Questions & Answers about Han liker sjakk veldig godt.
Liker is the present tense of the verb å like, which means to like.
- English: he likes chess very much
- Norwegian: han liker sjakk veldig godt
In Norwegian, å like is regular:
- jeg liker – I like
- du liker – you like
- han / hun / den / det liker – he / she / it likes
- vi liker – we like
- dere liker – you (plural) like
- de liker – they like
Notice there is no -s in the third person singular (Norwegian does not say han likers; it stays han liker).
In this sentence, sjakk is used to talk about chess in general, as an activity or game. In Norwegian, many games, sports and school subjects are used without an article in this general sense.
Compare:
- Han liker sjakk. – He likes chess (in general, as a game).
- Han liker fotball. – He likes football.
- Han liker fysikk. – He likes physics.
You can in theory say sjakken, but that would make it specific:
- Han liker sjakken her i byen. – He likes the chess scene here in town / the chess club here.
In normal sentences about liking the game in general, you just say sjakk, with no article and no ending.
In Bokmål, sjakk is a masculine (common gender) noun.
If you really need forms with articles, they are:
- Indefinite singular: en sjakk (rare in everyday use)
- Definite singular: sjakken
- Compound words: sjakkbrett (chessboard), sjakkspill (chess game), sjakkklubb (chess club), etc.
Examples:
- Sjakken på TV i går var spennende. – The chess (match) on TV yesterday was exciting.
- Han vant sjakken i skoleturneringen. – He won the chess (event) in the school tournament.
But when you just mean the game in general, as in your sentence, you normally stick to bare sjakk: Han liker sjakk veldig godt.
Literally:
- veldig = very
- godt = well / good (neuter form of god)
Together, veldig godt is an adverbial phrase modifying the verb liker. It tells us how much he likes chess.
So:
- Han liker sjakk. – He likes chess.
- Han liker sjakk veldig godt. – He likes chess very much.
Even though godt literally means well, the idiomatic meaning of liker … veldig godt is likes … very much.
We are not describing sjakk; we are describing how he likes it. That’s why godt works as an adverb, not as an adjective agreeing with a noun.
- god = basic adjective form (common gender, masculine/feminine)
- godt = neuter singular form and also the form used adverbially
- gode = plural / definite adjective form
When godt is used as an adverb, it does not agree with any noun; it just modifies the verb:
- Han liker sjakk godt. – He likes chess well / quite a lot.
- Hun synger godt. – She sings well.
- Det gikk veldig godt. – It went very well.
So in Han liker sjakk veldig godt, godt is not about sjakk; it is about how strongly he likes it.
Han liker sjakk veldig mye.
This is grammatically correct and understandable: He likes chess very much.
However, for many native speakers Han liker sjakk veldig godt sounds more natural and idiomatic when you talk about liking something.Han liker sjakk veldig bra.
This sounds odd. Bra is usually used with verbs like fungere, gjøre det, gå (work/function/go well), or synes … er bra (think something is good).
More natural alternatives:
- Han liker sjakk veldig godt. – He likes chess very much.
- Han synes sjakk er veldig bra. – He thinks chess is very good.
So yes, veldig mye is possible but less idiomatic here; veldig godt is the standard collocation with like.
The neutral, natural order in Norwegian is:
Subject – Verb – Object – Adverbial
Han – liker – sjakk – veldig godt
Adverbials like veldig godt and godt usually come after the direct object.
Alternative orders:
- Han liker sjakk godt. – Natural, just a bit less strong than veldig godt.
- Han liker veldig godt sjakk. – Possible, but sounds marked / a bit unusual in everyday speech.
- Han liker veldig godt å spille sjakk. – This sounds more natural, because the object is a longer phrase (å spille sjakk).
As a learner, you are safest with:
- Han liker sjakk veldig godt.
Yes, you can adjust the intensity:
Han liker sjakk.
Neutral: He likes chess.Han liker sjakk godt.
Stronger: He likes chess quite a lot / really likes chess.Han liker sjakk veldig godt.
Even stronger emphasis: He likes chess very much.
So godt and veldig are just adding degrees of intensity, not changing the basic meaning.
Both can often be translated as He really likes chess, but there is a nuance:
Han liker sjakk veldig godt.
Fairly neutral; just states that he likes chess a lot.Han er veldig glad i sjakk.
Slightly more emotional / affectionate; it can sound like a stronger personal attachment or passion.
You can use either for hobbies:
- Han er veldig glad i sjakk. – He’s very fond of chess / really loves chess.
- Han er veldig glad i musikk. – He really loves music.
Both are common; glad i is sometimes felt as a bit more intense.
Approximate pronunciation (Bokmål, standard-ish):
Han – /hɑn/
- h like English h, a like father.
liker – /ˈliːkər/ or /ˈliːkə/
- li like English lee,
- k like English k,
- ending -er often reduced, closer to a weak uh sound.
sjakk – /ʃɑk/
- sj = sh sound as in shoe,
- a like father,
- kk like a short, crisp k.
veldig – /ˈvɛldi/
- v like English v,
- e like bed,
- ld pronounced together,
- final g usually silent or very weak.
godt – /ɡɔt/ or /ɡʊt/ depending on dialect
- g like English g in go,
- o somewhere between o in got and oo in good,
- final -dt usually sounds like a plain t.
Spoken fairly naturally, you might hear something like:
- Han liker sjakk veldig godt. → /hɑn ˈliːkə ʃɑk ˈvɛldi ɡɔt/