Ring banken hvis du mister kortet.

you

Breakdown of Ring banken hvis du mister kortet.

• ringe: to call
• hvis: if
• miste: to lose

Questions & Answers about Ring banken hvis du mister kortet.

Why is Ring used instead of Ringer banken?

In Norwegian, the imperative (command) form of a verb uses the bare stem. For å ringe (to call), the present tense is ringer, but you drop the -e to form the command ring. So Ring banken means “Call the bank.”

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like du in Ring banken?

Imperatives in Norwegian normally omit the pronoun du (“you”) because the command is understood. You simply say Ring banken rather than Du ring banken.

Why is banken in its definite form instead of bank or en bank?

By putting -en on bank, you get banken (“the bank”). This signals a specific bank—namely the one you already have an account with. In English you’d say “the bank” too when you mean your own.

Why doesn’t the sentence say hvis du mister kortet ditt (“if you lose your card”)?

The definite form kortet (“the card”) already implies “your card” in context. You can add the possessive ditt (kortet ditt) for clarity or emphasis, but it’s often omitted when it’s obvious whose card is meant.