False Friends

Norwegian and English are closely related languages with a vocabulary that often overlaps, and there are many transparent words that help you understand the language better. Transparent words look the same on paper and have the same meaning in both languages. Here are a few examples of transparent words:

• English: calendar / Norwegian: kalender
• English: popular / Norwegian: populær
• English: anonymous / Norwegian: anonym
• English: shock / Norwegian: sjokk

However, many English words resemble Norwegian words in spelling and pronunciation, but have completely different meanings. We call these words false friends and they are often problematic for Norwegian students. Here are three examples of false friends:

• English: fabric / Norwegian: tøy, stoff
• English: factory / Norwegian: fabrikk
• English: gift / Norwegian: gave
• English: poison / Norwegian: gift
• English: novel / Norwegian: roman
• English: short story / Norwegian: novelle

A lot of the wrong, unidiomatic, unintentionally humorous and even offensive Norwenglish must be put down to this type of confusion. These statements show you how false friends can hinder communication but also result in a good laugh:

• You can’t drive in the winter without pigs in your decks.
• We wish you good luck and hell for the future.
• Excuse me, what is the fart limit?

Here is a list of other false friends that you can download to your computer. This is not a complete list, so you may want to add to it: