Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.

He thinks the drink is too cold tonight.

Breakdown of Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.

• være: to be
• han: he
• i: in
• kvelden: the evening
• synes: to think
• for kald: too cold
• drikken: the drink

Questions & Answers about Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.

What does synes mean here, and how is it different from tror and mener?

In this sentence, synes means “to think / to find (have an opinion)” based on direct experience.

Basic differences:

• synes

  • Opinion based on experience or personal taste.
  • Often translates well as “find”:
    
    • Han synes drikken er for kald. = He finds the drink too cold.
  • Very common for everyday, subjective opinions (taste, quality, impressions).

• tror

  • Means “to believe / to think” when you don’t know for sure (assumptions, guesses, beliefs).
  • Jeg tror han kommer. = I think (I believe) he’s coming.

• mener

  • Means “to mean / to hold an opinion” in a more deliberate, reasoned way.
  • Often used for more serious or general opinions: politics, ideas, principles.
  • Han mener at det er feil. = He thinks / believes (is of the opinion that) it’s wrong.

In this sentence he is judging the drink he is actually drinking, so synes is the natural choice.

Why is it drikken and not drikke or en drikk?

drikken is the definite singular noun, meaning “the drink” (a specific drink they both know about).

Forms:

• en drikk = a drink (indefinite, singular)
• drikken = the drink (definite, singular)
• drikker = drinks (plural) or drinks (verb, present: drinks / is drinking)
• å drikke = to drink (verb infinitive)

In your sentence, he’s clearly talking about the particular drink he has now, so Norwegian uses the definite form:

• Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.
  He thinks the drink is too cold tonight.

Using drikke by itself would normally be understood as the verb “to drink”, not “the drink”.

Is drikke a verb or a noun, and how is it different from drikk?

Both exist:

• å drikke (verb) = to drink

  • Jeg vil drikke vann. = I want to drink water.

• en drikk (noun) = a drink / a beverage

  • En kald drikk. = A cold drink.

In everyday speech, drikke is also used as a noun meaning roughly “(alcoholic) drinks / beverages”, e.g.:

• Vi kjøpte mye drikke. = We bought a lot of drinks / beverages.

But in the sentence drikken, the base noun is drikk, so:

• drikk → drikken (the drink).

You cannot say Han synes drikke er for kald for the drink; it sounds wrong. You need drikken (the specific drink).

What does for kald mean? Is for the same as English “for”?

No, for here does not mean English “for”.
In this context, for means “too” (too much, excessively).

• for kald = too cold
• for dyr = too expensive
• for stor = too big

So:

• Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.
  = He thinks the drink is too cold tonight.

If you removed for, you would just get “cold”, not “too cold”:

• Han synes drikken er kald. = He thinks the drink is cold. (neutral description)
• Han synes drikken er for kald. = He thinks the drink is too cold. (it’s colder than he wants)

What’s the difference between kald, for kald, veldig kald, and altfor kald?

They all relate to how cold something is, but with different nuances:

• kald = cold

  • Neutral description: the temperature is low.
  • Drikken er kald. = The drink is cold.

• for kald = too cold

  • The temperature is more cold than is desirable.
  • Drikken er for kald. = The drink is too cold (for my taste / for this situation).

• veldig kald = very cold

  • Just describes a high degree of coldness, without automatically saying it’s a problem.
  • Drikken er veldig kald. = The drink is very cold. (could be good or bad depending on context)

• altfor kald = far too cold / much too cold

  • Stronger than for kald; emphasizes excess.
  • Drikken er altfor kald. = The drink is far too cold.

In your sentence, for kald clearly expresses that he finds the drink too cold (not just very cold).

Why is there no at in Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld? Can I say Han synes at drikken er for kald?

Yes, you can say:

• Han synes at drikken er for kald i kveld.

The conjunction at corresponds to “that” in English:

• He thinks *that the drink is too cold tonight.*

In Norwegian, after common verbs like synes, tror, mener, sier, vet, the word at is often omitted in everyday speech and informal writing when the sentence is clear without it.

So both are correct:

• Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld. (more natural, informal)
• Han synes at drikken er for kald i kveld. (a bit more explicit / formal)

The clause drikken er for kald i kveld is a subordinate clause functioning as the object of synes in both versions.

How is the sentence structured grammatically? Which part is the main clause?

Structure:

• Main clause: Han synes

  • Han = he (subject)
  • synes = thinks / finds (verb)

• Subordinate clause (object clause): (at) drikken er for kald i kveld

  • drikken = the drink (subject of the subordinate clause)
  • er = is (verb)
  • for kald = too cold (predicative adjective)
  • i kveld = tonight (time adverbial)

So the whole thing is:

• He thinks [that the drink is too cold tonight].

Word order in the subordinate clause drikken er for kald i kveld is Subject – Verb – Rest, which is standard for Norwegian subordinate clauses when you don’t move anything around for emphasis.

Why is it i kveld and not på kveld or denne kvelden for “tonight”?

Norwegian has some fixed expressions with i + time word for parts of the day:

• i går = yesterday
• i dag = today
• i morgen = tomorrow
• i kveld = tonight
• i natt = tonight / during the night

So i kveld is the natural, idiomatic way to say “tonight”.

Alternatives:

• denne kvelden = this evening (more specific, often contrasts with other evenings; slightly more formal/literary in many contexts)
• på kvelden = in the evening / in the evenings (habitual, general):
  
  • Jeg trener på kvelden. = I work out in the evenings.

In Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld, you are talking about tonight (this evening, now), so i kveld is the standard choice.

Can i kveld appear in other positions in the sentence?

Yes. Time adverbials like i kveld are quite flexible in Norwegian. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Han synes drikken er for kald i kveld.
   – Neutral, very natural word order.

2. Han synes i kveld at drikken er for kald.
   – Emphasizes “tonight” a bit more; a bit more formal/stiff.

3. I kveld synes han drikken er for kald.
   – i kveld is at the beginning for emphasis: Tonight, he thinks the drink is too cold.

For learners, version 1 is the safest and most natural here.

How would I make this sentence negative? Where does ikke go?

To say “He doesn’t think the drink is too cold tonight”, you normally negate the main clause:

• Han synes ikke drikken er for kald i kveld.
  = He doesn’t think the drink is too cold tonight.

Word order:

• Han (subject)
• synes (verb)
• ikke (negation)
• drikken er for kald i kveld (object clause)

If you instead negate the subordinate clause, you change the meaning:

• Han synes drikken ikke er for kald i kveld.
  = He thinks the drink is *not too cold tonight.*

Grammatically correct, but in practice people usually say the first version (Han synes ikke …) for that meaning.

How do you pronounce the key words synes, drikken, and kveld?

Approximate pronunciations (standard Eastern Norwegian; bold marks main stress):

• Han ≈ hahn

  • /hɑn/

• synes ≈ SÜ-nəs (first syllable like German ü or French u)

  • /ˈsʏːnəs/ or /ˈsʏnəs/
  • Stress on sy-.

• drikken ≈ DRI-kken

  • /ˈdrɪkːən/
  • Short i (like in bit), double kk gives a long k sound, clear -en ending.
  • Stress on drik-.

• er ≈ air (but shorter)

  • /æːr/ or /ær/

• kald ≈ kald (like English culled without the “u” sound)

  • /kɑld/

• i ≈ ee

  • /iː/

• kveld ≈ kvelld (the kv is like kv in kvetch, eld as in held but with shorter vowel)

  • /kvɛld/
  • Stress on kveld (it’s one syllable).

Put together slowly: Han SY-nes DRIK-ken er for KALD i KVELD.