just going home

[Rathael87]

Hei alle sammen

Google translator problem this time. I'm looking to say the equivalent of "im just going home" in norsk. No matter what angle a spin it through google translator, it gives me this:

"jeg skal bare hjem"

Does this even make any sense? It seems crazy to me, so I wondered if it was an idiom. I understand "bare" is the adverb and that it has to be present indicative tense since there is no continuous in norsk... But there's no indication of the action of going o.O "hjem" just appears to be a noun when i search it. So this is like saying "i shall just home". It doesn't sound right at all. Am i mistaken?

Rath

[Dingbats]

With auxiliary verbs, such as skal, vil, må etc., verbs expressing motion may be omitted, and doing so is often the most idiomatic option.

As for this particular sentence, I'll let a native Norwegian speaker have the last word, but to my Swedish ears it sounds perfectly fine (although really, a bit more context would be helpful to determine just which translation would be the best).

[Rathael87]

Thankyou! I did not know that. That explains a lot. The context is just in response to a question like "what are you up to?"... So the adverb is just conveying lack of importance as "merely" would in English.

[Dingbats]

Thankyou! I did not know that. That explains a lot. The context is just in response to a question like "what are you up to?"... So the adverb is just conveying lack of importance as "merely" would in English.

I think 'jeg skal bare hjem' would more idiomatically answer a question like "where are you going?", or "what are you doing? [spoken as the listener is seen putting their shoes on]", rather than a general "what are you up to?". Something like 'jeg er bare på vei hjem' might fit your intended meaning better.

HOWEVER, this is just me writing whatever because it's late and nothing else is happening on the internet, so don't take my word for it because the nuances may be different in Norwegian than in Swedish.

EDIT: The main point is, of course – and this I'm sure of – that 'jeg skal bare hjem' can't be interpreted as describing an ongoing event. "I'm just going home" can mean either of "I'm just about to go home" and "I'm presently on my way home"; 'jeg skal bare hjem' can only mean the former.

[miae]

But there's no indication of the action of going

That's because it's very common to leave out "the action of going" (verbs like "dra" or "gå") when you're talking about going somewhere (also: "jeg skal til Norge", etc). You could just as well say "jeg skal bare dra/gå hjem", but the verbs "dra" or "gå" seem redundant. Also not a native speaker, so I'm letting Norwegians to correct me and clear this up.

[Noreviking]

"I'm just going home" could indeed be translated into different things depending on the setting:

"Do you have a lot of plans during the time/days to come?" - "No, I'm just going home and will stay there" = "Nei, jeg skal bare (dra) hjem, og blir værende der."

"What's up? / What are you doing?" - "I'm on my way home." = "Jeg er på vei hjem."


Like Dingbats said:
"Where are you going? / What are you doing?" [spoken as the listener is seen putting their shoes on], "I'm just going home" = "Jeg skal (bare) hjem."
Comment: In this case, I personally leave "bare" out. Here, "bare" indicates that the person that's going home will come back to visit you in a while. (I'm going home for now, but will come back to your/this place later.)