Headword
Language Norwegian Bokmål · three-place teaching · the same lemma also means learn · undervise, lære bort, lære seg, instruere, and opplære on this page, not separate pages
Teacher, Learner, Content · one lemma for teach and learn · Bokmål cloth · working claim, revisable
Voice[Teacher] + low Appl(Learner) + complement of the root (Content)
lære · teach · Learner = bare NP · Content = bare NP or infinitive · lære noen noe · lære noen å + infinitive
lære · learn · Learner = subject · Content = bare NP or infinitive · reflexive lære seg printed beside that reading
lære bort · Content = object · Learner, where printed, til+DP · the two are not in one opened clause
undervise · Content = i+NP · Learner = optional direct object · undervise i fag · undervise noen i noe
A teaching, on lære, has a Teacher, a Learner, and a Content. They are not three equal sisters of one flat verb. Voice adds the Teacher. Low Appl introduces the Learner. The root’s complement is the Content: a bare noun phrase, or an infinitive. Full noun phrases show no case ending. Bokmål does not spell a dative on noen, barna, or elevene. ham, deg, and meg do not show an indirect object apart from a direct object. The frame does.
What matches the English gloss, and what does not. English teach someone something is two bare objects, and learn is another verb. Norwegian lære is one lemma, as Dutch leren is one lemma. The two-bare-object cloth is printed. NAOB sense 2, the systematic teaching sense, gives the examples lære noen engelsk, lære noen et knep, and lære barna gode manerer. Bokmålsordboka sense 1, gi kunnskap i noe; undervise; øve opp i, prints de har lært barna sine tålmodighet. The person and the Content are both bare. That pair matches teach someone something. Dutch does not: the Learner there is a meewerkend voorwerp or aan+DP, and the Content stays the one direct object. The divergence from English is not that pair. It is the other frames on this page, and the fact that learn stays on lære.
How the frame picks teach or learn. Bokmålsordboka sense 2 is tilegne seg kunnskap om eller ferdighet i noe, with lære alfabetet and hun har lært å spille piano. NAOB sense 3 is the same reading: lære fremmede språk, lære et håndverk, lære å lese, regne, skrive. The Learner is the subject. There is no second bare noun phrase. NAOB sense 3.2 is reflexive, tilegne seg kunnskaper, ferdigheter (i noe), examples lære seg fransk, tysk and han bør snart lære seg å lage mat. Bokmålsordboka prints jeg vil lære meg fransk and hun lærte seg å leve med sykdommen. The reflexive agrees with the subject. It does not add a Teacher. The non-reflexive learn object is also printed, so seg is not required for learn. Dutch leren does not add zich for the ordinary learn reading. Norwegian prints the reflexive beside that reading.
The infinitive on the teach reading. Bokmålsordboka: lære barna å lese, hun lærte ham å sykle. NAOB: jeg kan lære deg å svømme, lære elever å lese, skrive, regne. The Learner is bare. The infinitive is marked with å. No line opened here drops å on that infinitive. A school list of skills is not given a separate marker. Dutch leren excludes te in the school package. Italian, Spanish, and French mark the infinitive with a or à.
lære bort, and til. Bokmålsordboka files it under fixed expressions: formidle kunnskap eller ferdighet til andre, example han lærte bort et knep. The Content is the object. til andre is in the definition, not in that example. NAOB’s expression is formidle (kunnskap) til andre, cross-referred to lære fra seg. The citation with a Content and no til-phrase is ved å lære bort håndverk. The citation with til and no Content object is å lære bort til de yngre. No opened line is lære bort noe til noen in one clause. This page does not construct that stack. In the lines that are printed, bort stands next to the verb, before the object or before til. lære fra seg is the companion expression, formidle (egen kunnskap) til andre, example den skiløpning han lærer fra seg. lære til is a different expression, venne til, and it is not this recipient.
