Jeg tar med fotballen til parken.

I bring the football to the park.

Breakdown of Jeg tar med fotballen til parken.

• jeg: I
• til: to
• parken: the park
• ta med: to bring
• fotballen: the football

Questions & Answers about Jeg tar med fotballen til parken.

What does the Norwegian verb phrase ta med mean?

Ta med is a separable verb meaning literally “take with,” and in everyday Norwegian it’s used like the English “bring.” So jeg tar med fotballen means “I bring the football.”

Why isn’t there a reflexive pronoun like meg in jeg tar med fotballen til parken?

The full pattern is often ta med seg, where seg (reflexive) refers back to the subject. You’ll frequently hear jeg tar med meg fotballen (“I take/bring the football with me”). However, in informal or clear contexts Norwegians often drop meg because it’s obvious who’s bringing the item. Both versions are correct; including meg simply adds emphasis.

Could I say jeg tar fotballen med til parken instead? What’s the difference?

Yes. Norwegian separable verbs allow you to either keep the particle next to the verb (tar med fotballen) or split it after the object (tar fotballen med). Both constructions mean the same thing. One important rule: if the object is a pronoun (e.g. den), you must split—jeg tar den med, not tar med den.

Why is fotballen in its definite form? Can I use en fotball instead?

Fotballen means “the football,” because you’re referring to a specific ball (the one you have). If you meant “a football” (any ball), you’d use the indefinite form: jeg tar med en fotball til parken.

Why do we use til parken here? Could I say i parken or på parken?

Til expresses movement toward a destination—“to the park.” I parken means “in the park” (location once you’re already there). På parken isn’t used for “in a park” in Norwegian. If you wanted to stress entering, you could say inn i parken (“into the park”).

What is the basic word order in jeg tar med fotballen til parken?

Norwegian typically uses Subject–Verb–Object, then adverbial elements (time/place). Here you have:
• Jeg (subject)
• tar (verb)
• med fotballen (object + separable particle)
• til parken (place adverbial)