En uventet telefon gjør oss stille.

Breakdown of En uventet telefon gjør oss stille.

en
a
oss
us
stille
quiet
gjøre
to make
uventet
unexpected
telefonen
the phone call
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Questions & Answers about En uventet telefon gjør oss stille.

What does the construction with gjøre + object + adjective mean?

It means “to make someone/something [adjective].” So En uventet telefon gjør oss stille = “An unexpected phone call makes us quiet.”

  • More examples:
    • Det gjør meg glad. = It makes me happy.
    • Regnet gjør veiene glatte. = The rain makes the roads slippery.
Why is it oss and not vi?

Because oss is the object form and the phone call is acting on “us.” After gjøre, you need the object form.

  • Subject forms: jeg, du, han, hun, vi, dere, de
  • Object forms: meg, deg, ham/han, henne, oss, dere, dem
  • Compare: Vi blir stille av en uventet telefon. (Here vi is the subject of blir.)
Is stille an adjective or an adverb here?

An adjective. It describes the resulting state of oss. With gjøre, you can use an adjective as a result/complement:

  • Det gjør oss stille. = It makes us quiet. (adjective) As an adverb, stille can mean “quietly,” e.g., Han snakker stille = He speaks quietly.
Should stille agree with oss (plural)? Why isn’t it changed?

Many adjectives ending in -e are the same in singular and plural when used predicatively. Stille stays stille:

  • Det gjør meg stille.
  • Det gjør oss stille. Contrast with adjectives like glad, which show plural: Det gjør dem glade.
Why is it uventet and not uventede?

Because the noun is indefinite singular. Uventet is an invariable adjective in the indefinite singular (all genders) and becomes uventede in the definite form and in the plural.

  • Indefinite singular: en/ei/et uventet …
  • Definite singular: den/det uventede …
  • Plural: uventede … Examples: et uventet problem, den uventede telefonen, uventede telefoner
Why the article en with telefon?

Telefon is a masculine noun in Bokmål, so the indefinite article is en:

  • en telefon (indef.), telefonen (def.)
  • telefoner (plural indef.), telefonene (plural def.)
Does telefon mean the device or the call?

It can mean either, depending on context. Here it naturally means a phone call. If you want to be crystal clear, you can say:

  • en uventet oppringning or en uventet telefonoppringning (a call)
  • en uventet telefonsamtale (a phone conversation)
Why is the word order gjør oss stille and not gjør stille oss?

In main clauses, Norwegian is verb-second. After the verb gjør, short object pronouns like oss typically come before the predicative complement:

  • Subject: En uventet telefon
  • Verb: gjør
  • Object: oss
  • Predicative: stille So: En uventet telefon gjør oss stille. Putting stille before oss sounds wrong here.
How would I say “The unexpected phone call makes us quiet”?
Use the definite forms: Den uventede telefonen gjør oss stille.
Are there other natural ways to say this?

Yes, with slightly different structure or nuance:

  • Cause with become: Vi blir stille av en uventet telefon.
  • Causative with infinitive: En uventet telefon får oss til å bli stille.
  • With a clause: En uventet telefon gjør at vi blir stille.
How do I change the tense of gjøre here?
  • Present (default): gjør — En uventet telefon gjør oss stille.
  • Past: gjorde — En uventet telefon gjorde oss stille.
  • Present perfect: har gjort — En uventet telefon har gjort oss stille.
  • Future-like: vil/skal gjøre — En uventet telefon vil/skal gjøre oss stille. (Both can indicate future; vil can add a nuance of likelihood/intention, skal of plan/arrangement.)
Any pronunciation tips for tricky words like gjør and uventet?
  • gjør: The g is silent; gj sounds like English y in “yes.” Vowel ø is like the vowel in British “sir,” but rounded. Roughly “yur.”
  • u- in uventet is a fronted “oo” sound; stress is on the penultimate syllable: u-VEN-tet.
  • telefon: Stress on the last syllable: tele-FON.
  • oss: short “oss” (like “oss” in “boss”).
  • stille: short i, double l, schwa-like final e: “STIL-le.”
Is there a false-friend issue with stille vs English “still”?
Yes. Stille means “quiet/silent/calm,” not “still (yet).” For “still” in the sense of “yet/continuing,” use fortsatt or stadig.
What’s the difference between stille, rolig, and taus?
  • stille: quiet/silent (low noise level). Barna er stille.
  • rolig: calm/peaceful (state of mind or atmosphere). Han er rolig.
  • taus: silent/mute (not speaking). Hun ble taus av sjokk.
Is this Bokmål or Nynorsk? How would it look in Nynorsk?
The given sentence is Bokmål. In Nynorsk you’d write: Ein uventa telefon gjer oss stille. (Note ein, uventa, gjer.)
Could I use gi instead of gjøre?

Not here. Gi means “to give” and takes a direct object and often an indirect object (gi noen noe). To express causing a state, use gjøre or a causative structure:

  • Correct: En uventet telefon gjør oss stille.
  • Also possible: … får oss til å bli stille.
  • Not idiomatic: En uventet telefon gir oss stille. (You could say gir oss stillhet = “gives us silence,” but that’s a different structure and meaning.)
How do I say “Unexpected phone calls make us quiet”?
Use the plural with adjective agreement: Uventede telefoner gjør oss stille.