Breakdown of Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet, andre ganger som ren fantasi.
Questions & Answers about Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet, andre ganger som ren fantasi.
Noen ganger literally means “some times” (as in “on some occasions”).
- Noen = some
- ganger = times (plural of gang, which can mean “time/occasion”)
It’s very close in meaning to av og til (“now and then / from time to time”). In most contexts you can swap them:
- Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet.
- Av og til høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet.
Both are natural. Noen ganger sounds slightly more neutral and straightforward; av og til can sound just a bit more idiomatic or casual, but the difference is small.
Norwegian main clauses follow a verb‑second (V2) rule: the finite verb usually comes in second position in the sentence, regardless of what comes first.
In the first clause:
- Noen ganger – first element (an adverbial)
- høres – the finite verb (must come second)
- forholdet i stykket – the subject + prepositional phrase
- ut – particle (goes towards the end)
- som virkelighet – complement
So the structure is:
[Noen ganger] [høres] [forholdet i stykket] [ut] [som virkelighet].
You cannot move høres away from the second position, so Noen ganger forholdet høres … is ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.
In this sentence, høres … ut means “sounds / seems”, not “is heard”.
- å høre = to hear
- høres = “is heard” in a literal passive sense, but also
- høres ut = “sounds (like) / comes across (as)”
Examples:
- Det høres ut som en god idé. – That sounds like a good idea.
- Han høres sliten ut. – He sounds tired.
So:
Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet
= Sometimes the relationship in the play sounds/comes across as reality.
It’s about how it appears to the listener/observer, not about physically hearing something.
The usual, idiomatic construction is høres ut som + noun/adjective when you mean “sounds like / seems like”:
- Det høres ut som en god plan. – It sounds like a good plan.
- Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet.
You will sometimes see or hear høres som, but:
- høres ut som is much more common and natural in modern Norwegian.
- høres som without ut can sound a bit more formal, old‑fashioned, or less idiomatic in many contexts.
So for everyday language, stick with høres ut som for “sounds like / seems like”.
Forholdet is the definite form of forhold.
- forhold = relationship, situation, circumstances, relation
- forholdet = the relationship / the situation
In this sentence it most naturally means “the relationship” (for example between two characters in the play).
It’s definite because we are talking about a specific, known relationship, presumably already introduced in the context of the play. Norwegian often uses the definite form where English uses “the …”:
- forholdet i stykket = the relationship in the play.
Stykke is a neuter noun that can mean “piece”, but also very commonly “(theatrical) play”.
- et stykke = a piece / a play
- stykket = the piece / the play
So:
- i stykket = in the play
It’s definite (stykket) because we’re talking about a specific play that is already known in the context:
forholdet i stykket = the relationship in the play.
Yes, the verb (and some other words) are left out on purpose. This is elliptical; Norwegian often omits repeated parts when parallel to the previous clause.
Full, “un-shortened” version would be:
Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet, andre ganger (høres forholdet i stykket ut) som ren fantasi.
Everything in parentheses is understood from context and therefore omitted in normal speech/writing.
This kind of omission is very natural and common in Norwegian when the structure of the two clauses is parallel.
The comma separates two coordinate clauses that share the same structure:
- Noen ganger høres forholdet i stykket ut som virkelighet,
- andre ganger (høres forholdet i stykket ut) som ren fantasi.
Norwegian often allows a simple comma to join such parallel parts, especially when the second one is elliptical (shortened) and mirrors the first.
You could add og:
- Noen ganger … som virkelighet, og andre ganger som ren fantasi.
That is also correct. The version with just a comma is a bit tighter and quite natural in writing.
Here som means “as / like” in the sense of comparison or role.
- ut som virkelighet = as/like reality
- som ren fantasi = as pure fantasy / like pure fantasy
So høres ut som X ≈ “sounds like X / comes across as X”.
Compare:
- Han jobber som lærer. – He works as a teacher.
- Det ser ut som regn. – It looks like rain.
The meaning “as” vs “like” is basically the same in Norwegian som here. Context decides how you choose to translate it into English.
Literally, ren does mean “clean” or “pure”, but in many set expressions it’s used figuratively to mean “pure, sheer, nothing but”.
- ren fantasi = pure fantasy / sheer fantasy
- ren løgn = a complete lie / sheer lie
- ren galskap = pure madness
So som ren fantasi is best translated as “like pure fantasy”, not “like clean fantasy”. The idea is that it’s 100% fantasy, not mixed with reality.
Yes, you could say:
- Noen ganger virker forholdet i stykket som virkelighet, andre ganger som ren fantasi.
Virker means “seems / appears / comes across” in a more general way, not tied to sound.
Difference in nuance:
- høres ut som – literally “sounds like”; suggests how it sounds or how it comes across to the audience, especially in an auditory or stylistic sense.
- virker som – “seems like”; more neutral and broad, about overall impression.
Both are correct; the original with høres ut som slightly emphasizes how the relationship “sounds/feels” to the audience or reader.