norwegian grammar reference help
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Norwegian Grammar Reference Help Contents©1995-1996 Translation Experts Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Verbs
Nouns
Articles
Adjectives
Adverbs
Pronouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Time & Numbers
Sentence Structure
Correspondence
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Verbs
Key Verbs
Basic Form & Present Tense
Past Tense
Irregular Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs
Passive Verbs
Verbs Ending in -s
Verbs Used in Other Ways
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Key Verbs
English Norwegianto be å være
I am jeg er
you are (familiar sing.) du er
you are (polite sing.) De er
he is han er
she is hun er
it is (common gender) den er
it is (neuter gender) det er
we are vi er
you are (familiar pl.) dere er
you are (polite pl.) De er
they are de er
English Norwegian
to have å ha
I have jeg ha
you have (familiar sing.) du har
you have (polite sing.) De har
he has han har
she has hun har
it has (common gender) den har
it has (neuter gender) det har
we have vi har
you have (familiar pl.) dere har
you have (polite pl.) De har they have de har
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Basic Form & Present Tense
Norwegian verbs do not change with the person (e.g. I hear = jeg hører or he hears = han hører). Themajority of infinitive Norwegian verbs end with either an unstressed e or a stressed vowel. In both
cases, the present tense is formed by adding an r , for example:
English Norwegian
Infinitive Infinitive Present Tense
to speak å snakke snakker
to eat å spise spiser
to run å løpe løper
to use å bruke bruker
to see å se ser
to sew å sy syr
A few verbs form the present tenses differently, for example:
to do å gjøre gjør
to know å vite vet
Norwegian does not have the equivalent of the English -ing form. The Norwegian equivalent of the
English -ing is expressed in the same manner as the simple present.
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Past Tense
Some Norwegian verbs are regular, which means that there is no change of the stem vowel. Irregular Norwegian verbs change. Like English, Norwegian has a simple past tense (e.g. spoke), the perfect
tense (e.g. have spoken) and a pluperfect tense (e.g. had spoken). All formed in a manner similar to
English.
The perfect and the pluperfect tenses are comprised of the past participle (e.g. spoken) and the
appropriate tense of have, for example:
Infinite Present Past Perfect Pluperfect
English have have had have had had had
Norwegian ha har hadde har hatt hadde hatt
English be am was have been had been
Norwegian være er var har vært hadde vært
To create the simple past tense of most regular Norwegian verbs, add ede to the stem of the verb. If
the infinitive of the verb has a double consonant before the final e, the past tense retains the double
consonant.
To create the past participle, add et to the stem of the verb. Retain the double consonant of the
infinitive if it has one, for example:
Infinitive Past Perfect
English to kiss kissed have kissed
Norwegian å kysse kysset har kysset
English to cough coughed have coughed
Norwegian å hoste hostet har hostet
A small group of Norwegian verbs add te to the stem to form the past tense and t to form the past
participle, for example:
Infinitive Past Perfect
English to eat eated have eaten
Norwegian å spise spiste har spist
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Irregular Verbs
English NorwegianInfinitive Past Perfect
ask spørre spurte har spurt
ask/pray be bad har bedt
bring bringe brakte har brakt
come komme kom har/er kommet
count telle telte har telt
do gjøre gjorde har gjort
follow følge fulgte har fulgt
get få fikk har fått
give gi gav har gitt
grease/butter smøre smurte har smurt
lay legge la har lagtlie ligge lå har ligget
put/set sette satte har satt
say si sa har sagt
see/look se så har sett
sell selge solgte har solgt
sit sitte satt har sittet
stay/become bli ble har blitt
take ta tok har tatt
walk/leave gå gikk har gått
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Auxiliary Verbs
Shall, can, and will belong to the key group of verbs which are indispensable for use in conjunctionwith other verbs. Like English, these Norwegian verbs have no command form but, unlike their English
counterparts (with the exception of dare), they do have an infinitive.
English Norwegian
Infinitive Present
can/is able to å kunne kan
shall/is to/must å skulle skal
will/wants to å ville vil
may/must å måtte må
ought to å burde bor
dare(s) å tore tør
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Passive Verbs
When one uses a verb to describe an action one has accomplished, the verb is said to be "active."When a verb is used to describe something done to one or to something, the verb is said to be
"passive." In Norwegian, the passive is created in one of two ways:
1 An s replaces the final r of the present tense or is added to the end of the past tense.
2 The copula bli + past participle also produces the passive voice.
Active Passive
English Norwegian English Norwegian
to treat å behandle to be treated å behandles/å bli behandlet
we treat we behandler we are treated vi behandles/vi blir behandlet
I treated jeg behandlet I was treated jeg behandles/jeg blir behandlet
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Verbs ending in -s
Some verbs can have a "sense of each other" when used with the pasive s:
English Norwegian
they see each other often de ses ofte
se you! (we will see each other) vi ses!
