Musikken får ham til å slappe av.

the music

Breakdown of Musikken får ham til å slappe av.

• slappe av: to relax
• ham: him
• få ... til å: to make

Questions & Answers about Musikken får ham til å slappe av.

Why is it ham and not han in this sentence?

Norwegian has two forms for he / him in Bokmål:

• han – subject form (like English he)
• ham – object form (like English him)

In standard written Bokmål, you normally use:

• Han sover. = He is sleeping. (subject)
• Jeg ser ham. = I see him. (object)

In Musikken får ham til å slappe av, ham is the object of the verb får – the music affects him – so the object form is used.

In everyday spoken Norwegian, many people say han in both positions (subject and object), so you will often hear:

• Musikken får han til å slappe av.

This is very common in speech, but in careful / formal writing, ham as the object is preferred.

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What does the construction får … til å mean here?