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De ansatte svarer ja, men de vil slutte klokken fire.

De ansatte svarer ja, men de vil slutte klokken fire.
The employees answer yes, but they want to stop at four o’clock.
FromLesson 9inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of De ansatte svarer ja, men de vil slutte klokken fire.

men
but
de
they
ville
to want
svare
to answer
ansatt
the employee
ja
yes
slutte
to stop
klokken fire
four o'clock

Questions & Answers about De ansatte svarer ja, men de vil slutte klokken fire.

What does de ansatte mean, and why is ansatte used as a noun here?

De ansatte literally means the employed ones — in plain English, the employees. In Norwegian, adjectives like ansatt (employed) can function as nouns when you add de for the plural:
• de ansatte = those who are employed = the employees

Why is svarer ja used here instead of sier ja, and how does that work grammatically?

Norwegians use both svare – to answer/respond – and si – to say – with ja/nei. svarer ja emphasizes responding with yes. Grammatically, ja is the direct object, so you follow the usual Subject–Verb–Object order:
De ansatte (S) – svarer (V) – ja (O)

What does vil slutte mean in this context? Does vil express future tense or a desire?
Here, vil expresses desire or intention — want to. So vil slutte means want to finish/stop. If you need a pure future sense, you could say skal slutte or kommer til å slutte.
Why isn’t there an å before slutte in vil slutte?
After a modal verb like vil, Norwegian drops the infinitive marker å. You say vil slutte, not vil å slutte.
Why does the sentence use klokken fire at the end, and why isn’t there a preposition like om?

Time expressions often follow this pattern in Norwegian:
• klokken fire = at four o’clock (no preposition needed)
Putting it at the end is normal for adverbials of time.
If you add om, you change the meaning to a duration:
• om fire timer = in four hours

Could we drop klokken and simply say De ansatte vil slutte fire or use om fire instead?

Dropping klokken and saying slutte fire sounds unnatural and may lead to confusion. If you say om fire, you mean in four hours, not at four o’clock.
Right options:
• slutte klokken fire
• slutte kl. 16 (less formal)

Why is there a comma before men?
Like in English, Norwegian often uses a comma before the conjunction men (but) to separate two independent clauses. It isn’t strictly mandatory, but it’s standard.
How would you turn De ansatte svarer ja, men de vil slutte klokken fire into questions?

Invert the verb and subject in each clause:
• Svarer de ansatte ja? – Do the employees answer yes?
• Vil de ansatte slutte klokken fire? – Will the employees finish at four?

Can slutte be replaced by synonyms like stoppe or avslutte?

Yes. Common alternatives:
• stoppe – to cease an activity
• avslutte – to conclude or to wrap up
However, slutte is the most natural choice when talking about finishing work.

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