Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.

Grandpa likes to tell about his childhood.

Breakdown of Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.

• om: about
• å: to
• like: to like
• bestefaren: the grandfather
• barndommen: the childhood
• fortelle: to tell

Questions & Answers about Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.

Why is there no min (“my”) after Bestefar? In English we say “my grandfather likes…”.

In Norwegian you often drop the possessive with close family members when it’s clear from context whose relative it is.

• Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.
  = My / our grandfather likes to talk about his childhood.

You can add the possessive, but the form changes:

• Bestefaren min liker å fortelle om barndommen.
  Literally: The grandfather mine likes to talk about childhood.

So you have two natural options:

• Bestefar liker … (more informal, like using a name: “Grandpa likes …”)
• Bestefaren min liker … (more explicit: “My grandfather likes …”)

Both can mean “My grandfather likes to talk about his childhood” depending on context.

Why is Bestefar capitalized? Is it a name?

When you use a family word as a form of address or a kind of name, you usually capitalize it in Norwegian:

• Bestefar, Mamma, Pappa, Onkel Per

So Bestefar here functions like a proper noun (a name), similar to writing Grandpa with a capital G in English when you mean a specific person.

If you speak more generally, you use lowercase and usually an article:

• bestefar = a grandfather (role)
• en bestefar = a grandfather
• bestefaren min = my grandfather

In your sentence, Bestefar is “Grandpa” as a specific person, so it’s capitalized.

Why do we need å in liker å fortelle? Why not just liker fortelle?

In Norwegian, when one verb is followed by another verb in the infinitive, you almost always use å before the second verb:

• liker å fortelle = likes to tell
• prøver å lære = tries to learn
• begynner å lese = starts to read

So the pattern is:

[conjugated verb] + å + [infinitive]

You cannot say:

• ✗ Bestefar liker fortelle om barndommen. (wrong)

You must say:

• ✓ Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.

What is the difference between liker, elsker, and er glad i?

All three can be translated with “like / love”, but they have different strengths and typical uses:

• liker

  • Basic “like”, for activities, things, people.
  • Bestefar liker å fortelle. = Grandpa likes to tell stories.

• er glad i

  • Literally “is happy in”, often between like and love in strength.
  • Used for people, animals, and also for things/activities.
  • Jeg er glad i deg. = I’m fond of you / I love you.
  • Jeg er glad i å lese. = I really like reading.

• elsker

  • Strong “love”, often emotional, romantic, or very intense.
  • Jeg elsker deg. = I love you.
  • Can be used for activities too, but then it sounds very strong:
    
    • Jeg elsker å reise. = I absolutely love traveling.

In your sentence liker is natural and neutral: Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.

Why is the word order å fortelle om barndommen, and not å fortelle barndommen om?

Norwegian word order is similar to English here:

• å fortelle om barndommen
  = “to talk about the childhood”

The normal pattern is:

[verb] + [preposition] + [object]
fortelle om barndommen

You cannot split om from its object:

• ✗ å fortelle barndommen om (wrong)

So you must keep om immediately before barndommen: om barndommen.

Why is the preposition om used for “about”? Could you use something else?

om is the standard preposition meaning “about” in contexts like talking, writing, or thinking about something:

• fortelle om = tell about
• snakke om = talk about
• lese om = read about
• tenke på = think about (here it’s på, not om, by idiom)

In your sentence:

• fortelle om barndommen
  = tell about (his) childhood

You can’t replace om with other common prepositions like på, av, or til here. It must be om.

Why is it barndommen (with -en) and not just barndom?

barndom means “childhood” and is a masculine noun (en barndom).

Norwegian often uses the definite form (with -en) for concepts like your own childhood or when it’s clear which childhood you mean:

• barndom = childhood (in general, as a concept)
• barndommen = the childhood (usually “his/her/my childhood” in context)

In this sentence:

• Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.
  Most listeners will understand this as his own childhood, even though that’s not spelled out.

You could say om sin barndom (“about his childhood”) for extra clarity:

• Bestefar liker å fortelle om sin barndom.

But om barndommen is perfectly normal and sounds natural.

What gender is barndom, and how do you form its definite and plural forms?

barndom is masculine in Norwegian.

Its main forms:

• en barndom = a childhood (indefinite singular)
• barndommen = the childhood (definite singular)
• barndommer = childhoods (indefinite plural, rare but possible)
• barndommene = the childhoods (definite plural)

In everyday language, you almost always see barndom or barndommen, not the plural forms.

If I want to say “Grandpa doesn’t like to talk about his childhood”, where does ikke go?

ikke normally comes after the verb in simple statements:

• Bestefar liker ikke å fortelle om barndommen.
  = Grandpa doesn’t like to talk about his childhood.

Basic pattern:

[Subject] + [verb] + ikke + [rest of sentence]

So here:

• Subject: Bestefar
• Verb: liker
• Negation: ikke
• Infinitive phrase: å fortelle om barndommen

In English we might say “Grandpa likes telling stories about his childhood”. Why is there no -ing form in Norwegian?

Norwegian doesn’t have a separate -ing verb form like English. Instead, it just uses:

• infinitive with å: å fortelle = to tell / telling

So the English ideas:

• “likes to tell”
• “likes telling”

are both normally translated as:

• liker å fortelle

Context tells you whether it’s more natural to read it as “to tell” or “telling” in English. Norwegian doesn’t make that distinction in the verb form itself.

How would you turn this into a yes/no question: “Does Grandpa like to talk about his childhood?”

For yes/no questions, Norwegian usually flips the order so that the verb comes first:

• Liker bestefar å fortelle om barndommen?
  = Does Grandpa like to talk about his childhood?

Pattern:

[Verb] + [subject] + [rest of sentence]?

So:

• Liker (verb)
• bestefar (subject)
• å fortelle om barndommen (rest)

What is the difference between å fortelle, å snakke, and å si?

All are related to speaking, but they’re used differently:

• å fortelle

  • to tell, to narrate, to relate events or stories
  • Bestefar liker å fortelle om barndommen.
    = He likes to narrate / tell stories about his childhood.

• å snakke

  • to talk, to speak (more general conversation)
  • Bestefar liker å snakke om barndommen.
    = He likes to talk about his childhood. (also correct; a bit more general, less “storytelling” feeling)

• å si

  • to say (individual sentences, words)
  • Han sier at han hadde en fin barndom.
    = He says he had a nice childhood.

In your sentence, å fortelle emphasizes that he is telling stories or giving accounts, not just casually mentioning it.

Could you say Bestefaren min liker å fortelle om barndommen instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can, and it’s perfectly correct:

• Bestefaren min liker å fortelle om barndommen.

Difference in nuance:

• Bestefar liker …

  • Sounds like you’re talking about “Grandpa” in a personal, familiar way (like using a proper name).

• Bestefaren min liker …

  • Feels a bit more neutral or descriptive, simply saying “My grandfather likes …”
  • You might use this when introducing him to someone who doesn’t know him.

Both are fine; which you choose depends mainly on style and context, not grammar.