Kom litt nærmere.

Come a little closer.

Breakdown of Kom litt nærmere.

• komme: to come
• litt: a little
• nærmere: closer

Questions & Answers about Kom litt nærmere.

Why is it kom and not komme?

Kom is the imperative form of the verb å komme (to come).

• Infinitive: å komme
• Present: kommer
• Past: kom
• Imperative (command): kom

In Norwegian, most imperatives are formed by taking the infinitive and dropping the final -e:

• å snakke → snakk (speak!)
• å leve → lev (live!)
• å komme → kom (come!)

So Kom litt nærmere literally uses the imperative: Come a little closer.

Where is the subject “you”? Why is there no pronoun?

Norwegian, like English, leaves out the subject “you” in imperative sentences.

• English: Come a little closer. (not You come a little closer.)
• Norwegian: Kom litt nærmere. (not Du kom litt nærmere.)

You can add du (you) for emphasis, but then it sounds more pointed:

• Du, kom litt nærmere. – You, come a little closer. (singling someone out)

Normally, you simply use the imperative without the subject.

What does litt add here? Is it necessary?

Litt means “a little / a bit”. In this sentence it does two things:

1. It expresses degree: not just “come closer”, but “come a little closer”.
2. It softens the command and makes it sound more polite or less abrupt.

Compare:

• Kom nærmere. – Come closer. (more direct)
• Kom litt nærmere. – Come a little closer. (softer, more natural in many contexts)

Norwegians use litt a lot in this softening way:

• Vent litt. – Wait a second / Wait a bit.
• Kan du hjelpe meg litt? – Can you help me a bit?

So litt isn’t strictly necessary grammatically, but it changes the tone.

What exactly is nærmere? Is it an adjective or an adverb?

Nærmere is the comparative form of nær (near), and here it functions as an adverb: “closer”.

Forms:

• nær – near / close
• nærmere – nearer / closer
• nærmest – nearest / closest

In Kom litt nærmere, it modifies the verb kom (come), so it’s used adverbially:

• Kom nærmere. – Come closer.

As an adjective you might see:

• et nærmere blikk – a closer look
• et nærmere mål – a nearer goal

Why is it nærmere and not something like mer nær?

Norwegian, like English, has special comparative forms for many common adjectives/adverbs. Just like English prefers closer over more near, Norwegian prefers:

• nærmere instead of mer nær.

Mer nær is technically understandable, but it sounds unnatural in this context. Use:

• nærmere = closer
• nærmest = closest

So the most natural phrase is Kom litt nærmere, not Kom litt mer nær.

Why is the word order Kom litt nærmere and not Kom nærmere litt?

In Norwegian, degree words like litt, veldig, ganske usually come before the adjective/adverb they modify.

• litt nærmere – a little closer
• veldig nær – very near
• ganske langt – quite far

So:

• ✅ Kom litt nærmere. – correct, natural
• ❌ Kom nærmere litt. – ungrammatical / very unnatural

Think of litt as directly modifying nærmere, so they need to stay together in the order litt nærmere.

Is Kom litt nærmere polite, or does it sound rude?

It’s usually neutral to friendly, especially in spoken Norwegian, and less abrupt than the bare Kom nærmere.

Tone depends on context and intonation:

• Said gently, to someone you’re with: natural and not rude.
• Said sharply, with a firm tone: can sound like a direct order.

For extra politeness, people often use a full question instead of a bare imperative:

• Kan du komme litt nærmere? – Can you come a little closer?
• Kunne du kommet litt nærmere? – Could you come a little closer? (even softer)

They may also add vær så snill (please):

• Kom litt nærmere, vær så snill. – Come a little closer, please.

Does Kom litt nærmere work for both one person and several people?

Yes. The imperative form kom does not change between singular and plural. Context tells you whether you’re talking to one person or many.

To make it explicit you can add dere (you, plural):

• Kom litt nærmere, dere. – You guys, come a little closer.

But in most situations, Kom litt nærmere is enough on its own.

Is kom here a past tense form (“came”) or a command (“come”)?

The form kom is used for both:

1. Past tense of å komme:

   • Han kom i går. – He came yesterday.

2. Imperative of å komme:

   • Kom litt nærmere. – Come a little closer.

You tell the difference from context and sentence structure:

• Past tense: there is a subject (like han, jeg, de).
• Imperative: no subject, verb is at the start, often used as a request or command.

How do you pronounce Kom litt nærmere?

Approximate pronunciation (Standard East Norwegian):

• Kom – like English “komm”, with a short o (somewhere between o in “off” and “come”; lips a bit more rounded than in English come).
• litt – like English “lit” (short i, final t usually pronounced clearly).
• nærmere – roughly “NAIR-meh-reh”:
  • nær – like English “nair” (as in “hair”, but with a slightly more open vowel)
  • me – short meh
  • re – short reh

Stress pattern: KOM litt NÆR-mere
Main stressed syllables: kom and nær.

Could I say “Kom litt nærmere hit”, or is that wrong?

You can say Kom litt nærmere hit, and it is grammatically fine.

• Kom litt nærmere. – Come a little closer. (implied: closer to me / to here)
• Kom litt nærmere hit. – Come a little closer here. (extra explicit)

Often hit (here/towards here) is unnecessary because kom already implies movement towards the speaker. You add hit only if you want to be very clear or contrast it with dit (there, away from the speaker).

What’s a more “polite-question” version of Kom litt nærmere?

Common, more polite alternatives include:

• Kan du komme litt nærmere? – Can you come a little closer?
• Vil du komme litt nærmere? – Will you come a little closer?
• Kunne du kommet litt nærmere? – Could you come a little closer? (very polite/soft)

You can also add vær så snill for an explicit “please”:

• Kan du komme litt nærmere, vær så snill? – Can you come a little closer, please?

These sound less like commands and more like friendly requests.