Word
Barna hjelper til med å brette håndklærne, men skittentøyskurven står fortsatt full på badet.
Meaning
The children help fold the towels, but the laundry basket is still full in the bathroom.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Barna hjelper til med å brette håndklærne, men skittentøyskurven står fortsatt full på badet.
å
to
med
with
barnet
the child
men
but
Questions & Answers about Barna hjelper til med å brette håndklærne, men skittentøyskurven står fortsatt full på badet.
Why does barna end in -a instead of using a separate word for the?
In Norwegian, definiteness is usually built into the noun itself.
- barn = children or child/children in a general sense, depending on context
- barna = the children
This -a ending is a common definite plural ending for some neuter nouns, including barn.
So:
- Barna hjelper til = The children are helping out
Norwegian often attaches the to the end of the noun instead of putting it in front.
What does hjelper til mean? Why not just hjelper?
Å hjelpe til is a very common expression meaning to help out or to lend a hand.
- hjelpe = help
- hjelpe til = help out / assist with something
So Barna hjelper til sounds more natural here than just Barna hjelper, because it suggests they are pitching in with a task.
Examples:
- Kan du hjelpe? = Can you help?
- Kan du hjelpe til? = Can you help out?
The little word til is part of the expression and changes the feel of the verb.