they meet (each other) de møtes
the boys are fighting (each other) guttene slåss
Some verbs can have a special meaning with the passive s:
English Norwegian
there are det finnes
it seems det synes
I think/I am of the opinion that jeg synes
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Verbs Used in Other Ways
Just as in English, some Norwegian verbs can be used to create an adjective. This can beaccomplished in one of two ways. The past participle is often used as an adjective :
English Norwgian
a cleaned floor et renset gulv
a newly built farm en nybygget gård
the painted wall en malt vegg
all whitewashed houses alle hvitkalkete hus
In English, the -ing form of a verb is often used as an adjective or adverb. The Norwegian equivalent: is
created by adding -nde to the infinitive or -ende if the infinitive ends with a stressed vowel:
English Norwegian
a dying man en døende manna satisfying answer et tilfredsstillende svar
She is a rising (coming) star Hun er en kommende stjerne
the existing rule den eksisterende regel
on my writing days på mine skrivende dager
Is that a hardworking assistent? Er det en hardtarbeidende assistent?
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Nouns
Nouns & Articles
Plural Nouns
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Nouns & Articles
Norwegian nouns can be masculine (en), feminine (ei/en) or neuter (et ). The feminine ei is mostlyused in dialects. Most beings and occupations use the en (ei) form. Aside from this one generality,
there is no hard and fast rule by which one can determine the gender of a specific noun.
In the infinitive (a) form, en/ei and et precede the noun (e.g. a dog = en hund, a cow = ei ku, a woman
= en kvinne, a house = et hus). In the definitive (the) form, they are added to the end of the word (e.g.
the dog = hunden, the cow = kua, the woman = kvinnen, the house = huset). Note that the feminine
form can have either the a or (e)n ending.
Norwegian English
"a" form "the" form
Masculine en hund hunden dog
en mann mannen man
Feminine ei jente jenta girl
en kvinne kvinnen woman
Neuter et tre treet tree
et hus huset house
If the noun ends with an unstressed e, the definitive form only adds the n or the t:
Mas./Fem. en kvinne kvinnen woman
Neuter et teppe teppet carpet
Nouns which end with a stressed e (those having only one syllable or an accent on the e to show
stress) take the full ending:
Mas./Fem. en skje skjeen spoon
en kafé kaféen café
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Plural Nouns
In both English and Norwegian, the plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel of thestem (man/men = mann/menn). The majority of Norwegian nouns add er for the indefinitive plural, or, if
they already end in a unstressed e, just r . In the definitive form, the ending is ne and ene is used, for
example:
Singular
Indefinitive
Plural
Definitive
Plural
English a flower flowers these flowers
Norwegian en blomst blomster blomstene
English a teacher teachers these teachers
Norwegian en lærer lærere lærerne
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Adjectives
Adjective Endings
Comparison of Adjectives
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Adjective Endings
In Norwegian, adjectives change with the gender of the noun as well as the definitive (the), indefinitive(a) and plural forms.
The "basic" form of a Norwegian adjective is unchaged when used with masculine or feminine nouns or
singular nouns in their indefinitive (a) form:
English Norwegian
a sweet cake en søt kake
a good woman en god kvinne
a large Welshman en stor waliser
an amusing anecdote en morsom anekdote
a red car en rød bil
When adjectives are used to describe a singular neuter noun, they usually require the addition of a t:
English Norwegian
a sweet smile et søtt smil
a good heart et godt hjerte
a large meal et stort måltid
an amusing fairy tale et morsomt eventyr
a red carpet et rødt teppe
In the indefinitive plural, most adjectives end with an e:
English Norwegian
sweet things søte saker
good deeds gode gjerninger
great events store begivenheter
When an adjective is placed before a noun in the definite (the) form, the definite ending is added to the
noun and the adjective is preceded by the definite article den (for masculine/feminine singular), det
(for neuter singular) or de (for plural). The ending of the adjective, however, is the same for all three:'
English Norwegian
the sweet pain den søte smerten
the large meal det store måltidet
the lovely experiences de deilige opplevelsene
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Comparision of Adjectives
Comparative adjectives in Norwegian is somewhat similiar to English: short/shorter/shortest =kort/kortere/kortest. The comparative English ending er becomes ere in Norwegian and the English
superlative est is also est in Norwegian.
The superlative form adds an e in the indefinitive plural and in all definitive forms (den søteste
sangen/de søteste sangene = the sweetest song/the sweetest songs').
English Norwegian
Comparative Superlative
soft bløt bløtere bløtest
expensive dyr dyrere dyrest
rich rik rikere rikest
wise klok klokere klokest
high høy høyere høyest
low lav lavere lavest
wide bred bredere bredest
Adjectives ending in ig or som add only st in the superlative:
English Norwegian
Comparative Superlative
lovely deilig deiligere deiligst
cheap billig billigere billigst
poor fattig fattigere fattigst
happy lykkelig lykkeligere lykkeligst
slow langsom langsommere langsomst
If an adjective ends with el , en or er , the e is normmally dropped before adding the ere or est endings.
