Questions & Answers about Jeg ringer sjefen direkte.
What does the verb ringer mean, and how is it related to ringe?
Ringer is the present‐tense, first‐person singular form of the verb ringe, which means “to call” (as in making a phone call). In Norwegian, you conjugate ringe in the present by adding -r:
– jeg ringer (I call / I am calling)
– du ringer (you call)
– han/hun ringer (he/she calls)
Why is sjefen definite, and why isn’t there an English article?
In Norwegian you typically mark definiteness by adding a suffix to the noun. Sjef means “boss,” and sjefen means “the boss.” You don’t need an extra word for “the.” In English you’d say “I’m calling the boss,” but in Norwegian the -en ending on sjef already conveys “the.”
Why is there no indefinite article (“a boss”) in this sentence?
Because sjefen is in the definite form (“the boss”). If you meant “a boss,” you would say en sjef. For example:
– Jeg ringer en sjef. (I’m calling a boss.)
What part of speech is direkte here, and where can it go in the sentence?