#21 Snakkes? Spises? Synes? The secrets of s-ending verbs [grammatikk]

Struggling with those mysterious S-endings on Norwegian verbs? 

The secret is that there isn't just one explanation – there are three distinct reasons why Norwegian verbs might end with S. 

First, there's the reciprocal S, which you'll encounter in everyday phrases like "vi snakkes" (we'll talk to each other) and "vi ses" (we'll see each other). This clever construction eliminates the need for saying "each other" separately.

Then there's the S-passive, which transforms active sentences into passive ones. Rather than saying "I eat the cake," you can shift focus by saying "the cake is being eaten" (kaka spises). This construction works beautifully for present tense statements but comes with limitations – you generally can't use it for past events. 

Finally, we have true S-verbs – those that naturally end with S in their dictionary form. Verbs like "å synes" (to think/find something a certain way) and "å finnes" (to exist) maintain their S-ending through all tenses. Some of these evolved from the other categories, becoming so commonly used that they developed into full verbs with complete conjugation patterns.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to the S-ending mystery
• 1:42 Reciprocal S: "Vi snakkes" explained
• 5:55 S-passive: How it transforms sentences
• 13:29 S-verbs: Dictionary entries with permanent S
• 18:14 Summary and conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Good morning, sunshine, godmorn, or good afternoon, god eftermiddag or maybe good evening, god kväll. Have you ever wondered why some Norwegian verbs finish with an S? It's a little bit weird, because normally they don't right. Normally you have an E at the end for infinitive, and then you add an R, and then you have your present tense, and then, if you've already learned how to make past tense well, there are different endings you can have, but it's never S. So what is that S about? I wish I could give you one simple answer to that, but it's a little bit more complicated than that, and that's probably why you haven't understood why there's an S, because there's not one answer to it. So we have three reasons for that. The S have two functions, and in one case it doesn't have any function at all. It's just, there's just an S, that's it. It doesn't mean anything, or at least now it doesn't. It might historically have meant something, but right now there's just an S, and that's how it is.

Speaker 1: 1:40

I will come back to this last category in the end. I will start with what we call reciprocäs, because that's the one you will meet in the very beginning when you start learning Norwegian. So it's nice to understand what it means right away. So when people say to you, vi snakkes, vi ses, vi høres, that's what we call reciproc-s. So it's not a verb finishing with s in itself. It's a construction which means that we take a basic verb which doesn't have an S. So, for instance, here it's å snakke, å höra, å se To talk, to hear, to see, and these verbs are or can be looked upon as communication verbs.

Speaker 1: 2:43

So it's something you do when communicating with other people. I can add a bunch of others here. I can say vi textes, vi ringes, vi prates, vi skrives, and this S here that I'm adding to another verb, the function of that little small letter there is each other. So instead of saying the word each other or a preposition plus each other, I'm skipping all that and I'm just adding an s to the verb and then I'm good to go. So, for instance, when I say vi snakkes, what I'm actually saying is vi snakker med verandra, we talk literally with each other. And when I say vi høres, the full sentence would be vi hører fra hverandre, we hear from each other.

Speaker 1: 4:00

Vi ses, vi ser hverandre, we see each other, vi ser hverandre, we see each other. Vi ringes, Vi ringer hverandre or vi ringer til hverandre we call each other. So when we use this, either to say that we will get in touch, right, whichever way that will be by calling, or just we'll meet randomly in the street I forgot that one. Vi mötes Vi mötes we meet each other, right. So different ways of communication, different ways of communicating. And, yeah, so it can either be for the future we'll talk to each other, for instance or it can also be used to say that this happens regularly. So I could say vi mötes hver fredag we meet every Friday. So in general, or in the future.

Speaker 1: 5:17

So that's the first S, reciproc S. And what's important to know is that normally, when you have this kind of S, you can only use it in infinitive and present tense. It does not work in the past. There are a few verbs that can be used in the past. I will come back to this a little bit later. Now let's go to the next one, the next s, verb or no. I'm not going to call it s verb because they're not. The second case where we would add an s to a verb is called s. Passive to a verb is called espassive. We use this quite often passive s. If you're a beginner. You might not have met it yet or seen it yet, but you will hear it quite often.

Speaker 1: 6:35

No-transcript, or you could add it in the end. But the thing is it's a sentence where you put things a little bit in the wrong order. You say it backwards. So, for instance, instead of saying I eat the cake, you would say the cake is being eaten. And then, if you would, if you want to, you could add by whom? For instance, the cake is being eaten by me. But you don't have to.

Speaker 1: 7:08

The most important thing, the only thing you have to say, is what is being done, towards what or whom, and not necessarily who did it, or whom and not necessarily who did it. It's not possible to do it with all verbs, because all verbs do not cannot be done towards something, for instance, when I say I live. So living is not something you can do with something. You live at a place, but you don't live something right. You live at a place, but you don't live something right. But to eat is something you can do with something. Okay, you can eat something right.

