Question
Updated on
8 Aug 2016
- English (UK)
- English (US)
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Danish
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Italian
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Norwegian (bokmal)
Question about Norwegian (bokmal)
What is the difference between "hvis" and "om" in terms of usage as conditional "if" clauses in Norwegian (Bokmål)? I have seen both ("hvis" and "om") being used as "if" and i find that kind of confusing.
What is the difference between "hvis" and "om" in terms of usage as conditional "if" clauses in Norwegian (Bokmål)? I have seen both ("hvis" and "om") being used as "if" and i find that kind of confusing.
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- Norwegian (bokmal)
From my experience, you can use both, but "hvis" is much more natural in my dialect. I live around Drammen, not far from Oslo, so my dialect is pretty much like standard Norwegian. We almost always use "hvis" unless it's formal or in a book, where they are both used quite interchangeably.
- Norwegian (bokmal)
Use "hvis". There is really no difference, but it sounds more formal when you use "om".
- Norwegian (bokmal)
Hvis jeg lager mat, må du spise den.
Hvis katten min går ut, henter jeg den.
- English (UK)
- English (US)
Great, and how would you say "even if"? Some examples where "hvis" and "om" can be used interchangeably, please?
- Norwegian (bokmal)
They can always be used interchangeably in the beginning of a sentence. "Even if" is always "selv om".
- English (UK)
- English (US)
So then they're interchangeable only in the beginning of a sentence? And in other cases like "even if" you always use "om" instead of "hvis". Are there many examples of fixed expressions like this one where you can only use "om" instead of "hvis" or viceversa?
- Norwegian (bokmal)
There are some fixed expressions where you can only use "om". If you want to use "if" in the case of "I don't know if I should buy it or not", then you need to use "om" ("Jeg vet ikke om jeg burde kjøpe den eller ikke"). A general rule would be to use "hvis" in conditionals, but "om" in cases where you could also use "whether".
- English (US) Near fluent
- Norwegian (bokmal)
- Norwegian (nynorsk) Near fluent
If you use "hvis" then it sounds like that thing is slightly more likely to happen.
Ex:
"Jeg ville likt deg hvis du forandret deg"
"Jeg ville likt deg om du forandret deg"
(I would have liked you if you were to change)
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