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"Advokaten bringer saken for domstolene."

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weerwater

"Advokaten bringer saken for domstolene."

Post by weerwater »

I'm still confused about the use of the plural in this formal statement. To me there would be just one specific court that would need to receive the documents to start a court case. No need to address all courts. (...)
The DL English line also uses a plural 'courts'. Mere translation of the statement however appears not to be the reason for that.

Ordboken (Bokmål) clarifies that the plural is idiomatic to Norwegian.
Eksempel:
prøve en sak for domstolene;
bringe en sak for domstolene
.
In English (UK) however use of the plural is not standard."Bring a case to the court.".

This makes me wonder about the proper application of the Norwegian plural. Is this only applied in a formal way: acts and studies? Would the plural also be used in less formal texts or conversations.

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anamorphism

Re: "Advokaten bringer saken for domstolene."

Post by anamorphism »

to me as an american, the plural is more abstract than the singular when using definite form.

  • bringing the case to the court: one specific court of the many in the american judicial system and for one specific trial.
  • bringing the case to the courts: starting the entire process that could include multiple courts and trials (appeals and such).

the plural definite also implies that the case is probably one that is not expected to end after the first trial; it is expected that the case will be escalated due to its nature, possibly all the way up to the supreme court.

if trying to convey the more abstract meaning for a more trivial matter, one that i would expect to end after one trial, i would use indefinite singular: bringing the case to court.

this is all just idiolectal, not sure if other native english speakers share my opinions.

i am also curious if there is any nuance in norwegian. i am almost completely ignorant to how the legal system works over there, aside from knowing that jury duty isn't a thing anymore. :)

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