Questions & Answers about Vi liker barnas tegning.
What exactly does liker mean here? Is it more like English like or love?
In this sentence liker corresponds to English like.
- Vi liker barnas tegning.
→ We like the children’s drawing.
Norwegian has another common verb for stronger emotion: elsker (to love).
- Vi elsker barnas tegning.
→ We love the children’s drawing.
So:
- liker = find pleasant, enjoy, have a positive opinion of
- elsker = feel strong love for (people, sometimes things)
In everyday speech, liker is the normal, neutral choice when talking about things like drawings, food, music, etc.
Why is the verb liker the same with vi (we)? Shouldn't it change like I like / he likes in English?
Norwegian verbs do not change according to person or number in the present tense.
So:
- jeg liker – I like
- du liker – you like
- han/hun liker – he/she likes
- vi liker – we like
- dere liker – you (plural) like
- de liker – they like
The verb form liker is used for all of these subjects. There is no -s ending like English he likes.