Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Læreren ber oss være kritiske, men også diskrete når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster. - The teacher asks us to be critical, but also discreet when we comment on each other’s texts.

Læreren ber oss være kritiske, men også diskrete når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster.

The teacher asks us to be critical, but also discreet when we comment on each other’s texts.

Breakdown of Læreren ber oss være kritiske, men også diskrete når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster.

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Questions & Answers about Læreren ber oss være kritiske, men også diskrete når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster.

Why is it ber oss være and not ber oss å være?

After the verb be (to ask, request), Norwegian often drops å in front of the infinitive when there is an object in between.

Full form: Læreren ber oss om å være kritiske …
Shorter, very common form: Læreren ber oss være kritiske …

Both are grammatically correct. The version in the sentence is just more compact. You will hear and see both patterns:

be noen om å gjøre noe
be noen gjøre noe

In both cases, it means “ask someone to do something.”

What is the literal structure of Læreren ber oss være kritiske?

Breakdown:

Læreren – the teacher (subject, definite form)
ber – asks / is asking (verb, present tense of å be)
oss – us (object pronoun)
være – be (infinitive of å være)
kritiske – critical (adjective, plural form, agreeing with oss)

Very literally: “The teacher asks us be critical.”
In natural English: “The teacher asks us to be critical.”

Why are the adjectives kritiske and diskrete in the plural form?

In Norwegian, adjectives agree with the noun or pronoun they describe in number and definiteness.

Here, the implied noun is vi/oss (we/us), which is plural. So the adjectives must also be plural:

singular: en kritisk elev – a critical student
plural: kritiske elever – critical students

With pronouns:

jeg er kritisk – I am critical
vi er kritiske – we are critical

So:

oss være kritiske, men også diskrete
– because oss = “we (us)”, a plural group.

Could the sentence use singular adjectives kritisk and diskret instead?

No, not in this context. The teacher is addressing us (a group), so the adjectives must be plural: kritiske, diskrete.

If the teacher spoke to just one person, you could say:

Læreren ber meg være kritisk, men også diskret når jeg kommenterer andres tekster.

Here meg (me) is singular, and therefore kritisk and diskret are singular.

Why is it oss first (object) and then vi later (subject) — ber oss … når vi kommenterer …?

Norwegian, like English, distinguishes between subject and object pronouns:

subject: jeg, du, han, hun, vi, dere, de
object: meg, deg, ham/han, henne, oss, dere, dem

In the main clause:

Læreren ber oss …
– Læreren is the subject (the one asking).
– oss is the object (the ones being asked).

In the subordinate clause:

… når vi kommenterer …
– now vi is the subject (the ones doing the commenting).

You cannot write Læreren ber vi være kritiske or når oss kommenterer; that would be ungrammatical for the same reason “The teacher asks we” or “when us comment” is wrong in English.

Why is it når vi kommenterer and not something like når vi skal kommentere?

Når + present tense is often used for:

General situations / habits:
- Når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster
  = whenever / when we (generally) comment on each other’s texts.
Future events from the speaker’s viewpoint:
- Jeg ringer deg når jeg kommer hjem.
  I’ll call you when I get home.

Here, the teacher is talking about a repeated situation (whenever we comment), so når vi kommenterer in the present tense is natural and idiomatic. You could say når vi skal kommentere, but that sounds more like a specific upcoming time: “when we are going to comment (this one time).”

Why is the word order når vi kommenterer, and not når kommenterer vi?

In Norwegian subordinate clauses (introduced by når, at, fordi, hvis, etc.), the standard word order is:

[subjunction] + [subject] + [verb] + …

So:

når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster
– når (subjunction)
– vi (subject)
– kommenterer (verb)

The inverted form når kommenterer vi … is only used in questions, just like English:

Når kommenterer vi hverandres tekster?
– “When do we comment on each other’s texts?” (a direct question)

What exactly does hverandres tekster mean, and how is it formed?

Hverandre means each other / one another.
To make a possessive (each other’s), Norwegian adds the possessive -s:

hverandre → hverandres

So:

hverandres tekster = each other’s texts

Structure:

hverandres – each other’s (possessive form)
tekster – texts (plural indefinite)

Very literally: texts of each other → each other’s texts.

Could I say tekster til hverandre instead of hverandres tekster?

Not with the same meaning.

hverandres tekster = each other’s texts (possession)
tekster til hverandre would normally be understood as texts to each other (direction / recipient), e.g. messages you send to one another.

So:

Vi kommenterer hverandres tekster.
– We comment on each other’s texts.
Vi skriver tekster til hverandre.
– We write texts to each other.

For possession (each other’s), use hverandres.

Why is there a comma before men: kritiske, men også diskrete?

Norwegian normally uses a comma before men (but) when it connects two parts that could each stand as separate clauses or clearly separate parts of a sentence.

Here, it links two parallel descriptions:

være kritiske
(være) også diskrete

They are balanced parts, so a comma is standard:

Læreren ber oss være kritiske, men også diskrete …

You can think of it as similar to English:

The teacher asks us to be critical, but also discreet …

What is the nuance of kritiske here? Is it “negative / complaining” or “analytical”?

In this context, kritiske means analytical, evaluative — being able to judge the quality of the texts in a thoughtful way.

Norwegian kritisk has two main senses:

Analytical, questioning:
- være kritisk til en idé – be critical of an idea (evaluate it carefully)
Serious / dangerous / critical (situation):
- situasjonen er kritisk – the situation is critical

Because the sentence is about commenting on texts, the meaning is clearly the first one: to think critically and give constructive criticism, not just to be negative.

What nuance does diskrete add? Does it mean “discreet” in the same sense as in English?

Yes, diskret (plural diskrete) is very close to English discreet:

tactful
not drawing unnecessary attention
careful not to embarrass someone or reveal too much

So være kritiske, men også diskrete suggests:

You should give honest, critical feedback,
but you should do it in a tactful, considerate way (e.g. not humiliating others in front of the group).

Why is kommenterer in the present tense and not the infinitive kommentere?

Kommenterer is the finite verb in the subordinate clause introduced by når:

… når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster.
– vi (subject)
– kommenterer (present tense verb)

The infinitive kommentere would need a preceding verb like å with a modal or another verb:

når vi skal kommentere – when we are going to comment
når vi kan kommentere – when we can comment

Here the clause når vi kommenterer hverandres tekster is a normal “when we (do X)” clause, so the verb is in the present tense.