Breakdown of Studieveilederen får mange studenter til å endre planene sine.
til
to
å
to
få
to get
planen
the plan
Questions & Answers about Studieveilederen får mange studenter til å endre planene sine.
What does “får … til å” mean in this sentence, and how does this structure work?
In this sentence, “får … til å + infinitive” is a causative construction. It means “makes / gets someone to do something.”
Structure:
- Subject: Studieveilederen – the study adviser
- Verb: får – “gets / makes”
- Object (person caused to act): mange studenter – many students
- “til å” + infinitive: til å endre – to change
So:
- “Studieveilederen får mange studenter til å endre …”
= The study adviser gets / makes many students change …
Why do we say “til å endre” and not just “å endre” after “får”?
With “få” in the causative sense (“make / get someone to do something”), Norwegian normally uses “til å + infinitive”, not just “å + infinitive.”
So:
- ✅ få noen *til å gjøre noe – to get someone *to do something
- ❌ få noen *å gjøre noe* – wrong / not idiomatic
Some verbs that often take “til å + infinitive”:
- få noen til å … – get someone to …
- hjelpe noen til å … – help someone to …
- lære noen til å … – teach someone to …
So “til” here is part of a fixed pattern after causative “få.”
Could I say “Studieveilederen gjør at mange studenter endrer planene sine” instead? What’s the difference?