undervise. This is where the school translation diverges from English teach. Bokmålsordboka glosses the verb formidle kunnskap til; lære and prints undervise i fransk and hun underviser studentene i grammatikk. NAOB sense 3, with no register label, is systematisk formidle kunnskap eller ferdigheter (i et bestemt fag). The examples have the subject matter in i and no Learner: undervise i fremmedspråk, han underviser i bygg- og anleggsfag, and the citation frøken Anna underviser i regning, historie og geografi. When the Learner is in the clause, it is a direct object beside that i-phrase: undervise vore børn i latin og græsk, undervist de tre ældste sønnerne hans i boken, undervise vrangvillige kremmersønner i tysk og matematikk. A bare Content, undervise fransk or undervise historie, is unprinted. English teach French and teach history take that subject matter as a bare object. English teach the students grammar is two bare objects. undervise studentene i grammatikk is neither: the Learner is a direct object, and the Content is i+NP. The Learner is optional. Sense 1 is labeled foreldet, bibelspråk. Sense 2 is labeled litterært. Those two stay off the skill frame. German unterrichten is the cognate cloth, accusative Learner and in+dative Content. Norwegian i shows no case ending on the noun.
instruere and opplære. Both are attested. Neither is given a page. Bokmålsordboka sense 1 of instruere is gi opplæring; veilede, with no register label: de ble instruert i bruk av en ny maskin, treneren instruerer skihopperne i rett teknikk, han instruerer i gammeldans. The Learner is a direct object, or the subject of the passive, and the Content is i+NP. i gammeldans has no Learner. NAOB sense 1 has the same i and no register label. The citations include stage direction, instruerte ham i den første alvorlige karakterrolle, and practical guidance, instruert ham i bruken av [rullestolen]. Sense 2, gi pålegg om, is off the skill gloss. opplære is a NAOB article, lære opp, utdanne, øve opp (i et visst fag, en viss ferdighet e.l.), with no register label. The i-phrase is that parenthesis. The citations opened do not fill it. They print til or a reflexive: ble opplært til sparsomhet, skal opplæres til å kjenne forskjell på godt og ondt, Oplære mig. Bokmålsordboka returns no article for the verb. It heads the noun opplæring, det å lære opp, example få opplæring i noe. The i there is on the noun.
Against the other languages. lære noen noe matches the two bare objects of English teach someone something, and it does not match the oblique Learner of Spanish enseñar, French enseigner, Italian insegnare, German beibringen, or Japanese 教える with に and を. The Content of lære stays a bare object. It is not the genitive of Polish uczyć, not the dative of Russian учить, and not the second accusative of German lehren, which has a case ending Norwegian does not spell. undervise matches unterrichten in putting the Content in i / in and the Learner, when present, in the direct object. Dutch leren uses the indirect object for the teach/learn cut. Norwegian uses a second bare noun phrase for that cut, and prints lære seg on the learn side.
Bokmål does not spell the Learner with a case ending. noen in lære noen engelsk is the Learner because a Content sits beside it. i grammatikk spells the Content of undervise with a preposition, and the Learner, when it is there, is the direct object to the left of i.
Printed teaching frame · two bare objects
✓ lære noen engelsk NAOB · lære · sense 2 · example
✓ lære noen et knep NAOB · sense 2 · example
✓ lære barna gode manerer NAOB · sense 2 · example
✓ de har lært barna sine tålmodighet Bokmålsordboka · sense 1
teach someone English · teach someone a trick · teach the children good manners · they have taught their children patience
Printed learn frame · Learner is the subject · reflexive optional
✓ lære alfabetet Bokmålsordboka · sense 2 · NAOB · sense 3
✓ lære fremmede språk NAOB · sense 3 · example
✓ lære seg fransk, tysk NAOB · sense 3.2 · example
✓ jeg vil lære meg fransk Bokmålsordboka · sense 2
learn the alphabet · learn foreign languages · learn French and German · I want to learn French
Printed undervise · Content in i · Learner optional
✓ undervise i fransk Bokmålsordboka · no Learner
✓ hun underviser studentene i grammatikk Bokmålsordboka · direct object + i
✓ frøken Anna underviser i regning, historie og geografi NAOB · sense 3 · Espen Haavardsholm, Øst for Eden, 2000
teach French · she teaches the students grammar · Miss Anna teaches arithmetic, history, and geography
| Place | Introduced by (working) | Norwegian marking | Case status | English and sibling marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher · lære teach | Spec,Voice | subject of lære | Bokmålsordboka å lære, lærer, lærte, har lært · the labels name the morphology | subject of teach · subject of lehren and of beibringen |
| Learner · bare | low Appl | bare NP · noen, barna, elevene · pronouns ham, deg, meg | no case ending on a full noun phrase · the pronoun does not separate the two objects | bare object of teach someone something · indirect object of Dutch leren · accusative of uczyć |
| Content · lære | complement of the root | bare NP · engelsk, et knep, gode manerer, tålmodighet, historie | the skill or the subject · an accusative ending is unprinted | bare object of something · direct object of Dutch leren · genitive of uczyć · dative of учить |
