Questions & Answers about Vi snakker lenge i stuen.
Why is it snakker and not something like snakker vi or a different verb ending for we?
In Norwegian, verbs do not change with the subject. The present tense form is the same for I, you, we, they, etc.
- å snakke = to speak / to talk
- Present tense: snakker (for all persons)
So you get:
- Jeg snakker – I talk / I am talking
- Du snakker – You talk / You are talking
- Vi snakker – We talk / We are talking
There is no separate ending like -s, -ing, or special we-form. The subject vi is already there, so snakker vi would mean “do we talk / are we talking?” only if you invert the word order to form a question:
- Vi snakker lenge i stuen. – Statement
- Snakker vi lenge i stuen? – Question
Why is lenge used here instead of lang?
Lang is an adjective (describes a noun), while lenge is an adverb (describes a verb or how something happens).
lang = long (adjective)
- en lang bok – a long book
- en lang dag – a long day
lenge = for a long time (adverb of time/duration)
- Vi venter lenge. – We wait for a long time.
- De snakker lenge. – They talk for a long time.
In Vi snakker lenge i stuen, lenge describes how long we talk, so you need the adverb form.