Han snakker rolig.

he

Breakdown of Han snakker rolig.

• snakke: to speak
• rolig: calmly

Questions & Answers about Han snakker rolig.

Is rolig an adjective or an adverb here?

Here it functions as an adverb of manner: it tells you how he speaks. Many Norwegian adjectives can be used adverbially without any ending. As an adjective, rolig would describe a noun: Han er rolig (He is calm).

Why isn’t it roligt with a -t ending?

In Bokmål, adjectives ending in -ig/-lig keep the same form when used adverbially, so it’s rolig, not roligt. The form roligt is Swedish. In Nynorsk the adverb would be roleg.

Where do I put rolig in the sentence?

After the verb (and after any object):

• No object: Han snakker rolig.
• With an object: Han snakker norsk rolig. (You can also say: Han snakker rolig på norsk.) Avoid Han rolig snakker, which is unidiomatic in Norwegian.

How do I negate this?

Place ikke after the verb: Han snakker ikke rolig. With a fronted element, it still follows the verb: I dag snakker han ikke rolig.

Does snakker mean both “speaks” and “is speaking”?