| Content · infinitive | å + infinitive | å lese, å sykle, å svømme · the Learner is bare | no line opened here drops å · not ranked against a school package | to of teach someone to … · Dutch school-package bare infinitive · Italian a + infinitive |
| Learner as subject | Spec,Voice of the learn reading | subject of the same lemma · lære alfabetet · lære fremmede språk | no second bare NP · Bokmålsordboka sense 2 · NAOB sense 3 | subject of learn · subject of Dutch leren with no indirect object · subject of uczyć się |
| lære seg | reflexive co-indexed with the subject Learner | seg / meg + Content · lære seg fransk · lære meg fransk | the reflexive is not a Teacher · the non-reflexive learn object is also printed | English learn has no reflexive · Dutch ordinary learn has no zich |
| Teacher-source | av+DP on the learn reading | lære av feilene sine · lære av sine feil · hvem lærte du skaldskabet af? | av is printed · om in lære om den franske revolusjon is the topic, not the teacher | from of learn from · Dutch van · av of a person on låne is a different verb |
| lære bort | particle next to the verb in the lines opened | Content object · et knep, håndverk · til de yngre in a line with no object | the definition prints til andre · one clause with both object and til is unprinted | teach something to someone would stack the object and to · that stack is not the opened Norwegian line |
| undervise | direct object optional · i for the Content | i fransk, i grammatikk, i regning, historie og geografi · studentene, børn, kremmersønner | bare undervise fransk unprinted · sense 3 has no register label · senses 1 and 2 are labeled and stay off the skill frame | bare object of teach French · two bare objects of teach the students grammar · in+dative of unterrichten |
| instruere | same i · Learner direct, or absent | skihopperne i rett teknikk · i gammeldans · passive ble instruert i bruk av en ny maskin | no register label on the skill sense · sense 2 om is an order, off the gloss | person-object of instruire · not the school-subject frame of undervise i fransk |
| opplære | NAOB verb · Bokmålsordboka has the noun | definition parenthesis (i et visst fag) · citations til sparsomhet, til å kjenne | the i-phrase is unfilled in the citations opened · no register label | lære opp prints a person and, once, i skipssabotasje · not a second page |
Marking map. One form of lære can belong to either reading. Read the frame, then the marker.
Each row lines up one English slot with a Norwegian slot, and names the sibling slot where the marking differs. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a bare English object ↔ i, or a second bare object ↔ til). Printed dictionary lines come first. An English gloss wears constructed. It is not a bilingual corpus.
| Slot | EN form | NO form | Align | EN example | NO example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher | SUBJ of teach | subject of lære | = | They taught their children patience. constructed gloss | de har lært barna sine tålmodighet Bokmålsordboka 1 |
| Learner · lære | bare object of teach someone something | bare NP | = two bare objects · Dutch writes an indirect object or aan here | teach someone English constructed gloss | lære noen engelsk NAOB 2 |
| Content · lære | bare something | bare NP | = against a bare object · not the genitive of uczyć and not the dative of учить | English · a trick · good manners constructed glosses | engelsk · et knep · gode manerer NAOB 2 |
| Infinitive | to + infinitive | å + infinitive | = on the infinitive marker · the Learner stays bare | taught him to ride a bicycle constructed gloss | hun lærte ham å sykle Bokmålsordboka 1 |
| Learn | subject of learn | subject of lære · no second bare NP | the Learner has left the object slot · the lemma stays lære | learn the alphabet · learn foreign languages constructed glosses | lære alfabetet Bokmålsordboka 2 · lære fremmede språk NAOB 3 |
| lære seg | no reflexive on learn | seg or meg + Content | shift · an object reflexive English does not write · the learn subject stays | learn French constructed gloss | lære seg fransk NAOB 3.2 · lære meg fransk Bokmålsordboka 2 |
| undervise · Content | bare object of teach French | i+NP | shift · the subject matter is not a bare object | teach French · teach history constructed glosses | undervise i fransk Bokmålsordboka · underviser i regning, historie og geografi NAOB 3 |
| undervise · Learner | bare object of teach the students grammar | optional direct object beside i | shift · not a second bare object beside a bare Content · the Learner can be absent | teach the students grammar constructed gloss | underviser studentene i grammatikk Bokmålsordboka |
| lære bort | object, or to + recipient | object in one line · til+DP in another | the stack something to someone is unprinted · bort is next to the verb in the lines opened | teach a trick · teach the younger ones constructed glosses of the two lines | lærte bort et knep Bokmålsordboka · lære bort til de yngre NAOB |
The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame. The subject chip is the Teacher when the clause has one, and the learner-side subject on the learn reading.
