Jeg tar meg av barna i kveld.

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Breakdown of Jeg tar meg av barna i kveld.

• barnet: the child
• i kveld: tonight
• ta seg av: to take care of

Questions & Answers about Jeg tar meg av barna i kveld.

Why is tar meg av used here instead of just tar?

Because å ta seg av is a fixed expression in Norwegian. It means to take care of, to look after, or sometimes to deal with someone or something.

So in this sentence, you should understand:

• ta = take
• ta seg av = take care of / look after as a whole expression

You usually cannot translate it word-for-word and get natural English. It works like a set phrase.

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Why is meg there? What does it do?

Meg is the reflexive part of the expression å ta seg av.

With jeg, the reflexive pronoun is meg:

• jeg tar meg av = I take care of
• du tar deg av = you take care of
• han/hun tar seg av = he/she takes care of
• vi tar oss av = we take care of

So meg is not being used in the ordinary sense of me here. It is part of the verb pattern.

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Why is it av? Can I leave it out?