it literally mean walk?
Går is the present tense of å gå, which often means to walk or to go.
In this sentence, går can be understood as go/are going, depending on context. Norwegian often uses å gå in places where English would simply say go. So even if the literal image is walking in, the natural meaning may just be we go in or we are going in.
Context decides whether it feels more like:
- We walk into the hall
- We go into the hall
- We are going into the hall
Why are there two direction words: inn and i?
They do different jobs.
- inn = in / inward / into, showing movement inward
- i = in / into, introducing the place
So går inn i salen is literally something like:
- go in into the hall
That may sound repetitive in English, but it is normal in Norwegian. The combination inn i is very common when talking about movement into something.
Compare:
- Vi er i salen = We are in the hall
- Vi går inn i salen = We go into the hall
The first is location; the second is movement.
Could you say Vi går i salen instead?