Cohesion and reference in texts
A text holds together when words point clearly back to what you've already said. Here you learn sin/hans, dette, førstnevnte and henholdsvis.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: Words like sin, dette, sistnevnte and henholdsvis tie sentences together. Choose them so that the reader is never in doubt about who or what you mean.
Rules
- Sin: Refers to the subject of the same clause: Per hilste på broren sin (Per greeted his own brother).
- Hans/hennes: Refers to someone else: Per hilste på broren hans (Per greeted another man's brother).
- Sin in subclauses: Sin refers to the subject of the subordinate clause: Kari sa at Ola hadde mistet nøklene sine (Ola's keys). Nøklene hennes = Kari's.
- Not sin in the subject: Sin can't be part of the subject: Per og kona hans flyttet (not *kona sin).
- Denne/dette: Formal way of pointing back: Regjeringen la fram budsjettet. Dette ble sterkt kritisert (This was strongly criticised). In speech we usually say det.
- Det for a whole sentence: Det or dette can refer to a whole statement: Hun sa opp. Det overrasket alle.
- Førstnevnte/sistnevnte: The former/the latter: Både Norge og Sverige vurderte tiltaket, men bare sistnevnte innførte det.
- Henholdsvis: Respectively – links two lists in the same order: Kari og Ola er henholdsvis 30 og 35 år.
- Linking words: Dessuten (besides), derimot (on the other hand), likevel (still), dermed (thus), med andre ord (in other words): Prisene steg. Lønningene sto derimot stille.
- Repeat instead: Repeat the noun if a pronoun would be unclear: Statsministeren møtte presidenten. Statsministeren sa senere at …
- Check: Read through and ask at every pronoun: could this be misunderstood?
Typical mistake: English «his» covers both cases, so learners pick the wrong one: Per solgte bilen hans (someone else's car!) → Per solgte bilen sin.
Examples
- Per hilste på broren sin.Per greeted his (own) brother.
- Per hilste på broren hans.Per greeted his (another man's) brother.
- Kari sa at Ola hadde mistet nøklene sine.Kari said that Ola had lost his keys.
- Regjeringen la fram budsjettet. Dette ble sterkt kritisert.The government presented the budget. This was strongly criticised.
- Kari og Ola er henholdsvis 30 og 35 år gamle.Kari and Ola are 30 and 35 years old respectively.
- Både Norge og Sverige vurderte tiltaket, men bare sistnevnte innførte det.Both Norway and Sweden considered the measure, but only the latter introduced it.
- Prisene steg kraftig. Lønningene sto derimot stille.Prices rose sharply. Wages, on the other hand, stood still.
- Per og kona hans flyttet til Trondheim.Per and his wife moved to Trondheim.