5.5

5.5 Ut, ute, utenfor

Ut (out) is used for movement. It tells you that someone is going out of somewhere.

«Kom deg ut!» sier Dina.
«Get out!» Dina says.
Alex går ut av Dinas rom.
Alex goes out of Dina's room.

Ute (out, outside) is used for stationary situations. It is very often used in the meaning «outdoors».

Katten sitter ute på trappa.
The cat is sitting outside/outdoors on the staircase.
De spiser ute på terrassen.
They are eating out/outside on the terrace.
Alex liker å være ute.
Alex likes being outdoors.

We cannot use ut together with a noun. If we want to say that someone or something is outside somewhere, we must use utenfor (outside):

Utenfor huset sitter en katt.
Outside the house, there is a cat.
Ben kjører til et kjøpesenter utenfor sentrum.
Ben is driving to a shopping center outside the town center.

Sometimes we drop the noun after utenfor if there is no doubt what noun there should be:

Cecilie og Alex går ut av butikken. Utenfor ser de Anne Olsen.
Cecilie and Alex go out of the shop. Outside (the shop) they see Anne Olsen.
Cecilie sitter og ser ut av vinduet. Hun ser naboen utenfor.
Cecilie is looking out the window. She sees the neighbour outside (her window / her house).