Questions & Answers about Vi snakker om nåtiden i dag.
Nåtid is the bare noun “present (time)”.
Nåtiden is the definite form, literally “the present (time)”.
- nåtid = present time (in general, as a concept)
- nåtiden = the present (that we are living in now)
In this sentence, you are talking about the specific period we are in, so Norwegian normally uses the definite form: nåtiden.
Yes. Snakke om is a fixed combination and corresponds closely to English “to talk about”:
- snakke = to talk / speak
- om = about (here: topic preposition)
You almost always need om when you mention the topic:
- Vi snakker om politikk. – We are talking about politics.
- Hva snakker dere om? – What are you talking about?
Without om, snakke usually means just to speak/talk (in general) or to speak (a language):
- Hun snakker norsk. – She speaks Norwegian.
Yes, you can say both, but the meaning changes slightly:
Vi snakker om nåtiden i dag.
Focus: Today is the day when the discussion happens. (Maybe yesterday you talked about the past, tomorrow you’ll talk about the future.)Vi snakker om nåtiden nå.
Focus: Right now, at this moment we are talking about the present.
I dag = during the course of today
nå = now, this moment or current period
In Norwegian, i dag is the normal way to say “today”.
Literally it is “in day”, but as a fixed expression it simply means today.
- i dag – today
- i morgen – tomorrow
- i går – yesterday
Dag alone usually means “a day / day (in general)”, not specifically today.
Denne dagen means “this day” and is much less common in this context; it sounds more formal or specific, not the everyday “today”.
Yes, that is completely correct and very natural:
- Vi snakker om nåtiden i dag.
- I dag snakker vi om nåtiden.
Norwegian has the V2 rule: in a main clause, the verb (snakker) must come second, but the first position is flexible:
- Vi (1st) snakker (2nd) om nåtiden i dag.
- I dag (1st) snakker (2nd) vi om nåtiden.
Both sentences mean the same; the second one slightly emphasizes “today”.
Norwegian does not have a separate continuous form like English “are talking”.
The simple present is used for both:
- Vi snakker om nåtiden i dag.
= We talk about the present today.
= We are talking about the present today.
Context tells you whether it is an action right now or a more general or planned action. In this sentence, i dag suggests it’s happening today (either now or at some point today).
It’s a compound plus a definite ending:
- nå – now
- tid – time
- -en – masculine definite ending (the)
So nå-tid-en → nåtiden = “the now-time”, i.e. the present.
Both can be correct, depending on style and dialect:
- nåtiden – standard Bokmål, masculine form
- nåtida – also Bokmål, but using the feminine form (common in speech and informal writing), and very typical in some dialects
In a standard textbook, you are most likely to see nåtiden, but you will hear nåtida a lot in everyday speech.
Yes. Vi snakker om nåtiden is a perfectly good sentence:
“We are talking about the present.”
Adding i dag adds a time frame:
- Without i dag: a general statement about what you’re talking about (now or in general).
- With i dag: it’s today’s topic (for example, in a lesson plan or a series of discussions).
snakke om = talk about (a topic)
- Vi snakker om nåtiden. – We are talking about the present.
snakke med = talk with (a person)
- Jeg snakker med læreren. – I am talking with the teacher.
So in Vi snakker om nåtiden i dag, om is needed because nåtiden is the topic, not the person you are talking to.