Questions & Answers about Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå.
Norwegian usually marks “the” by adding an ending to the noun, instead of using a separate word like English.
- hemmelighet = a secret (indefinite, general)
- hemmeligheten = the secret (definite, a specific one you’ve already mentioned or both speakers know about)
So Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå. = I understand *the secret now, not just “I understand *a secret now.”
In standard Bokmål, hemmelighet is treated as a masculine (common gender) noun:
- Indefinite singular: en hemmelighet – a secret
- Definite singular: hemmeligheten – the secret
- Indefinite plural: hemmeligheter – secrets
- Definite plural: hemmelighetene – the secrets
Some dialects might say ei hemmelighet (feminine article), but en hemmelighet is the neutral, standard choice.
Both can often be translated as “understand.”
forstå (present: forstår)
- Slightly more formal and neutral.
- Common in writing, explanations, instructions.
- Works well for both concrete and abstract things:
- Jeg forstår hemmeligheten.
- Jeg forstår matematikk.
skjønne (present: skjønner)
- More colloquial, everyday speech.
- Often closer to “I get it” / “I see.”
- Very common in conversation:
- Jeg skjønner hemmeligheten nå.
- Jeg skjønner. = I see / Got it.
In this sentence, you could also say Jeg skjønner hemmeligheten nå, especially in spoken Norwegian.
Norwegian uses the present tense for a current state, just like English:
- Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå.
= I (now) understand the secret.
Focus: right now, I’m in a state of understanding.
If you want to emphasize the moment of realization, you would usually change the tense:
- Nå forsto jeg hemmeligheten. = Now I understood the secret.
- Nå har jeg forstått hemmeligheten. = Now I have understood the secret / I’ve now understood the secret.
So the original sentence is about the present state of understanding, not the process of “figuring it out.”
Yes, and that’s very natural. The main common options are:
Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå.
Neutral, nå at the end. Very typical.Nå forstår jeg hemmeligheten.
Also very natural. Putting nå first often gives it a bit more emphasis: Now, I understand the secret.
Both are correct. In everyday speech, you will probably hear Nå forstår jeg … very often when someone reacts to something they’ve just realized.
It’s grammatically possible, but it sounds very marked and unusual in normal conversation. Native speakers would almost always say:
- Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå.
- Nå forstår jeg hemmeligheten.
Jeg nå forstår hemmeligheten might appear in very stylized or poetic language for special emphasis, but you should avoid it in normal speech and writing.
No. In Norwegian, you basically must use the subject pronoun:
- ✅ Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå.
- ❌ Forstår hemmeligheten nå. (wrong in normal Norwegian)
Unlike Spanish or Italian, Norwegian is not a “pro‑drop” language. You need jeg, du, han, etc., in ordinary sentences.
The suffix -het turns many adjectives into abstract nouns, similar to English -ness or -ity.
- hemmelig = secret (adjective)
→ hemmelighet = a secret, secrecy - mulig = possible
→ mulighet = possibility - virkelig = real
→ virkelighet = reality
So hemmelighet literally comes from the idea of “secret-ness.”
Approximate pronunciations (standard Eastern Norwegian):
forstår ≈ for‑STOR
- for: like English for but shorter
- står: like English store with an aw sound (Norwegian å)
- Stress on the second syllable: for‑STÅR
hemmeligheten ≈ HEM‑uh‑lee‑heh‑ten
- hem: like English hem
- me‑ becomes a schwa sound, like the a in about
- The g in -lig- is very weak or practically silent in many accents
- Stress on the first syllable: HEM‑me‑li‑he‑ten
nå is pronounced roughly like “no” in English, but often a bit shorter and with a more rounded vowel.
You can say den hemmeligheten, but it has a more specific, “pointing” meaning:
- hemmeligheten = the secret (which we both know about from context)
- den hemmeligheten = that (particular) secret
You’d use den hemmeligheten when you’re clearly contrasting it with other possible secrets or when you’re emphasizing that one:
- Jeg forstår den hemmeligheten nå, men ikke de andre.
= I understand that secret now, but not the others.
In most neutral contexts, hemmeligheten by itself is enough.
Yes, depending on context. hemmelighet primarily means “secret”, but it can overlap with English “mystery” in some situations, especially when talking about something hidden that you figure out.
However, if you specifically mean “a mystery” in a more formal or literary sense, Norwegian also has:
- gåte – riddle, enigma
- mysterium – mystery (more formal/learned)
But in everyday use, Jeg forstår hemmeligheten nå. can be translated as either:
- I understand the secret now, or
- I understand the mystery now,
depending on what you’re talking about.