Speaker 1: 7:47

So it takes what we call an object. Verbs that take an object like to eat something, to eat an object or to drink something, to drink an object. Here it is possible to make what we call a passive sentence, and in Norwegian there are two ways of doing this. You have the S passive and then you have what we call bli passive. So with the verb bli plus the verb that is being done. I'm not going to go into the details about this right now I'll make an episode about this later but just so you know, it's the same thing, it's the same meaning. If you have encountered bli passiv, then it means exactly the same. When you use es passiv, but just like with reciproc es that I just mentioned vi snakkes, vi høres, etc.

Speaker 1: 8:47

S-passive cannot be used in the past normally, and I will tell you a little bit more about the exceptions later. So normally you cannot conjugate it in past. It's only, it's a construction, which means that you take a normal verb, not a verb that finishes with an S already, but a normal verb, and then you add an S and you transform it and conjugate it a little bit differently, but only in infinitive and present tense. Okay, so I'm going to give you two examples, just so you can see my point. So I'm going to take the verb å spise to eat, which you find in a dictionary like that Spise, that's the verb, that's your base verb, and I'm going to add an S Spises.

Speaker 1: 9:43

So I could say kaka spises the cake is being eaten. And yes, I know you wouldn't say the cake is being eaten. In English you would say the cake is eaten, I guess. But I want to add that being because I want to show you that when I use that S, it means that something is happening right now. It has not been done yet, it is in the action of happening. So there is a difference between the cake is being eaten and the cake is already eaten, right. Så, kaka spises av mig. If I want, I can add by me Instead of saying jeg spiser kaka I eat the cake I could switch it around and I say kaka spises av mig the cake is being eaten, or it's in the action of being eaten by me.

Speaker 1: 10:53

It means the same thing. It's just different ways of seeing it and sometimes we don't know who did something. We just don't know what was done, and in that case it's nice to use the s-passive form, or I can use the infinitive version of the s-passive, and if I do that I have to add a helping verb in between the subject and the verb, because I cannot place infinitive directly after the subject. That's not possible. Infinitive needs a helping verb, but it looks exactly the same as present tense, so it can easily be confused.

Speaker 1: 11:37

So first the active sentence would be and making it passive. I'm going to start with the cake Super weird sentence, I know, sorry, I guess I want to eat cake Anyway. So so kaka må spises av mig. The cake must become eaten by me. Then cake must become eaten, must get eaten by me. Okay, so that's the only options you have. You cannot say the cake was eaten yesterday, was being eaten yesterday. That doesn't work. If you want to talk about it in the past, then you have to use bleed passive, bli passiv. So Bli passiv is more flexible when it comes to how, to when you can use it. You can use it also for the past do something with someone you have talked about s passive. So when you put the object in the beginning of your sentence and you make it a subject, you don't necessarily say who did something, but you mention which thing received an action. So the cake received the eating action.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Now the last case, which is what we call s-verb. So s-verbs are verbs that finish with an s. You find them with an s in the dictionary. They're not a construction that you make up on the spot. They are actual verbs, and the reason why I kept this for the end is that some of them actually do have the function of reciproc S or passive S, but they are also S verbs, which means that you find them in dictionary and you can also conjugate them in the past, which the two groups that I first mentioned cannot be. Normally they cannot be, but there are some exceptions, and I guess that's because there are verbs that we use a lot.

Speaker 1: 14:24

Okay, so first I'm going to mention some that are just S verbs. There's no reason for them to have an S, they just have an S. At least now. We don't know why they have an S, they just have, and you conjugate them with an S. They always finish with an S. In all tenses they finish with an S. There might be some other changes to them in the past, but they always finish with an S.

Speaker 1: 14:48

Okay, so one example is å synes. Å synes means to find something, a certain way, to think something is a certain way. For instance, jeg synes at kake smaker godt. I think, or I find, that cake tastes very good, and so past tense would be. So the whole conjugation would be å synes, infinitive Synes, present tense, syntes, preteritum, har syntes perfectum. So you see, s, s, s, s, s. They finish with an s in all tenses. They finish with an S in all tenses.

Speaker 1: 15:46

And I'm going to add an example that is actually reciproc S, but it has been transformed into an S verb. So function reciproc S, but it's also an S verb. You can conjugate it in all tenses, and that is å mötes. You don't only find the verb möte, which is not an s-verb, but you also find mötes in the dictionary. So the full conjugation is å mötes, infinitive to meet, møtes, present tense, meet or meet each other. Møttes, double T, preteritum, met or met each other, har møttes, double T, perfektum. So S-verb and reciproc S.

Speaker 1: 16:51

Yeah, and then another one which comes from a passive S, but it has changed its meaning a little bit, which is å finnes. So å finne, the verb å finne means to find, whereas å finnes means to exist, which is kind of logical, because when you can find something, when something can be found, it exists. Right infinitive to be found or to exist. Finnes, present tense is being found or does exist. Fantes preteritum existed Har funnes has existed, har funnes has existed. So yeah, to summarize, three categories and the last one, the S verbs, are a mix of just regular S verbs and also the two other groups that have become s-verbs because they're so frequently used that we have needed to be able to also conjugate them in the past. So det var det, that was it. I hope that helped, as always, was it? I hope that helped, as always. Please let me know if you have any questions, feedback or just anything you want to say. Just let me know in the comment field, wherever you are. Tack för idag. Vi hörs, thank you.