Hun spør høflig om maten er varm.

She politely asks if the food is hot.

Breakdown of Hun spør høflig om maten er varm.

• være: to be
• hun: she
• maten: the food
• om: if

Questions & Answers about Hun spør høflig om maten er varm.

What does spør mean, and why is it not in its infinitive form?

spør is the present tense, third person singular form of the verb spørre (to ask). In Norwegian, verbs change ending between the infinitive (å spørre) and the present tense (hun spør/she asks), so we use spør here because hun (she) is doing the asking right now.

Is høflig an adjective or an adverb here, and why does it keep this form?

Although høflig looks like an adjective (“polite”), it also functions as an adverb (“politely”) without any change. Norwegian often uses the same word for both adjectives and manner adverbs. Thus hun spør høflig literally means she asks politely.

Why is om used before maten er varm, and what does it correspond to in English?

Here om is a subordinating conjunction introducing an indirect yes/no question. It corresponds to English if or whether, not the preposition “about.” So spør om maten er varm translates as asks if the food is warm.

Why doesn’t the embedded clause maten er varm invert subject and verb like a direct question?