EN · NO · two bare objects
teach someone English
lære noen engelsk
NO · NAOB sense 2 · example · two bare noun phrases · EN gloss constructed
Move English writes two bare objects · Norwegian writes two bare objects · Dutch writes one direct object and a meewerkend voorwerp
NO · undervise
she teaches the students grammar
hun underviser studentene i grammatikk
NO · Bokmålsordboka · Learner direct · Content i · EN gloss constructed
Move English teach French is a bare object · undervise i fransk has no Learner and no bare Content
NO · learn
learn the alphabet
lære alfabetet
NO · Bokmålsordboka sense 2 · no second bare NP · the Learner is the subject
Move English uses learn · Dutch leren keeps one lemma and no reflexive · Norwegian also prints lære seg
NO · lære seg
learn French
lære seg fransk
NO · NAOB sense 3.2 · example · EN gloss constructed
Move the reflexive is not a Teacher · lære alfabetet is learn with no reflexive
NO · lære bort
he passed on a trick · passing a skill on to the younger ones
han lærte bort et knep
å lære bort til de yngre
NO · Bokmålsordboka · NAOB · not one clause · EN glosses constructed
Move bort stands next to the verb · lære bort noe til noen is not constructed
NO · instruere
the coach instructs the ski jumpers in the right technique
treneren instruerer skihopperne i rett teknikk
NO · Bokmålsordboka · sense 1 · no register label · EN gloss constructed
Move practical instruction · i gammeldans has no Learner · the order sense stays on om
Argument difference. English teach someone something is two bare objects, and teach French is one bare object. Norwegian lære noen noe matches the first. undervise matches neither: the Content is i+NP, and the Learner is an optional direct object. The same lemma lære is also learn, with the Learner as subject, and lære seg is printed on that reading. lære bort takes the Content as object. til plus the Learner is printed in a line that does not contain that object. Full noun phrases show no case.
Dictionary frames and lines · checked · quoted as printed
The blocks below open one argument at a time. A line with no tag is the working name of the slot. A gloss wears constructed.
✓ lære noen engelsk NAOB 2 · bare NP beside a bare Content
✓ underviser studentene i grammatikk Bokmålsordboka · direct object beside i
✓ undervise i fransk Bokmålsordboka · the Learner is absent
The two bare objects of lære match teach someone something. The i-phrase of undervise does not match teach French.
✓ lære alfabetet Bokmålsordboka 2 · Learner is the subject · no reflexive
✓ han vilde lære sig norsk NAOB 3.2 · Ibsen, Fruen fra havet, 1888
✓ han lærte bort et knep Bokmålsordboka · Content · no til-phrase
✓ lære bort til de yngre NAOB · til · no Content object
✓ de ble instruert i bruk av en ny maskin Bokmålsordboka · passive · person subject · Content i
The passive opened for a teach verb is not a double-object passive of lære. NAOB sense 2 prints jeg blir lært og døbt i din tro and han er lært til prest. The person is the subject. No Content noun sits beside that passive as a second object of lære. lære opp prints du skal læres opp and vi læres alle opp. The person is the subject, and the particle stays. No passive that promotes engelsk or tålmodighet and leaves the Learner in place was in the articles opened. None is constructed.
The learn reading is not that passive. lære alfabetet and lære seg fransk have the Learner as the subject of the active. The participle lært and the auxiliary har are the morphology Bokmålsordboka prints: har lært. They are not an endpoint claim. undervise prints underviste and har undervist. A passive of undervise is unprinted in the articles opened. instruere prints the person as the subject of ble instruert and of er instruert, with the Content still in i where the line has it. opplære prints ble opplært and skal opplæres, with til.
bort stands next to lære in lærte bort et knep, lære bort håndverk, and lære bort til de yngre. opp is printed both next to the verb, lære opp nye medarbeidere, and after the person, lærer elevene opp. Those orders are the forms in the lines opened. They are not an endpoint claim, and a negative clause is unprinted.
