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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Dette utgjør forskjellen. - This constitutes the difference.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Baking a sourdough loaf with a friend
/Dette utgjør forskjellen.

Dette utgjør forskjellen.

Dette utgjør forskjellen.

This constitutes the difference.

Breakdown of Dette utgjør forskjellen.

to make up; constitute

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Questions & Answers about Dette utgjør forskjellen.

What does utgjør mean here?

Utgjør is the present tense of utgjøre. It often means:

to constitute
to make up
to amount to

So Dette utgjør forskjellen means something like This constitutes the difference or This is what makes the difference.

Why is it dette and not denne?

Dette is used for:

this when it stands on its own as a pronoun
this with a neuter noun

In this sentence, dette stands alone, so dette is correct.

Compare:

Dette er viktig. = This is important.
Denne bilen er dyr. = This car is expensive.

So here, dette means this as an independent word, not directly attached to a noun.

Why is forskjellen in the definite form?

Forskjellen means the difference.

The noun is:

en forskjell = a difference
forskjellen = the difference

Norwegian often uses the definite form where English also uses the, especially when referring to a specific difference already understood from context.

In many cases, utgjør forskjellen is very natural Norwegian for makes the difference.

Is the word order special here?

No, this is standard Norwegian word order:

Dette = subject
utgjør = verb
forskjellen = object

So it follows the normal pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

This is very similar to English word order in a simple statement.

Could I also say Dette er forskjellen?

Yes, but it means something different.

Dette er forskjellen = This is the difference
Dette utgjør forskjellen = This constitutes the difference / This is what makes the difference

So er identifies something, while utgjør expresses that something is what creates or forms the difference.

Why isn’t there a separate word for makes?

Because utgjør already carries that meaning.

English often uses a phrase like make up or make the difference, but Norwegian can express that idea with the single verb utgjøre.

So:

utgjøre forskjellen = make the difference
utgjøre en stor del = make up a large part

What is the infinitive form of utgjør?

The infinitive is utgjøre.

A few forms are:

å utgjøre = to constitute / to make up
utgjør = constitutes / makes up
utgjorde = constituted / made up
har utgjort = has constituted / has made up

How do you pronounce Dette utgjør forskjellen?

A rough guide for an English speaker is:

Dette ≈ DET-teh
utgjør ≈ OOT-yur or OOT-gyur, depending on accent
forskjellen ≈ for-SHEL-len

A few notes:

gjør has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English.
The tt in dette is pronounced clearly.
skj in forskjellen sounds like sh.

Pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that should give you a useful starting point.

Can dette mean something other than this?

Yes. Depending on context, dette can sometimes be translated as:

this
these
it
this matter / this thing

For example:

Dette er sant. = This is true.
Jeg liker dette. = I like this.

So in real translation, you should focus on what sounds natural in English, not only on matching each word one by one.

Is this a common or natural sentence in Norwegian?

Yes, it is natural, especially in more formal, explanatory, or written language.

It sounds a little more formal than everyday alternatives such as:

Dette gjør forskjellen. = This makes the difference.
Det er dette som gjør forskjellen. = This is what makes the difference.

So utgjør is correct and natural, but slightly more formal or abstract than gjør.

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