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Questions & Answers about De møter paven.
What does De mean here, and why is it capitalized?
Here De is the old-fashioned, formal way to say you in Norwegian.
The capital D matters:
- De = formal you
- de = they
So this sentence is not using the ordinary modern pronoun. In most present-day Norwegian, people would normally say:
- Du møter paven = You meet the pope / You are meeting the pope (one person)
- Dere møter paven = You meet the pope / You are meeting the pope (more than one person)
Using De today sounds very formal, old-fashioned, or literary.
Could De møter paven also mean They meet the pope?
Not with this capitalization.
- De møter paven = formal You meet the pope
- de møter paven = They meet the pope
In writing, the capital letter tells you which meaning is intended. In speech, you cannot hear capitalization, so context would have to make it clear. In modern spoken Norwegian, though, formal De is so uncommon that people would usually assume de = they unless the situation is very formal or old-fashioned.
What form is møter?