#5 Å tro - å synes - å tenke - å mene: the subtle art of expressing opinions in Norwegian [vokabular]

Norwegian's multiple verbs for expressing thoughts and opinions create a fascinating linguistic puzzle for learners. Moving beyond simple translation reveals a rich system for communicating certainty, preference, and reflection with precision.

"Å tro" captures belief and uncertainty – use it when discussing weather predictions or forming opinions about things you haven't directly experienced. It acknowledges there's a verifiable answer, even if you don't know it yet. When you say "Jeg tror kaffe er godt," you're admitting you've never tasted coffee, but have reasons to believe it might be pleasant.

By contrast, "å synes" expresses subjective personal truth. This is your go-to verb for preferences, feelings, and opinions that can't be proven right or wrong. There's a beautiful honesty in saying "Jeg synes demokrati er viktig" – you're sharing your perspective without claiming universal truth. Norwegian doesn't let you use this verb for future events you haven't experienced yet.

"Å tenke" focuses on the actual thinking process – reflection, consideration, having something on your mind. Meanwhile, "å mene" occupies a special position for reasoned opinions you can defend with arguments, and for clarifying your intended meaning.

Ready to test your understanding? Try distinguishing between "Jeg tror norsk er lett" and "Jeg synes norsk er lett" – the difference reveals the clarity these verbs bring to Norwegian expression! :)

Chapters

• 0:14 Introduction to Norwegian thought verbs
• 0:58 Understanding "å tro" (to believe)
• 3:01 Exploring "å synes" (to find)
• 7:17 The proper use of "å tenke"
• 9:12 Breaking down "å mene" vs "å bety"
• 12:30 Test sentences and conclusion

Transcript

Silje: 0:14

Hi everyone, hello everyone. In today's episode, I want to talk quickly about the difference between tro, synes, tänke, and I will also add a small note on men in the end of this episode. Let's dive right into it. So, first of all, if you're still struggling with the difference between these three or four, I want you to, for a moment, to put aside the word think, okay, because the three firsts can all mean think. Now, forget about that word, because it won't help you. We're going to start with å tro.

Silje: 1:03

Instead of using think, I want you to use believe, and the essence of believe is that it's something you're not sure about, okay, and things you're not sure about will mostly be things that have a right answer. So in some cases it's natural to use it, where in other cases it doesn't make any sense to use it because there's no right or wrong. It doesn't mean that you're not sure I'm not going to argue with that but in other cases it's something that you're not sure about, you're not 100% sure. So, for instance, if I say "Jeg tror det ska regne I believe it will rain I'm talking about the future, and future cannot be. Well, you can verify in the future and you cannot be sure about it, Right? Or " I believe that coffee is good. In this case, if I say that, that means that I have never tasted coffee, right, because if I had tasted it, then I would know. I can verify it by tasting it. But why should I believe something like that? How can I have any opinions about that? Maybe I have smelled. Coffee smells good. Maybe I have friends drinking coffee. They all like coffee. So I have some reasons to think, some indications. Now let's go over to the verb åsynes. Instead of using å synes, I would like you to use the verb to find. What if I said jeg synes att kaffe är gott? I find coffee very good or tasty. Good or tasty, this is more a personal. Well, in both cases it's a personal opinion, so I can't use that as a definition, but it's something that is true for me. It's subjective and you can't say no, you're wrong, because for me, coffee tastes good, even though you don't think it tastes good. Me, coffee tastes good even though you don't think it tastes good. Okay, even though in your preferences you don't wouldn't find coffee, so I would not have.

Silje: 3:55

When I use synes, I do not have to have any good arguments. I don't have to explain why this is just what it is for me, how it feels it can be like a preference, or more a feeling, an intuition, and how I feel about something. Okay, now I can also use synes for cases where you can argument, where you can say because this and this and this and that, for instance, " I find democracy very important, because blah, blah, blah and this is not about believing, I am sure about my opinion here and my point of view, and it's not something you can verify. Because what does important mean? What does it mean that democracy is important? Like, that's very subjective. It's not something that can be verified with a number in statistics. Right, I cannot use seen as for future, because I don't know the future. I can't have any personal opinion, a personal feeling about the future. I have to believe. I cannot be sure about that. So I can't say I find that it's going to rain no, that doesn't work. So I can't say jeg synes det skal regne. I find that it's going to rain. No, that doesn't work.

