Norwegian: å ta kontakt med VS å få kontakt med

[Camril]

Is there any difference between the phrases å ta kontakt med and å få kontakt med? Does the latter phrase mean that someone should call you instead of you calling anyone first? Or do they have identical meaning and could be used as synonyms? I find only the first phrase in the vocabulary, but I also can see the second phrase in books or online articles.

 

[Svenke]

I would translate ta kontakt med X as 'make contact with X'.
Få kontakt med X means 'manage to make contact with X' (perhaps in spite of difficulties reaching X).

There are a number of expressions like this:
komme i kontakt med X 'get into contact with X'
være i kontakt med X 'be in contact with X'
ha kontakt med X 'be in contact with X'
holde kontakt(en) med X 'keep in touch with X'
etc.

 

[winenous]

Få kontakt med X means 'manage to make contact with X' (perhaps in spite of difficulties reaching X).

I think that 'manage to make contact with X' also includes the possibility that X initiates the contact, as originally suggested by @Camril.

Would you agree?

 

[Svenke]

I think that 'manage to make contact with X' also includes the possibility that X initiates the contact, as originally suggested by @Camril.

Would you agree?

I wouldn't rule it out, at least not when the sentence is positive. But if you say, in the negative, Jeg får ikke kontakt med henne, then it is clear that 'I' am making an effort while 'she' is either unresponsive or unreachable.

 

[raumar]

Maybe we could say it this way: If the sentence is positive, for example "Jeg fikk kontakt med henne i går", the implication is that I tried to contact her in the first place. I may have tried to reach her for months, sending emails, leaving messages etc. But we don't know who actually contacted whom yesterday. Maybe she finally responded to my messages and called me, or maybe she finally answered one of my calls.

 

[PoulBA]

in my (Danish) ears, the first one, "tage kontakt med" suggests that the subject is the active party
"få kontakt med" shifts the focus to the contact, and doesn't speak to who was active in establishing said contact