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Anna vet ikke om kinoen tar kontanter eller bare kort.

Anna vet ikke om kinoen tar kontanter eller bare kort.
Anna does not know whether the cinema takes cash or only card.
FromLesson 18inHardcore Norwegian
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More from this lesson

lystenJeg mister lysten til å arbeide uten kaffe.kinoenJeg har lyst til å gå på kino i kveld.omegentligha lyst til åJeg har lyst til å drikke te i kveld.

Questions & Answers about Anna vet ikke om kinoen tar kontanter eller bare kort.

Why is the word om used in Anna vet ikke om kinoen tar kontanter eller bare kort, and not at?

In Norwegian om can mean “whether” or “if” when you’re uncertain about something.

  • Jeg vet ikke om… = “I don’t know whether…”
    By contrast, at introduces a factual statement:
  • Jeg vet at kinoen tar kort = “I know that the cinema accepts cards.”
Why does the clause kinoen tar kontanter eller bare kort follow normal subject-verb-object order, even though it’s introduced by om?
Norwegian keeps its V2 (verb-second) word order in both main clauses and subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like om. The finite verb (tar) must occupy the second position after the subject (kinoen), so you get SVO even inside an om-clause.
Why is the verb tar used here to mean “accepts”? Could I use aksepterer instead?

Ta literally means “to take,” but in contexts like payment it’s the usual, more colloquial verb for “to accept” (cash, cards, etc.).
You could say kinoen aksepterer kort, and everyone would understand, but tar kort is more common in everyday speech.

Why aren’t there any articles before kontanter or kort?

Both are indefinite (you’re not talking about specific bills or a specific card). Norwegian normally drops the article before plural and mass nouns in indefinite contexts:

  • kontanter (indefinite plural)
  • kort (neuter noun, same form in singular and plural)
Why is kontanter plural, while kort has no visible plural ending?
  • kontant is a masculine/feminine noun. Its regular indefinite plural form is kontanter. You always speak of “cash” in the plural in Norwegian.
  • kort is a neuter noun with identical singular and plural forms. One card = et kort; many cards = to kort, fem kort.
Why is kinoen in the definite form (the -en ending)?
Adding -en makes kino (cinema) definite: “the cinema.” In this sentence the speaker refers to a specific, known cinema—for instance, the one they plan to visit—so you use kinoen.
What does bare mean in bare kort, and could I use kun instead?

bare means “only” or “just” in colloquial Norwegian. You could substitute kun (a bit more formal) with no change in basic meaning:

  • …tar bare kort = “…only accepts cards.”
  • …tar kun kort = “…accepts cards only.”