Questions & Answers about De giftet seg sivilt i sentrum i fjor.
What does giftet seg literally mean, and why do you need seg?
Å gifte seg is a reflexive verb in Norwegian and literally means “to marry oneself”, but idiomatically it means “to get married”.
- giftet = past tense of gifte (married / got married)
- seg = reflexive pronoun (oneself / themselves)
You must use the reflexive pronoun with this verb when talking about people getting married:
- De giftet seg. – They got married.
- Han giftet seg. – He got married.
- Vi giftet oss. – We got married.
Without seg/oss/meg, gifte sounds incomplete or can sound like “to marry (someone off)” in a more old-fashioned or different sense.
How is the verb å gifte seg conjugated in different tenses?