#34 "I", "inn", "inne" and "inni". I say no more... [vokabular]

What is the difference in meaning and function of these four words? How can we translate the English word "in" to Norwegian? 

I hope you will know after listening to this episode :) 

Chapters

• 0:13 Why “In” Causes Confusion
• 0:56 The Simple Rule: Use E
• 1:34 What In And Inni Actually Mean
• 3:30 Movement Vs Location: Inn Explained
• 4:45 Inni As A Single Word
• 5:31 Skip The Extra Words When Possible
• 6:36 Quick Recap And Practice Prompts

Transcript

Speaker: 0:13

How would you translate the English word " IN" into Norwegian? There's a lot of confusion about that. I think all of my students, or most of them, have struggled with that because in Norwegian you have some false friends. You have the word " inn" and "inne". And we also have a third one, which you might not know, which is "inni". And then of course we have the preposition "i". So which one do we use and what do all of these words actually mean? To give you a simple answer, in should most of the time be translated with "i", that's it. So for instance when you say I live in Norway, jeg bor i Norge, I am in the store, jeg er i butikken, or jeg er på butikken, at the store. So what does inn and inni mean? These words are adverbs, they cannot be put directly before the place. So I can never say for instance jeg er inn Norge, that doesn't work. But we can use them combined with a preposition, sometimes with i, sometimes with på. And they either show that you are already inside of something. So inside of a tunnel, for instance, right? Physically or figuratively inside of something. So if I say jeg er inne i tunnelen, I am inside of the tunnel. So the combination "inne" plus " i" means inside of or inside in literally. So inne alone means inside. Jeg er inne, I am inside. When you want to say inside of what, you add a preposition. Normally it's gonna be "i", jeg er inne i tunnelen. We have an expression that is figurative. We actually use på together with inne. "Du er inne på noe." That means you're onto something. You're like you you've understood something. There is something truthful there. Du er inne på noe. So now we talked about inne. But what about inn? When do we use inn? So inn also means inside, but the difference here is that it's used only for when we're not inside, but we're moving towards inside. So if I want to say I'm going in, I'm going inside, right? Inside my house, for instance, then you would use inn. Jeg går inn. I'm going inside. I'm moving towards inside. Whereas inne, when you say inne, you are already there. Jeg er inne. Okay? And the same thing here. If you want to precise where, what thing you are entering, then you would have to add a preposition and then the place. So Jeg går inn i huset. I go inside the house. I go into the house. You can translate it with both into or inside. Now the last one is "inni" so it's only one word. It's I NNI. And that is the same as "inne i". So you also use it for when you are already there. Jeg er inni tunnelen. Jeg er inni bilen. You could also say "jeg er inne i tunnelen. Jeg er inne i bilen. I am inside of the tunnel, I am inside of the car. these are not necessary to use. You can skip them and just say i. Jeg er i tunnelen. I am in the tunnel. Jeg er i bilen. I am in the car. Just like in English. Just remember not to confuse them. In the word the English word in does not mean "inn" in Norwegian. It can be a little bit confusing. So remember inn and inne are about talking about really physically being inside of something. And when you mention what you are inside of, you have to add a preposition after that. Normally i. It cannot stand by itself. So "inne i", inside of, already there. Inni, one word, also inside of, already there. Inn i, inside towards inside, or into, okay? I'm gonna give you three sentences as always, and I would like you to translate them into Norwegian. I am in the forest. Jeg er, blank, skogen. I am going into the forest. Jeg går, blank, skogen. I am inside. Jeg er, blank. Good luck! Lykke til! And as always, feel free to leave me a comment, question. I would love to hear from you. Ha en fin dag! Vi høres!