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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg kjenner deg godt. - I know you well.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Lesson 49
/Jeg kjenner deg godt.

Jeg kjenner deg godt.

Word

Jeg kjenner deg godt.

Meaning

I know you well.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Breakdown of Jeg kjenner deg godt.

Questions & Answers about Jeg kjenner deg godt.

What does each word in Jeg kjenner deg godt mean literally?

Word by word:

Jeg – I (subject pronoun, 1st person singular)
kjenner – know (present tense of å kjenne)
deg – you (object form of du)
godt – well (adverb)

So the structure is literally: I know you well.
Grammar pattern: Subject (Jeg) + Verb (kjenner) + Object (deg) + Adverb (godt).

Why is it deg and not du?

Norwegian, like English, has different forms for subject and object pronouns.

du = you as a subject (the one doing the action)
- Du kjenner meg. – You know me.
deg = you as an object (the one receiving the action)
- Jeg kjenner deg. – I know you.

In Jeg kjenner deg godt, jeg is the subject (I am doing the knowing), and deg is the object (you are the one being known), so the object form deg is required.

What is the difference between kjenner and vet, since both mean “to know”?

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Norwegian distinguishes between two main kinds of “know”:

å kjenne (here: kjenner)
- Used for:
  - Knowing people:
    - Jeg kjenner deg godt. – I know you well.
    - Kjenner du Maria? – Do you know Maria?
  - Being familiar with something (places, books, music, etc.):
    - Jeg kjenner byen godt. – I know the city well.
    - Han kjenner systemet. – He knows the system.
å vite (here: vet in present)
- Used for:
  - Knowing facts or information:
    - Jeg vet svaret. – I know the answer.
    - Vet du hva klokka er? – Do you know what time it is?
  - Knowing that… (with a clause):
    - Jeg vet at du er trøtt. – I know that you’re tired.

So you can kjenne a person, but you vet a fact.
Saying Jeg vet deg godt is wrong; you must say Jeg kjenner deg godt.

What tense is kjenner, and how is å kjenne conjugated?

Kjenner is the present tense of the verb å kjenne (“to know / be familiar with”).

Basic conjugation:

Infinitive: å kjenne – to know (someone), to be familiar with
Present: kjenner – know / knows
- Jeg kjenner deg. – I know you.
- Han kjenner henne. – He knows her.
Past (preterite): kjente – knew
- Jeg kjente deg godt. – I knew you well.
Present perfect: har kjent – have known
- Jeg har kjent deg lenge. – I have known you for a long time.

Norwegian present tense does not change with person, so it’s always kjenner for I/you/he/we/they.

Can I change the word order, like Jeg godt kjenner deg or Jeg kjenner godt deg?

No, those versions are ungrammatical or at best extremely unnatural.

The normal word order is:

Jeg kjenner deg godt.
Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb

To vary the sentence, you typically keep deg close to the verb and let adverbs come after verb + short pronoun object:

Jeg kjenner deg veldig godt. – I know you very well.
Jeg kjenner deg ikke godt. – I don’t know you well.
Jeg kjenner deg egentlig ganske godt. – I actually know you quite well.

Patterns to remember:

Subject comes first: Jeg
The finite verb in main clauses comes second: kjenner
A short pronoun object (deg) usually stays before most adverbs (godt, veldig, ikke, etc.).

Where does godt usually go in a sentence like this?

In simple main clauses with a pronoun object, a common pattern is:

Subject – Verb – Pronoun Object – Adverb

So:

Jeg kjenner deg godt. – I know you well.
Jeg liker deg veldig godt. – I like you very much.
Jeg forstår deg ikke helt. – I don’t completely understand you.

If there is no pronoun object, the adverb often comes directly after the verb:

Jeg kjenner byen godt. – I know the city well.
(Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb is also natural with a full noun.)

With negation you keep:

Jeg kjenner deg ikke godt. – I don’t know you well.
(Verb – Object – ikke – other adverbs)

Is Jeg kjenner deg godt formal or informal? Is there a polite you in Norwegian?

Jeg kjenner deg godt is neutral in terms of formality.

