Kan du holde døren for meg?

Can you hold the door for me?

Breakdown of Kan du holde døren for meg?

• du: you
• kunne: can
• for: for
• meg: me

Questions & Answers about Kan du holde døren for meg?

Why is it Kan du and not Du kan at the start?

Norwegian yes/no questions put the verb first. So the modal verb kan comes before the subject: Kan du …? In a statement it’s the other way around: Du kan holde døren …

Why is it holde and not å holde after kan?

After modal verbs (like kan, må, vil, skal, bør), the next verb stays in the bare infinitive without å. So it’s kan holde, not kan å holde, and not the imperative hold.

Why is it døren and not dør?

Norwegian marks definiteness with a suffix. dør = “a door” (indefinite), while døren = “the door” (definite). In this context you mean a specific door, so the definite form is natural.

Is døra also correct?

Yes. Dør is a feminine noun. In Bokmål you can treat it as:

• Masculine: en dør → døren
• Feminine: ei dør → døra Both døren and døra are correct Bokmål; døra often sounds more colloquial. In Nynorsk you’d use the feminine forms: ei dør → døra.

What does for mean here, and why not til meg?