#31 "Å bety" versus "å mene" - because “to mean” means a lot ... [vokabular]

We start with "å bety", the reliable choice when you ask what a word translates to, define a term, or tie facts to outcomes.  Then we switch lanes to "å mene", the verb for staking out a position or clarifying what you intended to say. Along the way, we share a quick rule that saves you from false-friend mistakes: "å mene" never follows anything but people (you can say "jeg mener", but it is not logical to say "boka mener" or "hunden mener"); whereas "å bety" usually never follows people (in other words: you can not say "jeg betyr"). 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting Up The Verb “To Mean”
• 0:39 Obiti: Meanings, Value, Consequence
• 3:38 Omena: Opinions And Clarifications
• 6:15 Person vs Thing: Usage Rules
• 7:32 Edge Cases And Phrases

Transcript

Speaker: 0:13

"Å bety", "å mene", "betydning", "mening", To mean to mean a meaning a meaning. "Hva betyr det?" What does it mean? Since I started my episode with the verb "å bety", we're gonna start with that. Just a quick information first. Both of the verbs "å bety" and "å mene" can be translated to to mean. Omea is a false friend, it doesn't always mean to mean. "Det betyr ikke alltid " to mean"". But "å bety", which is very different from mean in English, always means to mean. So there you go. But what does mean actually mean? Let's start with that because mean can mean many different things. "To mean kan bety mange forskjellige ting". So to start out this episode, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my surroundings because it's snowing today. So we're gonna use that as an example for "å bety". Hva betyr "snø" på engelsk? "snø betyr " snow" på engelsk". What does snow mean in English? "Snø" means snow. What does it translate to or what is the definition of it? That's one meaning of "å bety" and betydning. One meaning. Next example "Snø betyr mye for meg." snow means a lot to me. Snow has a lot of value. That's a different meaning. en ny betydning. a new signification. I could also say "snø har stor betydning for meg" snow has big meaning or you wouldn't say that in English, I think. Big value, I guess. It means a lot to me. So value, importance and last one. "Snø betyr at jeg kan stå på ski." Snow means that I can go skiing. So in this case, it means what does that translate to? But not literally a translation but more what does that what's the consequence of that? What does that lead? You can use that also when you want to state your point. For instance "jeg er syk. Det betyr at jeg kan ikke jobbe." I'm sick. That means that I cannot work today. Consequence Okay, so that was "å bety" to me. And the noun between definition. We do have another word for definition though, and definition but it's similar. And yeah, and importance how important something is. Now let's go over to "å mene", your false friend. Amen is about opinions and what you are trying to say. So I could say for instance Ya menir at alla burst. In my opinion, everybody should vote. Or I think that everybody should vote. So thinking as in having something as an opinion. And when you use meanir, you should be able to give reasons for why. Why that is your opinion. So I could either say Y manit At Arlabur stem in my opinion or I think that everybody should vote. Or you could say min maning arlabur stemma. My opinion is that everybody should vote. Or even better etirmining Bur alla stemma. Etir min maning in my opinion. Ettir min maning bur a stem. In my opinion, everybody should vote. Remember inversion here. Bur alla should everyone. Another way of using men is when you feel that your point wasn't very clear, so you try to rephrase it. So "å mene" can also be used when you're trying to either correct an error that you said or explain things in a different way because what you said was misunderstood. So for instance, Yaman Mai Ikidai. I mean me, not you. Yamenad stemma. I mean that almost everyone should vote. So correcting the sentence from before, not everyone, but almost everyone. So a general rule to remember is that "å bety" the verb "å bety" never follows a person. Or almost never, except when you talk about what somebody means to you, what value somebody has, then you can use "å bety" after a person. And "å mene" always follows a person. Always. You cannot use it after something that is not alive, like a book. You cannot say buca mener. The book doesn't have opinions. That can of course be discussed, but uh in region you cannot say book amen. That would be like saying the book has this and this opinion, or the book is trying to say this. Uh it doesn't function in region. But the author, though, can of course have opinions. So to finish this this episode, I want to give you two examples where the meaning of manna and "å bety" is not so clear. And here it is important to remember that "å mene" can only be used for people. For instance, I could say, vaskalde"å bety". What is that supposed to mean? Right? If somebody tells you something and you don't agree with that, or you read a sign somewhere and you don't you're shocked. You understand what it means, but you're shocked. You don't you don't believe it. Vaskal debuti, what's that supposed to mean? And then a person trying to explain him or herself, uh a person who was misunderstood, can say, Dei I mean add. What I mean is, or what I'm trying to say is I hope that makes sense. As always, I will finish with a test for you. I will give you two sentences that I would like you to translate into Norwegian for me. First one. Thank you. It means a lot to me. Second sentence. In my opinion, this is a bad idea. Good luck with that one. Before I end this episode, I just wanted to remind you that if you like these episodes, if you find them useful, please share with other people learning Norwegian. Ha and Findag vi hares!