Breakdown of Fuglemateren får flere fugler til å komme nærmere vinduet.
Questions & Answers about Fuglemateren får flere fugler til å komme nærmere vinduet.
In this sentence, får … til å means “makes / causes / gets (someone) to do (something)”.
General pattern:
- [Subject] + får + [person/thing] + til å + [infinitive verb]
Here:
- Fuglemateren (the bird feeder) = subject
- får = “makes/gets”
- flere fugler = “more birds” (the ones being caused to do something)
- til å komme = “to come”
So fuglemateren får flere fugler til å komme … = “the bird feeder makes more birds come …” / “gets more birds to come …”.
In Norwegian, få in the causative sense must be followed by til å + infinitive, not by a finite verb.
- Correct: Han får barna til å lese. = He gets the children to read.
- Incorrect: Han får barna leser. (ungrammatical)
So:
- får flere fugler til å komme = gets more birds to come (infinitive komme)
- får flere fugler kommer would wrongly mix a causative verb with a finite verb (kommer) and is ungrammatical.
- flere = “more” with countable plural nouns (things you can count one by one).
- mer = “more” with uncountable / mass nouns or as a general “more” without counting.
Examples:
- flere fugler = more birds (you can count birds)
- mer vann = more water (you don’t normally count “waters”)
- flere bøker = more books
- mer penger = more money
Since fugler (birds) are countable, Norwegian uses flere fugler, not mer fugler.
Fuglemateren is the definite singular form: “the bird feeder”.
Forms:
- en fuglemater = a bird feeder (indefinite)
- fuglemateren = the bird feeder (definite)
Norwegian often uses the definite form when English could use either “the” or “a”, especially if:
- it’s clear from context (e.g., the feeder on this window), or
- we’re talking about something specific and familiar.
If you wanted to introduce the idea of a bird feeder in general, you could say:
- En fuglemater får flere fugler til å komme nærmere vinduet.
“A bird feeder gets more birds to come closer to the window.”
In your sentence, fuglemateren suggests we are talking about a specific, known feeder.
Yes, fuglemateren is one compound word.
Structure:
- fugl = bird
- mater (from å mate = to feed) = feeder
- fuglemater = bird feeder
- fuglemateren = the bird feeder (definite)
Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as a single word, unlike English:
- fuglemater = “bird feeder”
- barneskole = “primary school”
- håndbok = “handbook”
The linking -e- in fugle-mater is common in compounds and doesn’t change the meaning; it just makes the word easier to pronounce.
Flere already marks something as indefinite and plural (“more [some] birds”), so the noun also stays indefinite plural:
- fugl = bird (indefinite singular)
- fuglen = the bird (definite singular)
- fugler = birds (indefinite plural)
- fuglene = the birds (definite plural)
After flere, you use indefinite plural:
- flere fugler = more birds
- flere biler = more cars
- flere hus = more houses
If you wanted “more of the birds” (a specific group), you’d say:
- flere av fuglene = more of the birds.
Nærmere is the comparative form of nær (“near / close”), so it means “nearer” or “closer”.
- nær = near / close
- nærmere = nearer / closer
- nærmest = nearest / closest
It can act as an adverb or adjective. In your sentence:
- komme nærmere vinduet = “come closer to the window”
Other examples:
- Kan du komme litt nærmere? = Can you come a bit closer?
- Han bor nærmere byen nå. = He lives closer to the city now.
With nær / nærmere used in this “distance” sense, Norwegian normally does not use a preposition:
- stå nær veggen = stand close to the wall
- komme nærmere meg = come closer to me
- komme nærmere vinduet = come closer to the window
So nærmere vinduet is the natural form.
✗ nærmere til vinduet or ✗ nærmere ved vinduet are not idiomatic here.
You can use other prepositions with different nuances:
- ved vinduet = by / at the window
- borte ved vinduet = over by the window
but those are different constructions, not part of nærmere.
Vinduet is the definite singular: “the window”.
Forms:
- et vindu = a window (indefinite singular)
- vinduet = the window (definite singular)
- vinduer = windows (indefinite plural)
- vinduene = the windows (definite plural)
We usually use the definite form when a specific, known window is meant (for example, the window in your living room). So nærmere vinduet = “closer to the window (we both know which one)”.
Får is the present tense of the verb å få.
Principal parts:
- å få = to get / receive / be allowed to / make (someone do something)
- får = (I/you/he etc.) get / receive / are allowed / make
- fikk = got / received / was allowed / made (preterite)
- har fått = have got / have received / have been allowed / have made
Main uses:
- get / receive:
Jeg får et brev. = I get a letter. - be allowed to:
Jeg får gå nå. = I’m allowed to go now. - manage to (in some contexts):
Jeg får det ikke til. = I can’t manage it / I can’t get it to work. - causative (your sentence):
Jeg får ham til å le. = I make him laugh / I get him to laugh.
In your sentence, it’s this causative meaning.
Yes, here are some natural alternatives with slightly different nuances:
Fuglemateren gjør at flere fugler kommer nærmere vinduet.
“The bird feeder makes it so that more birds come closer to the window.”
(More explicit cause, a bit more neutral/explicit than får … til å.)Fuglemateren lokker flere fugler nærmere vinduet.
“The bird feeder lures more birds closer to the window.”
(lokker = “lures/attracts”, emphasizes attraction.)Med fuglemateren kommer flere fugler nærmere vinduet.
“With the bird feeder, more birds come closer to the window.”
(Describes the situation with the feeder present, less directly “causative”.)
All are grammatical; your original sentence is a very natural, everyday way to say this.