Modern standard Norwegian essentially uses:

du / deg – “you” (informal in origin, but now normal almost everywhere)

There used to be a formal pronoun:

De / Dem (capitalized), similar to German Sie

But today that is rare and sounds old-fashioned or very stiff, except in some very specific, formal, written contexts. In everyday speech and normal writing, you simply use du/deg with everyone and show respect through tone and word choice, not through a special pronoun.

So Jeg kjenner deg godt can be used to a friend, colleague, or even your boss, depending on the context.

How do I say “I don’t know you well” in Norwegian?

The most natural options:

Jeg kjenner deg ikke godt. – I don’t know you well.
Jeg kjenner deg ikke så godt. – I don’t know you that well.

Word order with negation:

Subject: Jeg
Verb: kjenner
Object pronoun: deg
Negation: ikke
Other adverbs: (så) godt

So:

Jeg kjenner deg ikke så godt. is probably the one you’ll hear most in conversation.

How do I say “I know you very well” or “I know you quite well”?

You can swap godt or combine it with degree adverbs:

Jeg kjenner deg veldig godt. – I know you very well.
Jeg kjenner deg svært godt. – I know you very well (more formal / stronger).
Jeg kjenner deg ganske godt. – I know you quite/pretty well.
Jeg kjenner deg utrolig godt. – I know you incredibly well.

Word order stays the same: Jeg (subject) – kjenner (verb) – deg (object) – adverb(s).

How do I put Jeg kjenner deg godt into past or future?

Past (preterite):

Jeg kjente deg godt. – I knew you well.

Present perfect (have known):

Jeg har kjent deg godt. – I have known you well.
More natural with “for a long time”:
- Jeg har kjent deg lenge. – I have known you for a long time.

Future: Norwegian often uses paraphrases rather than a single future tense:

Jeg kommer til å kjenne deg godt. – I will (come to) know you well.
More idiomatic for the idea “I will get to know you well”:
- Jeg skal bli godt kjent med deg. – I will get well acquainted with you.
- Jeg kommer til å bli godt kjent med deg. – I’m going to get to know you well.

How do you pronounce kjenner, deg, and godt?

Approximate Bokmål pronunciation (Standard Eastern Norwegian):

kjenner – [ˈçɛnːər]
- kj- is a voiceless palatal fricative, similar to the h in huge said very fronted.
- Double nn is a longer n sound.
deg – commonly [dæi] or [dɛi]; in some regions [dai] or [dei].
- So it often sounds like dai or dæi.
godt – [ɡɔt] or [ɡot]
- Final t is usually pronounced (unlike in many English words), but often a bit soft.
- The d is silent here in spelling; the word is not pronounced godt with a clear d.

Whole sentence (standard-ish):
Jeg kjenner deg godt. – [jæi ˈçɛnːər dæi ɡɔt] (with small regional variations).

Can kjenne/kjenner also mean “to feel” or “to sense”?

Yes. Å kjenne has several related meanings, all involving familiarity or sensory experience:

“To know (person / place / thing)” – as in our sentence
- Jeg kjenner deg godt. – I know you well.
“To feel” physically (by touch or sensation):
- Jeg kjenner smerte i ryggen. – I feel pain in my back.
- Kjenner du kulden? – Do you feel the cold?
“To sense / notice” more generally:
- Jeg kjenner at jeg blir syk. – I feel (that) I’m getting sick.
- Jeg kjenner at huset rister. – I can feel the house shaking.

To talk specifically about emotions there’s also å føle (“to feel” emotionally), but å kjenne often overlaps with “feel” in the physical/sensory sense.

What is the difference between Jeg kjenner deg godt and Jeg kjenner deg igjen?

They look similar but mean different things:

Jeg kjenner deg godt. – I know you well.
- You are familiar with the person’s character, habits, etc.
Jeg kjenner deg igjen. – I recognize you.
- You see the person (or hear their voice, etc.) and realize who it is.

The verb å kjenne igjen is a phrasal verb meaning “to recognize” (literally “know again”).
So igjen completely changes the meaning.

Is Jeg vet deg godt ever correct?

No. That is incorrect in Norwegian.

å vite (vet) takes facts or clauses as its object, not people:
- Jeg vet svaret. – I know the answer.
- Jeg vet at du har rett. – I know that you’re right.

You cannot “know someone” with vite. For knowing a person, you must use kjenne:

Jeg kjenner deg godt. – I know you well.
Kjenner du ham? – Do you know him?

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