Silje: 5:35

Now what if I said "jeg tror det er varmt ute? I believe it's warm outside. I can also say " I find it being hot outside, I find that it's hot outside. Difference here is that in one case I haven't been outside. So, "jeg tror, ja, "jeg synes I have been outside and for me it's warm or it's hot. So temperature is something subjective as well. What is warm, what is cold, right, but if I said the temperature, then I can't use synes. " Ja, synes det är 30 grader. I find that it's 30 degrees. No, because degrees is something you can check. It's not something that is only right for me. I know, I would say I know, I know that it's 30 degrees, jeg vet att det är 30 grader ute and if I wasn't sure, I would use Jeg tror, jeg tror att det är 30 grader ute, which it definitely is not right now. But for the example, now you might be wondering what about å tenke? When can I use å tenke? And the first thing I wanted to say about that is that Norwegians have started using it more than they should, in my opinion and in other people's opinions as well, because they are influenced by English.

Silje: 7:38

But the way tenke should be used is when you can't use any of the others. So when you have to translate with to think, you can't use to believe and you can't use to find and the true meaning of å tänke is to have something on your mind, to think about something. Jeg tänker på sommeren. I'm thinking about the summer. Jeg må tänke igenom det. I have to think it through, I have to give it a thought. So it's really about having thoughts in your mind and having to figure out of something, to think something through. Then you can use å tänka what are you doing? Jag tänker, I'm just thinking. Jag tänker, alltså är jag, I think, therefore I am. So it's the capacity of thinking. Folk tänker, dyr tänker, planter tänker ikke. So being able to think and having thoughts, having to think something through, to reflect on something, then you can use tänker.

Silje: 9:09

And the last verb I wanted to give you is å mene. And there are two reasons for that. The first one is that å mene and å synes can be quite similar. They can both be used for having an opinion about something. The difference is that seen as can be used much more, because you can also talk about things that you don't have to explain. It's just how it feels for you, it's your preference, whereas omena can only be used when you talk about what your opinion is, that you can argument for, you can tell why.

Silje: 9:51

Så jeg mener at demokrati er viktig, fordi argument, argument, argument In my opinion, it's like saying, in my opinion, jeg mener. It's like saying, in my opinion, jeg mener. Mene can also mean to mean, but not the same way as the verb å bety, mene is used. First of all, you cannot say det mener, it has to be used with a person. Så jag mener, hun mener, han mener, vi mener, but you can never say det mener, okay, you can't say it means. And the reason for that is that when you say jag mener, it's like saying either it means in my opinion, this is my opinion, or it means what I meant, what I wanted to say, okay. So if somebody misunderstands you, you can say Nej, nej, nej, nej, jeg mener, jeg mener. So, for instance, you're talking about two people, right, and you were talking about one of them and someone thought you talked about the other one. You can say nej, nej, nej, nej, jeg mener han, ikke han. I mean him, not him. Okay, if that makes sense at all, Whereas å bety is when you talk about what something signifies.

Silje: 11:33

Okay, a word, what's the meaning of a word, what's the signification, what's the definition that you find in the dictionary, for instance, right, and you probably learned this in the two first lessons of Norwegian Vad betyr ost? What does cheese mean, right? So whenever you want to ask what a word means, a thing, what a thing means, you can use beti, whereas mene is always for people Okay. You can never say det mene, that doesn't make any sense at all. You have to say det betyr, that means or it means. I hope that makes sense.

Silje: 12:16

I'm going to give you four sentences and I hope you will know what they mean, and if you're unsure about it, please write me, okay? So first one is Jeg tror att norsk er lett. I think that Norwegian is easy Versus I think that Norwegian is easy. So both of the sentences mean something, but what do they mean? They are both correct, but they don't mean the same thing. Next one is and last one is last one is Good luck with that, lykke til. Send me the translation in the comment field. Hva betyr setningene? What do the sentences mean? Takk for I dag Vi høres. Thank you.