Han skriver en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding i kommentarfeltet.

He writes a critical but discreet response in the comment field.

Breakdown of Han skriver en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding i kommentarfeltet.

• han: he
• en: a
• i: in
• skrive: to write
• men: but
• kritisk: critical
• diskret: discreet
• tilbakemeldingen: the response
• kommentarfeltet: the comment field

Questions & Answers about Han skriver en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding i kommentarfeltet.

Why is there a comma before men? In English we wouldn’t usually put a comma between two adjectives like this.

In Norwegian, you normally put a comma before men (but) whenever it links two elements, even inside a noun phrase:

• en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding
  = a critical but discreet feedback/comment

So the comma isn’t about listing adjectives; it’s there because of the conjunction men. This is standard punctuation in Norwegian.

What is the difference between kritisk and diskret here? Are they false friends with English?

Both are close to English, but there are some nuances:

• kritisk

  • Most often: critical in the sense of judgmental, negative, pointing out problems.
  • It can also mean critical as in crucial, at a critical stage (e.g. situasjonen er kritisk).

• diskret

  • Usually: discreet – tactful, not drawing attention, subtle.
  • It can also mean unobtrusive (e.g. diskret sminke – discreet/mild makeup).
  • In maths/technical use it can correspond to discrete (as opposed to continuous).

So in this sentence, kritisk = critical/negative, and diskret = discreet, tactful.

Why is it en kritisk tilbakemelding and not et kritisk tilbakemelding?

Because tilbakemelding has common gender in Norwegian, so it takes en (or ei in some dialects), not et.

• en tilbakemelding – a feedback
• tilbakemeldingen – the feedback

Common gender nouns (often historically masculine/feminine) use en in the indefinite singular. Neuter nouns use et.

Why is it kommentarfeltet and not kommentarfelten or something else?

Kommentarfeltet is a compound word:

• kommentar = comment
• felt = field (neuter noun: et felt, feltet)
• kommentarfelt = comment field/section (still neuter, because the last part felt is neuter)
• kommentarfeltet = the comment field/section

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix:

• felt → feltet
• kommentarfelt → kommentarfeltet

Why is it i kommentarfeltet and not på kommentarfeltet, like English “on the comment section/page”?

English and Norwegian use different prepositions in these digital contexts.

In Norwegian:

• i kommentarfeltet = in the comment field/section (literally inside the comment area)
• i avisen = in the newspaper
• på nettsiden = on the website

So for a felt (field/box/area) where you type, i (in) is natural. På kommentarfeltet would sound wrong in standard Norwegian.

Could the sentence also be Han skriver kritisk, men diskret, i kommentarfeltet? What would be the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Han skriver kritisk, men diskret, i kommentarfeltet.

Then kritisk and diskret describe how he writes (his manner of writing), not the tilbakemelding (the feedback) itself.

• Original: en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding
  → The feedback is critical but discreet.
• Alternative: Han skriver kritisk, men diskret, i kommentarfeltet.
  → He writes in a critical but discreet way in the comment section.

Both are grammatically fine, but the focus shifts from the thing (the feedback) to the manner (how he writes).

How do the adjectives agree with tilbakemelding? Why are they both just kritisk and diskret, without endings?

In Norwegian, adjectives in the indefinite singular with a common-gender noun use the base form:

• en kritisk tilbakemelding
• en diskret tilbakemelding

No extra ending is needed.

If you change number or definiteness, the adjectives change:

• Plural: kritiske, diskrete tilbakemeldinger
  (critical, discreet feedbacks/comments)
• Definite singular: den kritiske, men diskrete tilbakemeldingen
  (the critical but discreet feedback)

Why is there no separate word for “the” in kommentarfeltet? In English we say the comment field.

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of in front:

• kommentarfelt – comment field
• kommentarfeltet – the comment field

If you add an adjective and want the definite form, you use both:

• det kritiske kommentarfeltet
  
  • det – the (for neuter nouns)
  • kritiske – adjective in definite form
  • kommentarfeltet – noun with definite suffix

In your sentence, kommentarfeltet stands alone, so the suffix -et is enough.

How would the sentence change if the subject were plural, like “they”?

Only the subject (and any pronouns referring to it) would change. The rest of the sentence stays the same:

• De skriver en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding i kommentarfeltet.
  = They write a critical but discreet feedback in the comment section.

Verbs in present tense don’t change with person or number in Norwegian:

• jeg/du/han/vi/de skriver – I/you/he/we/they write

If there were several pieces of feedback, how do I make tilbakemelding and the adjectives plural?

You’d make both the noun and adjectives plural:

• Singular: en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding
• Plural: kritiske, men diskrete tilbakemeldinger

Patterns:

• tilbakemelding → tilbakemeldinger (indefinite plural)
• kritisk → kritiske (plural adjective)
• diskret → diskrete (plural adjective)

Example sentence:

• Han skriver flere kritiske, men diskrete tilbakemeldinger i kommentarfeltet.
  = He writes several critical but discreet feedbacks/comments in the comment section.

What exactly does tilbakemelding mean compared to kommentar? Could I say en kritisk, men diskret kommentar instead?

Yes, you could say:

• Han skriver en kritisk, men diskret kommentar i kommentarfeltet.

Differences:

• tilbakemelding
  
  • Very close to feedback.
  • Often about evaluating or responding to something (a piece of work, a service, behaviour).
• kommentar
  
  • A comment in general.
  • More neutral; could be anything written/said in response.

In a kommentarfelt, people usually write kommentarer, but they can function as tilbakemelding on something (an article, a video, etc.). So both can be fine; it depends on what nuance you want.

Is men related to the word menn (men, plural of “man”)? How do I keep them apart?

They are completely different words, just spelled similarly:

• men = but (conjunction)

  • Han skriver en kritisk, men diskret tilbakemelding.

• menn = men (plural of mann = man)

  • To menn skriver en kommentar. – Two men write a comment.

Pronunciation also differs:

• men (but) – short /men/
• menn (men) – also short /men/, but in connected speech you rely on context, not sound, to distinguish them.

In writing, just remember:

• One n = men (but)
• Two ns = menn (men)