Questions & Answers about Anna kommer fra Bergen.
Why is it kommer fra and not just er fra?
Both are possible.
- Anna kommer fra Bergen literally means Anna comes from Bergen.
- In everyday English, that is often translated more naturally as Anna is from Bergen.
In Norwegian, komme fra is a very common way to talk about someone’s place of origin.
You can also say:
- Anna er fra Bergen = Anna is from Bergen
The difference is small here. In many contexts, they mean almost the same thing.
What does kommer mean here?
Kommer is the present tense of å komme, which usually means to come.
So:
- å komme = to come
- kommer = come/comes
In this sentence, it is part of the expression komme fra, which means to come from or to be from.
Why doesn’t the verb change for Anna? Shouldn’t it be different for I, you, or they?
No. In Norwegian, verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way they do in English.
English:
- I come
- she comes
Norwegian:
- jeg kommer
- du kommer
- Anna kommer
- de kommer
So kommer stays the same no matter who the subject is.