Noen kommentarer i tråden var fulle av fordommer og virket nesten uærlige.

Some comments in the thread were full of prejudices and seemed almost dishonest.

Breakdown of Noen kommentarer i tråden var fulle av fordommer og virket nesten uærlige.

• være: to be
• i: in
• og: and
• av: of
• virke: to seem
• full: full
• noen: some
• nesten: almost
• kommentaren: the comment
• tråden: the thread
• fordommen: the prejudice
• uærlig: dishonest

Questions & Answers about Noen kommentarer i tråden var fulle av fordommer og virket nesten uærlige.

Why is it Noen kommentarer and not Noe kommentarer?

Noen is used with countable plural nouns, like kommentarer (comments).
Noe is used with:

• uncountable nouns: noe vann (some water)
• or in some abstract/indefinite senses: noe rart (something strange)

Since kommentarer are individual countable items, you need noen kommentarer, not noe kommentarer.

Why is kommentarer in the plural here?

The idea is “some comments”, not just one, so Norwegian uses the plural form.

• Singular indefinite: en kommentar (a comment)
• Plural indefinite: kommentarer (comments)
• Plural definite: kommentarene (the comments)

Because noen already indicates an indefinite quantity, you pair it with the indefinite plural kommentarer.

Why is it i tråden and not på tråden?

For online discussions, Norwegians normally say:

• i tråden = in the thread (inside that discussion)
• i kommentarfeltet = in the comment section

På tråden can be used in other contexts (e.g. literally “on the thread,” or idiomatic “på tråd” = on the line/phone), but for an internet discussion thread, i tråden is the standard preposition choice.

What does tråden mean exactly, and why is it in the definite form?

Tråd literally means thread (like a piece of string), but online it means a discussion thread.

Forms:

• en tråd – a thread
• tråden – the thread

Here, tråden refers to a specific thread that both speaker and listener know about (for example, a thread they just read), so the definite form tråden (“the thread”) is used.

Why is it var fulle and not var full?

The adjective has to agree with the noun in number (singular/plural) and definiteness.

• kommentarer is plural indefinite.
• Plural form of full is fulle.

So:

• Kommentaren var full av fordommer. – The comment (singular) was full of prejudice.
• Kommentarene var fulle av fordommer. – The comments (plural) were full of prejudice.

In the sentence, Noen kommentarer … var fulle av fordommer, we’re talking about plural kommentarer, so the adjective must be fulle.

Why is the preposition av used in fulle av fordommer?

Norwegian commonly uses the pattern:

• full / fulle av + noun = full of + noun

Examples:

• full av glede – full of joy
• fulle av hat – full of hate
• fulle av fordommer – full of prejudices

Using av here is idiomatic and parallels English “full of …”, not “full with …”.

What exactly does fordommer mean, and is it plural?

Yes, fordommer is plural.

• Singular: en fordom – a prejudice / a preconceived notion
• Plural: fordommer – prejudices

Meaning-wise, it matches English “prejudices,” “biased assumptions,” or “stereotypes” depending on context.
Fulle av fordommer = full of prejudices / very biased.

Why do we say var fulle av fordommer og virket nesten uærlige without repeating the subject?

In Norwegian, if you have the same subject for two verbs in one clause, you don’t need to repeat the subject after og (and), just like in English:

• English: Some comments were full of prejudice and seemed almost dishonest.
• Norwegian: Noen kommentarer … var fulle av fordommer og virket nesten uærlige.

The understood subject (de / de kommentarene) applies to both var and virket, so you don’t write it twice.

What’s the nuance of virket here? Doesn’t virke also mean “to work”?

Yes, virke has two main meanings:

1. To work / to function

   • Datamaskinen virker ikke. – The computer doesn’t work.

2. To seem / to appear (to be)

   • Han virker sliten. – He seems tired.
   • Kommentarene virket nesten uærlige. – The comments seemed almost dishonest.

In this sentence, it clearly has meaning 2: “seemed” or “came across as”, not “worked.”

Why is it nesten uærlige and not just uærlige?

Nesten means almost, and it softens the statement:

• uærlige – dishonest
• nesten uærlige – almost dishonest / bordering on dishonest

This implies the comments might not be outright lies, but they feel insincere, misleading, or not fully honest. It’s a way to criticize them while leaving a little room for doubt or politeness.

How is uærlige formed, and why the final -e?

Uærlige is:

• The adjective ærlig (honest)
• with the negative prefix u- (un-), forming uærlig (dishonest)
• then inflected for plural: uærlige

Adjective pattern:

• Singular, indefinite (common/neuter, predicative): ærlig / uærlig
• Plural (and definite): ærlige / uærlige

Since kommentarer is plural, you use the plural adjective uærlige.

Could you also say var fulle av fordommer og nesten uærlige, leaving out virket?

Yes, that’s grammatically fine:

• … var fulle av fordommer og nesten uærlige.

Difference in nuance:

• var … uærlige = they were dishonest (stronger, more direct statement of fact)
• virket … uærlige = they seemed / came across as dishonest (more about impression, slightly softer)

So the original virket nesten uærlige is a bit less absolute and more about how they appeared to the speaker.