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Questions & Answers about Jeg ser skjermen.
What does jeg mean in this sentence?
Jeg is the first-person singular pronoun in Norwegian. It simply means I.
What tense is ser, and does it imply a continuous action?
Ser is the present tense of the verb å se (to see). Unlike English, Norwegian doesn’t have a separate continuous form (like “I am seeing”). So ser covers both “I see” and “I am seeing.”
Why is there no preposition equivalent to English “look at”?
In Norwegian, å se already takes a direct object, so you don’t need a preposition: you say Jeg ser skjermen for “I see the screen.” If you specifically want “to look at,” you can use å se på, e.g. Jeg ser på skjermen (I’m looking at the screen).
Why is it skjermen and not just skjerm?
Norwegian marks definiteness with a suffix. The indefinite form is en skjerm (a screen). To say “the screen,” you add -en: skjermen.
What gender is skjerm, and how do I know which article to use?
Skjerm is common gender (formerly masculine/feminine collapsed). Common-gender singular nouns take en as the indefinite article: en skjerm, and -en to form the definite: skjermen.
How would I say “I see a screen” instead?
Use the indefinite article en: Jeg ser en skjerm.
Can I change the word order to emphasize something else?
Yes. The basic order is Subject–Verb–Object (Jeg ser skjermen). If you start with another element, like a time expression, you invert subject and verb: I dag ser jeg skjermen (Today I see the screen).
How do you pronounce skjermen?
Skj is pronounced /ʃ/ (like English “sh”). So skjermen is [ˈʃæːrmən], roughly “SHAIR-men.”
Can I omit jeg in colloquial speech?
Yes, in casual replies you might drop jeg if it’s clear from context. For instance, if someone asks Ser du skjermen? (Do you see the screen?), you can simply answer Ser (I see [it]).
How do you add emphasis to the subject “I” in Norwegian?
You can say Det er jeg som ser skjermen (“It is I who see the screen”) to emphasize that it’s you who sees it and not someone else.