Breakdown of Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt trist.
Questions & Answers about Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt trist.
Tåler comes from the verb å tåle and basically means to tolerate, to endure, to withstand, to put up with.
Nuances compared to other verbs:
tåler kritikken
= she can handle/endure the criticism; it doesn’t break her, she can emotionally “withstand” it.aksepterer kritikken
= she accepts the criticism; she agrees it is fair or valid.klarer kritikken (not idiomatic)
You wouldn’t normally say this. Å klare is more like to manage, to succeed at something (e.g. Hun klarer eksamen = She passes the exam), not about tolerating criticism.takler kritikken
= she handles/deals with the criticism well; suggests active coping, maybe in a mature or skillful way.
So tåler focuses on emotional or mental endurance, not necessarily on agreeing with the criticism or handling it perfectly.
In Norwegian, kritikk can be both:
an uncountable, general noun:
Hun tåler kritikk. = She tolerates criticism (in general).or a specific, “this particular” criticism, made definite with -en:
Hun tåler kritikken. = She tolerates the criticism (that someone has just given her).
So in your sentence, kritikken refers to some specific criticism that we already know about from the context. If the sentence was talking about her general personality, you would more likely see Hun tåler kritikk.
Literally:
- Hun = She
- tåler = tolerates / withstands
- kritikken = the criticism
- men = but
- hun = she
- blir = becomes / gets
- litt = a little / somewhat
- trist = sad
So word-for-word:
She tolerates the criticism, but she becomes a little sad.
Both are possible:
- Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt trist.
- Hun tåler kritikken, men blir litt trist.
In standard written Norwegian, each main clause usually has its own subject, so repeating hun feels a bit clearer and more formal.
However, in everyday speech and in less formal writing, it is common (and acceptable) to drop the second hun when it’s obvious who you’re talking about. So:
- With hun repeated: slightly clearer, a bit more formal.
- Without hun: very natural in spoken Norwegian and informal text.
- blir (from å bli) means becomes / gets – it expresses a change of state.
- er (from å være) means is – it describes a current state.
So:
Hun blir litt trist.
= She gets / becomes a little sad (as a result of the criticism). The sentence focuses on the reaction or the change.Hun er litt trist.
= She is a little sad (right now). It describes her current emotional state, not specifically linked to the criticism.
In your sentence, blir shows that the criticism makes her a bit sad.
Litt trist literally means a little sad / somewhat sad. It usually suggests:
- She is affected emotionally, but
- it’s not very strong sadness,
- and it doesn’t sound dramatic.
So Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt trist implies: she can handle it, it doesn’t crush her, but it still hurts a bit.
Yes, you could also say:
- Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt lei seg.
Nuances:
- trist = sad (general, more descriptive/adjectival).
- lei seg = feeling sad/upset, often a bit more emotional or personal, common in everyday speech.
Litt trist can sound slightly more neutral or descriptive.
Litt lei seg is often used when talking about someone’s emotional reaction to a specific event – very natural in this context.
Both are correct; litt lei seg might sound a bit more colloquial and empathetic.
Å tåle (to tolerate / endure) is mostly regular but has a slightly irregular past participle:
- Infinitive: å tåle
- Present: tåler
– Hun tåler kritikken. (She tolerates the criticism.) - Preterite (simple past): tålte
– Hun tålte kritikken. (She tolerated the criticism.) - Present perfect (with ha): har tålt
– Hun har tålt mye kritikk. (She has tolerated a lot of criticism.)
So the forms to remember: tåle – tåler – tålte – har tålt.
Approximate standard Eastern Norwegian pronunciation (IPA):
tåler: /ˈtoːlər/
- å like the o in more, but longer.
- Stress on the first syllable: TÅ-ler.
kritikken: /kriˈtɪkːən/
- Double kk = a longer k sound.
- Stress on -tik-: kri-TIK-ken.
trist: /trɪst/
- Similar to English “trist” in krist- or trist- (short i, final st clear).
Exact sounds vary by dialect, but this gives you a solid standard reference.
Men means but and introduces a contrast:
- Hun tåler kritikken
= positive/neutral side (she can handle it) - men hun blir litt trist
= contrasting side (it still makes her somewhat sad)
In Norwegian, when men connects two main clauses (each with its own subject and verb), you normally put a comma before it:
- Hun tåler kritikken, men hun blir litt trist.
So the comma rule is similar to English in this case, but in Norwegian it’s more strictly applied.
In Norwegian, degree adverbs like litt, veldig, ganske, så, etc. usually go before the adjective they modify:
- litt trist (a little sad)
- veldig trist (very sad)
- ganske trist (quite sad)
So the natural order is:
- Hun blir litt trist.
Hun blir trist litt is not correct word order in standard Norwegian.
Not necessarily.
- Hun tåler kritikken means she can stand it / can handle it emotionally.
- It does not say whether she thinks the criticism is fair or unfair.
If you want to say she accepts it as fair, you would usually choose:
- Hun aksepterer kritikken.
- Hun innser at kritikken er berettiget. (She realizes the criticism is justified.)
Yes:
Hun tåler ikke kritikk.
= She can’t take criticism (in general). Criticism as a general concept makes her react badly.Hun tåler kritikken.
= She tolerates this specific criticism we are talking about now.
So:
- ikke kritikk → a general statement about her character/typical behavior.
- kritikken → a specific instance of criticism in the situation.