Breakdown of I resepsjonen spør vakten om noen har mistet en kvittering.
Questions & Answers about I resepsjonen spør vakten om noen har mistet en kvittering.
Norwegian uses i for enclosed spaces (“inside the reception area”), whereas på often marks surfaces or broader locations.
- i resepsjonen literally “in the reception (desk/area)”
- på hotellet would be “at the hotel.”
You could hear på resepsjonen in informal speech, but i resepsjonen is the most idiomatic when you mean “at the reception desk.”
Resepsjonen (with the -en ending) is the definite form of resepsjon and means “the reception desk/area.”
- A receptionist (the person) is called resepsjonist.
- Resepsjon by itself is “reception,” and resepsjonen is “the reception desk/area.”
The verb spørre in Norwegian follows the pattern:
spørre + person + om + question/thing
- spør vakten om noen har mistet en kvittering = “ask the guard if someone has lost a receipt”
You cannot use for here. If you wanted to ask for something directly (not ask if/whether), you might say spør vakten etter (e.g. “ask the guard for a pen”).
In this sentence, om introduces an indirect yes/no question and means “if” or “whether.”
English: “They ask the guard if anyone has lost a receipt.”
In Norwegian subordinate clauses (those introduced by om, at, fordi, etc.), the finite verb follows the subject. This is different from main clauses, which use V2 word order.
- Subordinate: om noen har mistet en kvittering (S-V)
- Main clause example: Har noen mistet en kvittering? (V-S)
As an indefinite pronoun, noen can mean “somebody,” “someone,” or “anyone,” depending on context. In a question like this it usually translates as “anyone.”
English: “They ask the guard if anyone has lost a receipt.”
Norwegian, like English, uses the present perfect (har + past participle) to signal a past action with present relevance. Here it describes someone having lost a receipt (and presumably it’s still missing).
- har mistet = have/has lost (perfect)
- mistet = lost (simple past)
Using har mistet focuses on the current state (a receipt is missing).