Har du et forslag til middag?

Do you have a suggestion for dinner?

Breakdown of Har du et forslag til middag?

• du: you
• ha: to have
• et: a
• middagen: the dinner
• til: for
• forslaget: the suggestion

Questions & Answers about Har du et forslag til middag?

Why does the sentence start with Har?

In Norwegian yes/no questions, the finite verb comes first (V1 word order). So you get Har (have) + du (you) + the rest: et forslag (a suggestion) + til middag (for dinner). A matching statement would be: Du har et forslag til middag.

Why is it et and not en before forslag?

Because forslag is a neuter noun. Neuter nouns take the article et in the singular indefinite: et forslag. Using en forslag is ungrammatical.

Can I ask for “any suggestions” instead of just one?

Yes. Use plural or a bare form:

• Har du noen forslag til middag? = Do you have any suggestions for dinner?
• Har du forslag til middag? (no article) is also common and sounds like “any suggestions?” in general. Singular stays et forslag; plural is forslag (same form) and often pairs with noen.

Why is it til middag and not for middag?

Norwegian uses til to mean “for” in the sense of purpose or target: idé til prosjektet, gave til deg, hva skal vi ha til middag? The preposition for doesn’t work here; forslag for middag is unnatural. Another useful contrast:

• til middag = for dinner (what to eat)
• på middag = to/at a dinner event (e.g., De inviterte oss på middag.)

Why is there no article before middag?

Meal names are typically used without an article when you mean them generically: til frokost, til lunsj, til middag. If you refer to a specific one, you can use the definite form: til middagen (for the dinner we talked about).

What are some other natural ways to ask this?

Very common alternatives:

• Hva skal vi ha til middag? (What are we going to have for dinner?)
• Har du noen idéer/ideer til middag?
• Har du et tips/noen tips til middag?
• More polite/soft: Kunne du foreslå noe til middag?

What are the gender and forms of forslag and middag?

• forslag (neuter): et forslag – forslaget – forslag – forslagene
• middag (masculine): en middag – middagen – middager – middagene

Can I use idé or tips instead of forslag?

Yes, and they’re common:

• en idé (plural ideer/idéer): slightly more “idea/brainwave”
• et tips (plural tips): often “tip/hint,” casual and common in everyday talk All work with til middag: Har du en idé/et tips til middag?

How would I use the verb foreslå (to suggest) instead?

You can switch from the noun to the verb:

• Kan du foreslå noe til middag?
• Kunne du foreslå noe vi kan lage til middag? Meaning is essentially the same as using har du (et) forslag …

How do you pronounce the tricky parts?

Approximate tips (varies by dialect):

• har: clear h, the ar like English “are.”
• du: like “doo,” but with tighter, rounded lips.
• et: short “eh” + crisp t.
• forslag: often “FORSH-lah(g),” where rs commonly sounds like “sh”; final g is often weak or silent.
• til: short “til,” like English “till.”
• middag: “MID-dah(g),” with a short first vowel; final g often weak or silent. Yes/no questions usually have a rising intonation toward the end.

Is du singular? How do I ask multiple people?

Yes, du is singular. To address more than one person, use dere:

• Har dere et forslag til middag?

Where is the stress and what’s the intonation?

Main lexical stress falls on FORslag and MIDdag. In a yes/no question, the overall intonation typically rises toward the end: …til middag?

Can I say middagsforslag instead of forslag til middag?

Yes, Norwegian likes compounds: et middagsforslag means “a dinner suggestion.” It’s concise and fine in writing (menus, blogs, headlines). In everyday speech, forslag til middag is at least as common.

Is noe forslag correct?

No. Use:

• noen forslag for countable plural (“any/some suggestions”)
• noe is for uncountables or unspecified “something”: noe mat, noe godt.