Breakdown of Medisinen virker umiddelbart, og pasientens feber forsvinner.
og
and
umiddelbart
immediately
medisinen
the medicine
virke
to work
pasientens
patient’s
feberen
the fever
forsvinne
to disappear
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Questions & Answers about Medisinen virker umiddelbart, og pasientens feber forsvinner.
What does virker mean in this context?
Virker is the present tense of the verb å virke, which here means “to work” or “to take effect.” In other words, Medisinen virker umiddelbart means “The medicine takes effect immediately.”
What part of speech is umiddelbart, and why is it placed after virker rather than at the beginning?
Umiddelbart is an adverb meaning “immediately.” In Norwegian main clauses, adverbs of time, manner and place normally follow the finite verb. If you move umiddelbart to the front for emphasis, you must invert subject and verb:
“Umiddelbart virker medisinen, og pasientens feber forsvinner.”
Is the comma before og required when connecting two main clauses?
No, it’s not strictly required. In Norwegian, commas before coordinating conjunctions like og are optional. Writers often include it for clarity when both clauses are relatively long or complex, but in shorter, simpler sentences you can omit it.
What does forsvinner mean, and what tense is it?
Forsvinner is the present tense of å forsvinne, which means “to disappear.” So pasientens feber forsvinner translates as “the patient’s fever disappears.”
Why is there no object in pasientens feber forsvinner?
Because forsvinne is intransitive in this use—the thing that disappears is the subject itself. Here feber (the fever) does the “disappearing,” so there’s no direct object.
Why use pasientens feber instead of just feberen?
Pasientens feber literally means “the patient’s fever,” which specifies whose fever it is. Saying feberen alone would be “the fever” without indicating ownership.
Why is there no preposition after virker, such as på in virker på feberen?
When virke means “take effect,” it’s used intransitively (no object, no preposition). If you say virke på noe, it means “to influence something,” not “to take effect.”
Are there synonyms for umiddelbart that are less formal?
Yes. Common colloquial alternatives include:
- straks (“right away”)
- med en gang (“at once”)