r/norsk • u/dwchandler • May 30 '21

Søndagsspørsmål #386 - Sunday Question Thread

This is a weekly post to ask any question that you may not have felt deserved its own post, or have been hesitating to ask for whatever reason. No question too small or silly!

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u/magpie1862 Jun 04 '21

Next question is to do with tense. Future and present tense seem to be the same (based on my Duolingo progress)

How would you differentiate between

I’ll send a letter and I’m sending a letter

I guess something like

Jeg sender et brev nå Jeg sender et brev snart

would work? Any alternatives?

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u/tobiasvl Native Speaker Jun 04 '21

Well, "I’ll send a letter" can be translated as "jeg skal sende et brev" to emphasize the future tense.

But it is true that present tense is used about things happening in the future, if the context is obvious. "Jeg sender et brev" can be about either present or future. The same thing is done in English, of course: "I'm sending a letter" can mean both "I'm literally sending a letter right now" or "That's it, I'm going to send a letter about this later".