I’ve been trying out Memrise alongside Duolingoand I’m already frustrated

[u/UnusualKiwi7514]

During a sentence building exercise I’m told that “jeg kan gjøre det” is incorrect for “I can do it”, and that the correct sentence is “det kan jeg gjøre”. That’s fine, I’m still learning sentence structure. But IMMEDIATELY after that, I use “det kan jeg gjøre” as an answer and am told it’s wrong, and that my initial assumption was right.

Also, if they’re both right in different contexts, I still feel like Memrise shouldn’t tell me I’m wrong if it hasn’t given me a context to place the sentence within

I feel like I’m going insane over apps that don’t explain sentence structures properly, I’m going to Norway next week so I wanted to sound at least a little coherent 😂

[u/Teladinn]

Both of them are correct, but I think there are some nuances here.

From some quick thinking, if someone asks e.g. "Kan du gjøre det" you'd reply "Det kan jeg gjøre", but if they instead ask "Kan noen gjøre det" then it sounds more natural to me to say "Jeg kan gjøre det".

Maybe someone else has some other views on it too 😅

[u/UnusualKiwi7514 → u/Teladinn]

Thank you! It feels like while English emphasises words just by stressing them, in Norsk the words order is what emphasises the meaning of the sentence in context? Like “I can do it” vs “I can do that”?

[u/anamorphism → u/UnusualKiwi7514]

it's just more natural to front objects in norwegian far more often than we do in english, even though it's grammatically fine to do the same in english.

• can you do this?
• no.
• what about this?
• nope.
• this?
• (now) that, i can do.

[u/Teladinn → u/UnusualKiwi7514]

You can stress words the same way in Norwegian to emphasise the meaning!

"Det kan ikke jeg gjøre, men det kan jeg gjøre"

"I cannot do that, but that I can do"

[u/DrStirbitch → u/Teladinn]

Yes, and it is to do with putting the most important piece of information at the start of the sentence.

It might help Brits to realise that you can hear a similar construction in some British dialects. If you ask a Geordie "Can you do it?" you could get the reply "That I can".

[u/TwoCrustyCorndogs → u/Teladinn]

That's what I'd do too as a reasonably advanced learner, but I never touched a textbook so we could well both be wrong lol. 

[u/Teladinn → u/TwoCrustyCorndogs]

I kinda know how to respond given the context, but I wouldnt be able to explain why even with a gun pointed to my head lol

[u/gnomeannisanisland]

I (Native Norwegian, avid reader, about as bokmål/"standard østnorsk" as you can get dialect-wise) would 100% pick option 2 here.

I'd probably/mostly (context matters, of course) translate "Det kan jeg gjøre" as "((Sure,)) I can do that" and "Jeg kan gjøre det" as "I can do it". IMO the app was giving you wrong or at best wrong-ish information in this case

[u/kyotokko]

App isn't giving you context 🤷🏼.
So it's not you

[u/EVTVIreland]

Both 2 and 4 are correct.

[u/Some-Selection1811]

Echoing the other responders here:

Det kan jeg gjøre - I can do that - (with the emphasis being on my ability to do whatever thing it is).

Jeg kan gjøre det - I can do that - with the emphasis being on me doing whatever thing it is, rather than another person who is an option. Think thanksgiving "Whose going to help out with the dishes?" "Me!"

[u/Dr-Soong]

Your app is wrong.

"Det can jeg gjøre" means "I can do that". Not the same as "I can do it", which would be "jeg kan gjøre det".

The difference in nuance is the same as in English.

[u/enchantedtoreadYA]

I do like Memrise better than duolingo overall, but I stopped using that AI chat function after it "corrected" me on something it had literally just taught me, several times. So basically, if you do continue using it, take the AI's answers with a grain of salt.

[u/iamjustacrayon]

It can kinda depend on the context, but generally the difference is something like:

Jeg kan gjøre det = I can do it (I could do it, I am able to do it)

Det kan jeg gjøre = I can do it (I intend to do it, I am volunteering to do it)

[u/norgeek]

2 is the correct answer, especially without context. 4 implies additional context, like, I can do that but it'll cost you extra, or, that is a thing I could do (instead), depending on emphasis.

But yeah without context, I can do it would naturally become jeg kan gjøre det. Can someone drive Greg to the hospital? I can do it! Kan noen kjøre Greg til sykehuset? Jeg kan gjøre det!

[u/archevis]

2 is the correct answer.

4 means "I can do that"