Rådgiveren ber oss vente et øyeblikk.

The advisor asks us to wait a moment.

Breakdown of Rådgiveren ber oss vente et øyeblikk.

• et: a
• oss: us
• øyeblikket: the moment
• vente: to wait
• be: to ask
• rådgiveren: the advisor

Questions & Answers about Rådgiveren ber oss vente et øyeblikk.

Why is it rådgiveren and not en rådgiver?

Rådgiveren is the definite form: the adviser / the consultant. In Norwegian, definiteness is often shown by adding an ending to the noun:

• en rådgiver = an adviser
• rådgiveren = the adviser

So the sentence refers to a specific adviser (known from context).

What does ber mean here, and why not spør or forteller?

å be (ber) means to ask/request (someone to do something), often a polite request.

• Rådgiveren ber oss vente ... = The adviser asks us to wait ... (a request)

å spørre is more like to ask a question (ask something), not typically ask someone to do something in this structure. å fortelle means to tell (give information), which is different from making a request.

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

After verbs like å be (to ask/request), Norwegian commonly uses an infinitive without å in this pattern:

• be noen gjøre noe = ask someone to do something

So:

• ber oss vente = correct/natural Using å there (ber oss å vente) is generally not used in standard Norwegian.

What grammatical role does oss have?

oss is the object pronoun meaning us. It’s the direct object of ber:

• Rådgiveren ber [oss] ... = The adviser asks [us] ...

Norwegian pronouns change form depending on subject vs. object:

• vi = we (subject)
• oss = us (object)

Why is vente in the infinitive form?

Because it’s part of the verb pattern be + object + infinitive:

• ber oss vente = asks us to wait

So vente is the action being requested.

What’s the difference between et øyeblikk and en øyeblikk?

The noun øyeblikk is neuter in Norwegian, so it takes et in the indefinite singular:

• et øyeblikk = a moment

In the definite it becomes:

• øyeblikket = the moment

So en øyeblikk would be incorrect for standard Norwegian.

Is et øyeblikk literally “an eye blink,” and is it used like English “a moment”?

Yes, øyeblikk is literally related to eye (øye) + blink/look historically, but in modern Norwegian it simply means a moment and is used very much like English:

• Vent et øyeblikk. = Wait a moment.

It’s a very common polite phrase.

Why is there no word for “to” before vente (like English “to wait”)?

Norwegian uses å as the infinitive marker (roughly like English to), but in this construction it’s omitted:

• ber oss vente (not ber oss å vente)

So Norwegian expresses “asks us to wait” without an explicit “to” in this pattern.

Could I also say Rådgiveren ber oss om å vente et øyeblikk?

Yes. That’s another common structure:

• be noen om å + infinitive = ask someone to + verb

So both are possible, with a slight difference in feel:

• ber oss vente ... = direct and very common
• ber oss om å vente ... = also common, can sound a bit more explicitly polite/formal

What’s the word order doing here—why is it ber oss vente and not ber vente oss?

Norwegian word order places the object right after the verb in a simple main clause:

• Subject (Rådgiveren) + verb (ber) + object (oss) + infinitive phrase (vente et øyeblikk)

Putting oss after vente would be ungrammatical in standard Norwegian because oss belongs to ber, not to vente.

How would this change in a past tense sentence?

You’d use the past tense of å be, which is ba:

• Rådgiveren ba oss vente et øyeblikk. = The adviser asked us to wait a moment.

The rest of the structure stays the same.