#12 Sikker / sikkert: two mistakes I am 99 % sure you make [grammatikk] [vokabular]

*Bonus material below introduction*

Have you ever confidently used a word in Norwegian only to be met with confusion? That's exactly what happens with the deceptively simple word "sikkert." This episode tackles one of the most common mistakes made by Norwegian language learners—a mistake that virtually all my students have fallen into the traps of. The confusion might stem from how "sikkert" dramatically changes meaning based on its grammatical function. 

Bonus material for eager learners:

1. When you just want to say "I am sure", you do not add "på" (= "jeg er sikker") 

2. Alternative ways to express "for sure" are: "absolutt" (absolutely), "garantert" (garanteed), or by adding "jeg lover" ( I promise).

3. "Helt sikkert" can mean "completely sure/certain" (when used as an adjective) and "most probably" when used as an adverb). 

4. "Sikker" can also mean "safe", in which verb the corresponding adverb "sikkert" would mean "safely", an not "probably".

5. If you have a rolled r, "jeg er sikker" can also be pronounced "jæ sikker", and if you use a French r, you should always pronounce r. 

Chapters

• 0:16 First Patreon Subscriber Celebration
• 1:15 Introduction to "Sikkert" Confusion
• 2:53 Using "Sikker" as an Adjective
• 5:05 "Sikkert" as an Adverb
• 8:28 Practice Sentences and Summary

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

I have to tell you something that made my day last week. I don't know if you know, but I have something called Pay Me A Coffee. It's a website that allows you to support my channel by buying me a virtual coffee, which I find really nice and a little bit scary as well. And last week I got my very first subscriber, my monthly subscriber. I haven't asked him if I can give you his name, but I just want to thank him. Thank you so much. It's really great. It means a lot to me. It really means a lot. The fact that somebody supports my work is very, very motivating, yeah, so thank you so much. Thank you a lot. I really, really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 1:15

And now I just noticed that there is a fly on my microphone. So if you hear a my microphone, so if you hear a buzzing sound, then that's the fly. Anyways, now over to today's subject word that a lot of people actually I think yeah, there's the buzzing sound. I don't know if you heard it. Hello, little fly, yeah, so this is a word that I think all of my students have used wrong and they have also misunderstood at many occasions. So for you not to do the same mistake or not to continue doing that mistake. I'm going to tell you right now. And the word is SIKKER, sikker.

Speaker 1: 2:12

When it's an adjective, it means certain or sure, but when it's an adverb With a T in the end, which is something you can do with a lot of adjectives, you can add in T, so the neutral form, and it doesn't mean certainly, it means probably. So when you want to say for sure or certainly, you cannot use the word sikkert, and actually we don't really say for sure very often. You cannot use the word secret, and actually we don't really say for sure very often, because I don't. Well, if you think about it, nothing is certain. You cannot be certain about anything, depressingly, and that might be why we don't really say it. But if you want to say it, I'm going to teach you how to.

Speaker 1: 3:13

But first let's start with the adjective sikker. So if I want to say I am sure, it's quite straightforward, it's. And if I say that quickly, which I normally would, I would say so the R in the verb and the S in, and you pronounce it as sh sound instead, because it's very hard to say jag är sikker, it's easier not to. But when I want to say what I am sure about, no matter how my sentence is structured afterwards, when I'm describing what I'm sure about, I have to add på. When I'm describing what I'm sure about, I have to add på". So it could be jeg er sikker på det. I'm sure about that. Jeg er sikker på vad jeg skal gjøre. I'm sure about what I will do. Jag är icke sikker på vem du är. I'm not sure about who you are. So in English you would probably skip about. You would just say I'm not sure who you are, I'm not sure what I will do.

Speaker 1: 4:47

But in Norwegian you have to keep the equivalent of about in this case. So you have to keep "på, even though you added that question word. Okay, so keep. Oh flies back Hello. So even though you have a question word afterwards, you still keep på.

Speaker 1: 5:10

Yeah, and you have different versions of sikkert. You have sikkert, which can also be an adjective, and "sikre. So if they are sure, it would be de är sikkere, de är sikkere. And if you want to say it is sure or it is certain, det er sikkert, and that is how you can say for sure, or the equivalent of for sure in Norwegian. So you would have to say Det är sikkert att jag kommer på festen. It is certain that I come to the party, or I will come to the party. That's how you could potentially say that it's certain. We don't say that very often because nothing is sure. Nothing is certain, but that's how you could say it. Now over to SICKERT when it's used as an adverb.

Speaker 1: 6:21

When it's used as an adverb, it comes after a verb. So, for instance, "jeg kommer sikkert på festen, or said quickly, jeg kommer sikkert på festen, that means I probably come to the party. Eller det går sikkert bra. Det går sikkert bra. When, said quickly, that means that will probably go well or that probably goes well. It's also a way to say that's probably fine, it's probably not a problem. So it's a.

Speaker 1: 7:13

It's a verb that just like, changes the meaning of the whole sentence and it will change position, just like icke if you have a subordinate clause or ledsetning. If you haven't studied that yet, then don't worry about it. You will understand that later. The way you can recognize that it's an adverb and not an adjective is that it doesn't describe a thing. When I say "det er sikkert, that I'm describing det right. But when I say jag kommer sikkert på festen, then it's describing the whole sentence, that the whole sentence is probable, right? I hope that helps.

Speaker 1: 8:03

I will give you two sentences that I would like you to translate into Norwegian. I will give you the answer afterwards, but try and see if you're able to figure it out by yourself before you listen to the answer afterwards. So the first sentence is I am probably late. I am probably late. "Jeg er sikkert sen. Jag är sikkert sen, adverb Okay. Next one I'm sure that is okay. Jeg er sikker på att det er greit, at det er greit. Jeg er sikker på att det är greit. Okay, I hope that went well. And sorry about the fly if you heard it. Yeah, that was it. I hope that helps. So, to summarize, remember to put på after sikkert. So be sure that you remember to put på after sikkert. And if you want to say that something is for sure, you have to start your sentence with det er sikkert, att it is certain that, and then, whatever is certain, you add the sentence for that Ha en fin dag. Vi høres, thank you.