Pronunciation – Reductions
In Course 1 you read about «silent letters», i.e. consonants that are written, but do not represent a sound.
In some cases, also the humble vowel «e» is written, but not pronounced.
In this step, we are going to see how and when the vowel «e» is written but not pronounced.
If the «e» occurs in an unstressed syllable between /t, d, n, l, s/ and /n/, the /e/ is not pronounced.
The final /n/ constitutes the second syllable and must be pronounced clearly.
When you pronounce the words listed below you go straight from /t, d, n, l, s/ in the end of one syllable to the /n/ of the next.
Click on this audio to hear the pronunciation:
| Careful pronunciation | Common pronunciation |
| tretten | /2treten/ | thirteen | /2tretn̩/ |
| boden | /1bu:den/ | the storage room | /1bu:dn̩/ |
| vinen | /1vi:nen/ | the wine | /1vi:nn̩/ |
| bilen | /1bi:len/ | the car | /1bi:ln̩/ |
| bussen | /1bʉsen/ | the bus | /1bʉsn̩/ |
This rule is for instance applied:
-
For numbers 13 – 19: tretten, fjorten, femten, seksten, sytten, atten, nitten
-
When masculine nouns ending in /t, d, n, l, s/ in basic form are put in singular definite form:
| en hatt | hatten | the hat |
| en bod | boden | the storage room |
| en vin | vinen | the wine |
| en bil | bilen | the car |
| en buss | bussen | the bus |
- All nouns in masculine, feminine and neuter form in plural definite form:
hattene
bodene
vinene
bilene
bussene
This is our last Pronunciation step on this course.
We wanted to show you how to add a little bit more flow to your spoken Norwegian.
Because language is not just about grammar, on the contrary!
It’s very much about rhythm and understanding how natives talk.
So try this out on your own, in front of the mirror or when driving your car, whit a chat pal or a study buddy, you name it…
Have fun with Norwegian!