Each sketch is a working drawing, not a locked analysis. The drawing gives the Teacher to Voice, the Learner to low Appl, and the Content to the root. On the learn reading the subject is the learner-side argument. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.
Printed · one external argument · teaching sense
[TP [lærer]
[VoiceP Voice ← Teacher = Spec,Voice
… lære … ]]
✓ de har lært barna sine tålmodighet Bokmålsordboka · sense 1
The external argument of the learn reading is the Learner. lære alfabetet uses the subject for the person who acquires the Content.
lære · two bare objects
[VoiceP Voice
[ApplP_LOW [noen] Appl ← Learner · bare NP
[VP √lær-
[Content engelsk ]]]] ← Content · bare NP
undervise does not put the Content in that bare slot. The Learner, when present, is the direct object, and i marks the Content. With no Learner, only the i-phrase is printed.
[VoiceP Voice
[VP √undervis-
[Learner studentene ] ← optional direct object
[i grammatikk ]]] ← Content · i+NP
✓ lære noen engelsk NAOB · sense 2
✓ hun underviser studentene i grammatikk Bokmålsordboka
✓ undervise i fransk Bokmålsordboka · no Learner
Working · no English teach page is opened · siblings are the live teach pages
[VoiceP Voice ← Teacher
[ApplP_LOW someone Appl ← EN bare object
[VP √TEACH · NO lære: bare NP + bare NP
[Content something ]]]] · NO undervise: i+NP, Learner optional DO
· NL leren: bare IO or aan, direct Content
· PL uczyć: genitive Content
· DE unterrichten: in+dative Content
lære noen noe matches the two bare objects. undervise does not: the Content is i+NP. Dutch aan matches an oblique Learner. Norwegian teach-lære does not print that oblique. The learn reading stays on lære, with or without seg. English puts it on learn.
| Layer | teach (EN) · no page | lære · teach | undervise | leren | unterrichten |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spec,Voice | Teacher | Teacher | Teacher | Teacher | Teacher |
| Learner | bare object | bare NP | optional direct object | bare indirect object or aan | accusative, when the clause has one |
| Content | bare object, or an infinitive | bare NP, or å + infinitive | i+NP | direct object, or a bare / te / om te infinitive | in+dative when the Learner is in the clause |
| Learner as subject | learn is another verb | the same lemma · lære seg also printed | unprinted as a second sense of this shape | the same lemma · no zich on the ordinary learn reading | not this lemma |
Working paper · October 2026 · Norwegian Bokmål micro-entry · Beyond Index 2
Teaching in Norwegian is not one frame copied from English teach. Teacher (Voice, subject), Learner (low Appl), Content (complement of the root). On lære the teach reading is two bare objects, or a bare Learner and an å-infinitive. With no second bare noun phrase the Learner is the subject. lære seg is printed on that reading. undervise takes the Content in i and the Learner as an optional direct object. lære bort takes a Content object; til plus the Learner is another line.
Not a flat grid of three sisters, and not every English frame copied onto one Norwegian verb. Voice adds the Teacher. Low Appl adds the Learner. The root takes the Content.
What Norwegian changes, against teach someone something and teach French, depends on the lemma. lære noen noe keeps two bare objects. The same lemma, with the Learner as subject, is learn, and lære seg is printed there. undervise puts the subject matter in i and the Learner, when present, in the direct object. That is the school frame that does not match either English bare-object cloth.
Dictionary frames: Bokmålsordboka, as served at ordbokene.no, for lære, undervise, instruere, and the noun opplæring. The verb opplære returns no Bokmålsordboka article. Det Norske Akademis ordbok, as served at naob.no, for lære, undervise, instruere, and opplære. Book and press lines are quoted only as those articles print them. Norsk riksmålsordbok was not opened as a separate article; NAOB is the academy dictionary served at the URLs below. Index 2 does not list lære. Norwegian Transfer in Index 2 is bytte; gi.
Records the two bare objects of teach-lære, the subject Learner of the same lemma, the reflexive lære seg, the unstacked object and til of lære bort, and the i-Content of undervise with an optional direct-object Learner. Does not open a second page for the learn reading.