Breakdown of Jeg synes det er fornuftig å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet.
Questions & Answers about Jeg synes det er fornuftig å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet.
Norwegian has three common verbs that often translate as “to think”, but they’re used differently:
- synes = to be of the opinion (based on experience/feeling)
- Jeg synes det er fornuftig. – I think (in my opinion) it’s sensible.
- tror = to believe (about facts, future, things you don’t know for sure)
- Jeg tror det blir regn i morgen. – I think / I believe it will rain tomorrow.
- tenker = to think (the process of thinking; to reflect, to have something in mind)
- Jeg tenker på problemet. – I’m thinking about the problem.
In this sentence, you’re expressing a personal opinion about what is sensible, so synes is the natural choice.
Tror would sound more like you’re predicting a fact, and tenker would mean you’re just mentally considering the topic, not giving your opinion about it.
Here, det is a dummy subject (also called an expletive). It doesn’t refer to a specific thing; it stands in for the whole idea “å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet”.
Norwegian prefers to put long or “heavy” subjects later in the sentence, so you get:
- Jeg synes det er fornuftig å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet.
literally: I think it is sensible to be anonymous in some discussions on the internet.
If you try to remove det, you would have to move the long infinitive phrase up front:
- ?Jeg synes å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet er fornuftig.
This is technically understandable, but feels heavy and unnatural in everyday Norwegian. The natural pattern is [subject] + synes + det er + [rest].
Fornuftig combines the ideas of sensible, reasonable, and often prudent. It suggests something is wise and shows good judgment.
Nuance examples:
- Det er fornuftig å spare penger. – It’s sensible/wise to save money.
- Et fornuftig forslag. – A reasonable proposal.
In your sentence, fornuftig focuses on good judgment and caution (being careful with privacy), more than purely “logical” in a mathematical or strictly rational sense. Sensible is usually the best English feel.
Adjectives in Norwegian normally change a bit:
- common gender singular: en fornuftig idé
- neuter singular: et fornuftig valg
- plural: fornuftige valg
Notice that fornuftig already ends in -ig.
Adjectives ending in -ig, -lig, -sk usually do not take an extra -t in the neuter form. So it’s:
- et fornuftig valg, not et fornuftigt valg
In det er fornuftig, the adjective is in predicative position, and for these -ig adjectives the form stays fornuftig, regardless of gender/number in this type of construction. So fornuftig here is exactly the normal, correct form.
Å before a verb marks the infinitive, similar to “to” in English “to be”.
- å være – to be
- å snakke – to speak
- å skrive – to write
In det er fornuftig å være anonym, the whole phrase å være anonym (“to be anonymous”) is functioning as a subject-like clause (the thing being evaluated as fornuftig). Norwegian normally keeps å before infinitives unless there is a modal or certain auxiliary verbs:
- Jeg vil være anonym. – I want to be anonymous. (no å after vil)
- Jeg liker å være anonym. – I like to be anonymous. (å is used after liker)
Anonym is an adjective meaning “anonymous”. In å være anonym, it describes a generic, singular person. The forms are:
- singular, describing one person: anonym
- Han er anonym. – He is anonymous.
- Jeg vil være anonym. – I want to be anonymous.
- plural, describing several people: anonyme
- De er anonyme. – They are anonymous.
- De vil være anonyme. – They want to be anonymous.
Anonymt would be the neuter singular form or adverbial use:
- Et anonymt brev. – An anonymous letter. (neuter noun)
- Han skrev anonymt. – He wrote anonymously.
Here we are talking about “a person (in general) being anonymous”, so anonym (singular, common gender) is the right form.
In this sentence, noen means “some (plural countable)”:
- i noen diskusjoner – in some discussions
Compare:
- noen = “some / a few” (plural, countable)
- noen bøker – some books
- noen diskusjoner – some discussions
- noe = “some / something” (uncountable or unknown thing)
- noe vann – some water
- Jeg vil si noe. – I want to say something.
You could also say i enkelte diskusjoner or i visse diskusjoner:
- enkelte diskusjoner – some specific particular discussions (a bit more formal/pointed)
- visse diskusjoner – certain (particular) discussions, also slightly more formal
Noen diskusjoner is neutral and the most common everyday way to say “some discussions” in a general sense.
Norwegian uses the preposition på (“on”) with nett / nettet when it means the internet:
- på nettet – on the internet
- på internett – on the internet
I nettet would literally mean “in the net”, like being physically inside a fishing net, a hammock, or a volleyball net. So:
- Fisken sitter fast i nettet. – The fish is stuck in the net. (physical net)
- Jeg leste det på nettet. – I read it on the internet. (online)
So for online activity, always use på nettet or på internett.
Two different things are going on:
nettet is definite:
- nett = net / web
- nettet = the net / the web
When we talk about the Internet in general, Norwegian normally uses the definite form:
- på nettet – on the (world-wide) net
- Like English “on the internet” (not just “on internet”)
diskusjoner is indefinite plural:
- diskusjoner = discussions (unspecified, general)
- diskusjonene = the discussions (specific, known group)
In i noen diskusjoner på nettet, we’re talking about some (unspecified) discussions that happen on the internet (as a known entity). So:
- noen diskusjoner (indefinite, general)
- på nettet (definite, referring to the known thing “the internet”)
Yes, there is a nuance:
- på nettet – on the internet / on the web
- Jeg leste det på nettet. – I read it on the internet.
- på nett – more like “online / connected / in touch / up to speed”
- Jeg er på nett nå. – I’m online now.
- Vi må holde oss på nett med utviklingen. – We have to keep up with developments.
So på nettet is about where something happens (on the internet), while på nett is more general (being online/connected or metaphorically “up to date”).
Yes. Syns is a very common short spelling of synes in Norwegian Bokmål.
- Jeg synes det er lurt.
- Jeg syns det er lurt.
Both are correct in writing. Synes is slightly more formal/standard; syns reflects how people actually pronounce the word in everyday speech.
That word order is grammatically possible but sounds heavy and unnatural in normal speech and writing.
Norwegian usually avoids putting a long infinitive phrase as the subject in front of er. Instead, it uses the dummy det and moves the long part to the end:
- Natural: Jeg synes det er fornuftig å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet.
- Awkward: Jeg synes å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet er fornuftig.
So you should stick to the original order with det er + [rest].
Yes, that is also correct and natural:
- på nettet – on the net / on the web
- på internett – on the internet
They are used more or less interchangeably. På nettet is extremely common in everyday language; på internett sounds just a bit more explicit or formal, but both are fine in this sentence.
Approximate pronunciations (standard Eastern Norwegian):
- jeg ≈ yai (IPA: [jæi] or [jɛi]); in casual speech often more like “jæ” or “je”, but yai is a safe learner pronunciation.
- noen ≈ NOO-en (IPA: [ˈnuːən] or [ˈnuːn]); in fast speech often reduced to something like no’n, but as a learner say both syllables clearly.
- diskusjoner ≈ dis-ku-SHOO-ner (IPA: [dɪskʉˈʂuːnər])
- di – like dee
- sku – skü (with rounded front vowel)
- sjo – shoo (the sj sound is like English sh but a bit farther back)
- ner – nehr (with a tapped/flipped r)
Putting it together slowly and clearly:
Jeg synes det er fornuftig å være anonym i noen diskusjoner på nettet.
≈ Yai sy-nes deh æhr for-NUF-tig å VÆ-re a-no-NEEM i NOO-en dis-ku-SHOO-ner på NEH-tet.