In double consonant words, one consonant is dropped in the process:
English Norwegian
Comparative Superlative
noble edel edlere edlest
lazy doven dovnere dovnest
cheerful munter muntrere muntrest
delicious lekker lekrere lekrest
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Adverbs
Common Adverbs
Adverbs of Place & Movement
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Common Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs to which they are added. In Norwegian, adjectives inthe neuter form are often used as adverbs (e.g. godt = well; langt = far). Sometimes adjectives remain
unchanged when used as adverb (e.g. lett = lightly).
Some common adverbs:
English Norwegian
never/all the same aldri
anyway allikevel
always alltid
only bare/kun
then/besides da
furthermore dessuten
unfortunately desverre
yet/however dog
otherwise ellers
still/yet endnu
too for
quite/rather ganske
willingly gjerne
fortunately heldigvis
not ikke
especially især
far langt
(for a) long (time) lenge
perhaps muligensperhaps kanskje
of course naturligvis
now nå
almost nesten
often ofte
also også
of course selvfølgelig
sometimes noen ganger
immediately straks
then så
occasionally av og til
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Adverbs of Place & Movement
English NorwegianMovement Place
went away gikk bort ----
was away/gone ---- var borte
went/walked home gikk hjem ----
stayed at home ---- ble hjemme
walk forward gå frem ----
we have got there ---- vi er fremme
come in! kom inn! ----
we are locked in ---- vi er lukket inne
out you go ut med deg ----
we are out vi er ute
up(wards) opp oppe
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Pronouns
Subject Pronouns
Object Pronouns
Relative Pronouns
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Subject Pronouns
English NorwegianI jeg
you du
he ha
she hun
it den
we vi
you dere
they de
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Object Pronouns
English Norwegianme meg
you (familiar sing.) deg
you (polite sing.) Dem
him han/ham
her henne
it den/det
us oss
you (familiar pl.) dere
you (polite pl.) Dem
them dem
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Relative Pronouns
The single Norwegian word som can be used for the English who, that and which.
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Prepositions
English Norwegian
along bortover
of av
behind bak
among blant
after etter
for for
before foran
past forbi
before før
from/off fra
through gjennom
with/at hos
along langs (med)
with med
among/between mellom
towards/against mot
near nær
about/on om
around omkring
over/above over
opposite overfor
on på
to til
without uten
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Conjunctions
English Norwegian
and og
or eller
but men
plus samt
as well as så vel som
for/because for
so så
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Time & Numbers
Days & Months
Hours of the Day
Numbers
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Days & Months
Days
English Norwegian
Monday mandag
Tuesday tirsdag
Wednesday onsdag
Thursday torsdag
Friday fredag
Saturday lørdag
Sunday søndag
Months
English Norwegian
January januar
February februar
March mars
April april
May mai
June juni
July juli
English Norwegian
August august
September september
October oktober
November november December desember
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Hours of the Day
The 24-hour clock is used in Norway. The English a.m. or p.m. designations are not known.
Time Norwegian
6-9 morgen
9-12 (15) formiddag
12 (15)-18 ettermiddag
18-24 kveld
24-6 natt
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Numbers
Number Norwegian0 null
1 en/ett
2 to
3 tre
4 fire
5 fem
6 seks
7 syv
8 åtte
9 ni
10 ti
11 elleve12 tolv
13 tretten
14 fjorten
15 femten
16 seksten
17
18 atten
19 nitten
20 tjue
21 tjueen
22 tjueto
30 tretti
40 førti50 femti
60 seksti
70 sytti
80 åtti
90 nitti
100 hundre
101 hundreogen
113 hundreogtretten
231 tohundreogtrettien
8,010 åttetusenogti
100,000 (ett)hundretusen
2,000,000 to millioner
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Sentence Structure
Norwegian word order is often the same as English but there are some very important differences. In
Norwegian sentences, the verb changes place if the sentence starts with an adverb or a subordinate
clause precedes the the main clause:
English Norwegian
I am buying a car today Jeg kjøper en bil i dag
Today I am buying a car I dag kjøper jeg en bil
I take the car if it rains Jeg tar bilen hvis det regner
If it rains, I take the car Hvis det regner, tar jeg bilen
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Correspondence
The Date
In Norwegian, the date is written with the date preceding the month, for example: 8. mai (May 8) or 25.
desember (December 25).
Letter Opening
In Norwegian there is no equivalent to the English opening: "Dear Sir(s)." When writing to a company,
for example, one should proceed straight into the text unless the addressee is known by their title and
name.
Letter Closings
English Norwegian
Business Yours faithfully Vennlig hilsen
Yours sincerely Med vennlig hilsen
Friends Kind regards Vennlig hilsen
devoted Mange venlige hils(e)ner or
Deres/din hengivne