Breakdown of Jeg vil klatre til toppen av fjellet.
jeg
I
til
to
av
of
vil
want
klatre
to climb
fjellet
the mountain
toppen
the top
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Questions & Answers about Jeg vil klatre til toppen av fjellet.
What does vil mean in this sentence, and how does it compare to English?
vil is the present tense of the modal verb å ville, which in modern Norwegian most often means “want to.” Although it historically relates to English “will,” here you should translate Jeg vil klatre as “I want to climb.”
Why isn’t there an å before klatre in Jeg vil klatre til toppen av fjellet?
In Norwegian, when a modal verb (like vil, kan, må, skal) is followed by another verb, you drop å before the infinitive. So it’s vil klatre rather than vil å klatre.
Why is til used before toppen, instead of saying på toppen?
til indicates movement toward a goal (“to the top”). Once you’ve reached it, you’d say på toppen (“on the top”). Here you haven’t arrived yet—you’re aiming toward the summit.
What does av mean in til toppen av fjellet, and why isn’t it på fjellet?
av often translates as “of” in possessive or partitive constructions. toppen av fjellet literally means “the top of the mountain.” If you said på fjellet, that would mean “on the mountain” rather than “of the mountain.”
Why is it toppen instead of just topp?
toppen is the definite form of topp (“top”). In Norwegian you usually form the definite by adding a suffix: for masculine/feminine nouns ending in a consonant you add -en, so topp + -en = toppen (“the top”).
Why is fjellet used rather than fjell?
Likewise, fjellet is the definite form of fjell (“mountain”). Neuter nouns form the definite by adding -et, so fjell + -et = fjellet (“the mountain”).
Can I say Jeg vil til toppen av fjellet klatre? Why is the order vil klatre til toppen?
Norwegian follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) pattern, and modal verbs stay in second position. After vil, the infinitive klatre and then its complement til toppen av fjellet follow. Placing til toppen av fjellet before klatre would break the usual word order and sound unnatural.
How do I pronounce fjell/fjellet, and why is there a double l?
fjell is pronounced [fjɛl] (“fyell”). The double l indicates the preceding vowel is short. fjellet is [ˈfjɛlːət], with the suffix -et making it definite and lengthening the ll sound slightly before the -et ending.
Can I use ønsker å klatre instead of vil klatre, and what’s the difference?
Yes, ønsker å klatre (“wish to climb”) is grammatically correct but more formal or polite. Jeg vil klatre is everyday, less formal, and means “I want to climb.”