Han blir svimmel.

he

Breakdown of Han blir svimmel.

• bli: to become
• svimmel: dizzy

Questions & Answers about Han blir svimmel.

What does blir mean in this sentence?

Blir is the present tense of bli, which often means become or get.

So Han blir svimmel literally means something like He becomes dizzy or more naturally in English He is getting dizzy.

In this sentence, blir shows a change of state:

• he was not dizzy before
• now he is starting to feel dizzy

Why is it blir and not er?

This is a very common question.

• Han er svimmel = He is dizzy
• Han blir svimmel = He becomes / gets dizzy

So:

• er describes a state
• blir describes a change into that state

Compare:

• Han er trøtt = He is tired
• Han blir trøtt = He is getting tired

What kind of word is svimmel?

Svimmel is an adjective. It describes how someone feels: dizzy.

In Han blir svimmel, the adjective comes after the verb and describes han.

This is very similar to English:

• He is dizzy
• He gets dizzy

So svimmel is not a noun or a verb here; it is a describing word.