Breakdown of Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger.
Questions & Answers about Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger.
In Norwegian, you usually use the definite form when you mean a specific thing that both speaker and listener know about.
- Vi bruker bilen økonomisk…
= We use *the car economically…* (our/that particular car)
If you say:
- Vi bruker bil når vi skal på hytta.
= We use a car when we go to the cabin. (speaking more generally about using a car as a means of transport)
So bilen implies “our/the car we have”, not just “cars in general”. You could also say:
- Vi bruker bilen vår økonomisk… = We use our car economically…
Å bruke means “to use” in a broad sense:
- Vi bruker bilen… = We use the car… (we make use of it)
In this context, it implies using/driving the car in a way that is economical.
Å kjøre means “to drive”:
- Vi kjører økonomisk for å spare penger.
= We drive economically to save money.
That sentence is actually more idiomatic if you specifically mean driving style (e.g. not accelerating hard, not speeding).
Vi bruker bilen økonomisk… is correct and understandable, but many natives might prefer Vi kjører økonomisk… if it’s really about how you drive.
Økonomisk is an adjective that is being used adverbially – it describes how the action is done:
- Vi bruker bilen økonomisk…
= We use the car *economically…*
In Norwegian, many adverbs look exactly like the masculine/feminine singular form of the adjective (no extra ending):
- Han kjører fort. = He drives fast. (fort is from the adjective fort “fast”)
- Hun snakker høyt. = She speaks loudly. (høyt from høy “high/loud”)
- Vi bruker bilen økonomisk. = We use the car economically. (økonomisk from økonomisk “economic/economical”)
So grammatically it’s an adjective form, but functionally it modifies the verb bruker, just like an adverb in English.
Økonomisk can mean several related things depending on context:
Economic/financial
- økonomisk krise = economic crisis
- økonomisk støtte = financial support
Economical/thrifty, not wasting
- en økonomisk bil = a fuel‑efficient / economical car
- han er økonomisk = he is careful with money
In Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger, it’s sense (2):
“We use the car in an economical way / we are thrifty in how we use the car.”
So it’s about not wasting fuel or money, not about the car being cheap to buy.
For å + infinitive is the usual way to express purpose (“in order to”) in Norwegian:
- Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger.
= We use the car economically *in order to save money.*
Compare:
- Jeg liker å lese. = I like to read. (no idea of purpose, just an activity)
- Jeg leser for å lære norsk. = I read in order to learn Norwegian. (clear purpose)
So:
- for å spare penger = in order to save money (purpose clause)
- å spare penger alone here would sound wrong; for is needed to show purpose after this kind of main clause.
Å spare has a few related meanings:
To save / not spend / not use up
- å spare penger = to save money
- å spare strøm = to save electricity
- å spare tid = to save time
To save up (put aside)
- Jeg sparer til ferie. = I’m saving up for a holiday.
It does not mean “to rescue” (that’s å redde) and it’s usually not used for “spare someone from something” (that’s more å skåne noen (for noe)).
In this sentence, å spare penger clearly means “to save money / to avoid spending more money.”
Penger is a plural noun in Norwegian and is normally used without an article when you mean money in general:
- Jeg har lite penger. = I have little money.
- Hun tjener mye penger. = She earns a lot of money.
- for å spare penger = to save money (in general)
You only use pengene (definite plural) when talking about specific money already known in the context:
- Vi må spare resten av pengene.
= We have to save the rest of the money.
So here penger is generic/indefinite: saving money in general, not some particular pile of cash.
No, not in this form. Norwegian usually requires an explicit subject pronoun:
- Vi bruker bilen økonomisk… = correct
- Bruker bilen økonomisk… = incomplete as a statement
If you drop vi, the sentence is read as imperative (“Use the car economically…”), and then the verb must change to imperative form:
- Bruk bilen økonomisk for å spare penger.
= Use the car economically to save money. (a command/instruction)
So for a normal statement about what we do, you need Vi.
Norwegian present tense (like bruker) often covers both:
Right now / ongoing
- Vi bruker bilen nå. = We are using the car now.
Habitual / general
- Vi bruker bilen sjelden. = We rarely use the car.
In Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger, it most naturally reads as habitual/generally true:
- We (generally) use the car in an economical way in order to save money.
Context could also make it mean something like “these days we’re using it economically”, but you don’t need a separate progressive form like English “are using”.
The standard and most natural order is:
[Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Adverb] [Purpose clause]
Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger.
You can sometimes move økonomisk for emphasis, but many alternatives sound awkward or change nuance:
- Vi bruker bilen for å spare penger økonomisk. – odd; sounds like “to save money economically”, which is redundant/strange.
- Vi bruker økonomisk bilen for å spare penger. – ungrammatical.
You could say:
- Vi bruker bilen for å spare penger på en økonomisk måte.
= …in an economical way. (more formal/wordy)
But the given word order is the normal, idiomatic way to place økonomisk here.
Vi bruker bilen økonomisk for å spare penger. is grammatically correct and understandable.
However, if the focus is specifically on driving style (fuel‑efficient driving), many natives would more naturally say:
- Vi kjører økonomisk for å spare penger.
= We drive economically to save money.
If the idea is more general (not using the car unnecessarily, combining trips, etc.), your original sentence works fine.
So:
- About how you drive → Vi kjører økonomisk…
- About how you use the car in general → Vi bruker bilen økonomisk… is okay, though slightly less common phrasing.