Breakdown of Hun er enig, men han er uenig i detaljene.
Questions & Answers about Hun er enig, men han er uenig i detaljene.
Norwegian expresses “to agree” with the construction å være enig (“to be in agreement”), not with a standalone verb. So you say:
- jeg er enig (I agree), past jeg var enig
- To talk about reaching agreement: vi ble enige or å bli enige om noe (we came to agree on something)
They signal different relationships:
- enig/uenig med [person] = agree/disagree with someone (a person)
- enig/uenig i [påstand/argument/detaljer] = agree/disagree with a statement, argument, or parts/details of something
- enig/uenig om [tema/sak/detaljer] = be in (dis)agreement about a topic/issue/details (the matter under discussion) All three are common; choose based on what you’re linking to: person, content, or topic.
Both i detaljene and om detaljene are idiomatic.
- i detaljene highlights the disagreement “in the details themselves” (inside the finer points of a plan/argument).
- om detaljene treats the details as the topic they disagree about. Many speakers default to om here, but your sentence with i is also fine.
In the singular, enig/uenig do not change for gender or neuter: han/hun/barnet er enig/uenig.
In the plural they take -e: de er enige/uenige.
Note: No neuter -t form is used (*enigt is not used in modern Bokmål).
detaljene is the definite plural (“the details”), implying a specific, known set. Use detaljer (indefinite plural) for details in general. Forms:
- en detalj (a detail)
- detaljen (the detail)
- detaljer (details)
- detaljene (the details)
After men, you start a new main clause with normal main-clause order: subject first, then the finite verb. Hence men han er uenig.
If you front an adverbial, the V2 rule still applies: Men i detaljene er han uenig (adverbial – verb – subject).
Yes, mens (“while/whereas”) is possible: Hun er enig, mens han er uenig i detaljene.
- men = simple contrast (“but”)
- mens = contrast with a “whereas/at the same time” nuance
- hun (she) and han (he) are standard Bokmål.
- hen is a gender‑neutral singular pronoun increasingly used in Norwegian.
- ho is common in many dialects and in Nynorsk.
- hu is a colloquial spoken variant of hun in some areas but not standard in writing.
Approximate guide:
- hun: “hoon” (fronted u)
- er: “air”
- enig: “AY-nee” (g often silent)
- uenig: “oo-AY-nee” (two syllables: u‑enig)
- men: “men”
- han: “hahn”
- detaljene: “deh-TAHL-yeh-neh” (the j is a y-sound)