Dette vennskapet forstår jeg bedre nå.

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Breakdown of Dette vennskapet forstår jeg bedre nå.

• nå: now
• dette: this
• forstå: to understand

Questions & Answers about Dette vennskapet forstår jeg bedre nå.

What does each individual word in Dette vennskapet forstår jeg bedre nå mean literally?

Word by word:

• Dette = this (neuter form of denne/dette/disse)
• vennskapet = the friendship (vennskap = friendship, -et = neuter definite ending the)
• forstår = understand / understands (present tense of å forstå)
• jeg = I
• bedre = better
• nå = now

A very literal rendering would be: This friendship understand I better now.

Why does the sentence start with Dette vennskapet instead of Jeg?

Norwegian main clauses follow a verb-second (V2) rule:

• The finite verb (here: forstår) must be in second position.
• The first position can be many things: subject, object, adverb, etc.

In this sentence:

1. Dette vennskapet = first element (object/topic)
2. forstår = second element (verb)
3. jeg = third element (subject)

So Dette vennskapet forstår jeg bedre nå is perfectly normal: the speaker is putting this friendship in focus by putting it first, but still keeping the verb in second position as Norwegian requires.

If you put the subject first:

• Jeg forstår dette vennskapet bedre nå.

Here, jeg is first, forstår is still second, so it also follows the V2 rule.