Basics 2 · 2019-11-28 ^

A heartfelt welcome to the Norwegian course!

Norwegian is a language with simpler grammar than many other European languages, but it is still a gendered language with three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

Grammatical Gender

All feminine gendered nouns can be classified as masculine gender as well. In theory, one could treat all feminine nouns as masculine ones, but most Norwegians still use the feminine form, especially for certain words.

The choice really is up to you! Both en kvinne and ei kvinne are grammatically correct, and the tendency to use the feminine gender depends on geography and dialect. We have decided to teach it where it is most natural to use it, with words such as jente meaning girl, for example.

Pronouns

Norwegian pronouns are very straightforward and correspond well to English ones:

Verbs

Conjugation couldn't be simpler. All conjugated verbs have an -r stem in the present, and verbs don't change according to the subject! How easy is that?

Although not as common as det, den is used to mean it or that when referring to a masculine or feminine subject, and not a neuter one.

Pronunciation

As a general rule, words are spelled as they're pronounced in Norwegian. One exception is words beginning with hv, such as hva, meaning what. In this word, the h is silent.

In addition, there are several letters and letter combinations that are pronounced differently from English.

Norwegian also has three special vowels, Æ, Ø and Å.

Special Notes on Common Words

Introduction 3 · 2022-05-18 ^

A heartfelt welcome to the Norwegian course!

Norwegian is a language with simpler grammar than many other European languages, but it is still a gendered language with three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

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Grammatical Gender

All feminine gendered nouns can be classified as masculine gender as well. In theory, one could treat all feminine nouns as masculine ones, but most Norwegians still use the feminine form to some degree, especially for certain words.

The choice really is up to you! Both en kvinne and ei kvinne are grammatically correct, and the tendency to use the feminine gender depends on geography and dialect.

We have opted to teach it where it is most natural to use it, with words such as jente meaning girl, for example, but in the first couple of skills we'll let you focus on the masculine and neuter noun patterns.

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Pronouns

Norwegian pronouns are very straightforward and correspond well to English ones:

When referring to a neutral subject, det is used to mean it or that. However, when referring to a masculine or feminine subject, it becomes den instead.

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Verbs

Conjugation couldn't be simpler. All conjugated verbs have an -r stem in the present, and verbs don't change according to the subject! How easy is that?

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Pronunciation

As a general rule, words are spelled as they're pronounced in Norwegian. One exception is words beginning with hv, such as hvem, meaning who. In this word, the h is silent.

In addition, there are several letters and letter combinations that are pronounced differently from English.

Norwegian also has three additional letters that English doesn't have!

Special Notes on Common Words

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Core Vocabulary

Basics 2 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

Definite Forms

The definite form, the man, the woman, et cetera, is formed by attaching the indefinite article onto the end of the noun. This ending is called a postfix or a suffix.

Although the t is pronounced as such in the phrase et barn, it turns silent in the definite form, barnet, which is pronounced more like barneh. This is the case with all neuter nouns in the singular definite form. Be sure to drop the t sound, otherwise you might sound rather Swedish.

For feminine-classified nouns, there is one irregularity in the definite form:

Both jenta and jenten are appropriate translations for the girl. These same endings apply to all feminine nouns. Please consult the tips and notes section for the first lesson if you would like a review of the Norwegian grammatical genders.

Who? What? Where? 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Who? What? Where?

Confused yet? We have just the word for you...

Hva is the word for what, and also happens to be just the right thing to exclaim when you feel like you've been hit in the head with one Norwegian grammar rule too many.

In this skill, you'll also come across another question word, but you'll have to go look for it yourself, because we're not sure exactly where it went.

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Plural Pronouns

You're already familiar with the singular pronouns jeg, du, han, hun and det, and now we're adding the plural pronouns into the mix.

Notice how Norwegian has two different pronouns for "you": du is the singular and dere is the plural version. An easy way to keep them apart, is to remember that the word representing more people has more letters in it.

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Question Words

When you're just starting out learning a new language, few things are more useful than to be able to ask the questions that allow you to find what you need or further your learning. You've already learned one, hvem, and in this skill you'll learn two more of the most common question words.

Isn't it neat how they all resemble their English counterparts? You've probably noticed by now that English and Norwegian have many things in common, both when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. This is because they're closely related Germanic languages.

However, we do need to differentiate ourselves somehow, and so we decided to add some extra letters to our alphabet - just to keep things interesting.

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Knowing

The verb å vite, to know, is an irregular verb in Norwegian. Its present tense, which you will familiarize yourself with in this skill, is vet. See that vowel change from the infinitive to the present? Cheeky!

There are actually several verbs for knowing, and you'll get to know them all in due time, but this particular one deals with factual knowledge. Some examples of that is knowing what or where something is, or knowing something about something or someone.

Vet du hvor det er?
Do you know where it is?

Vet du hvem hun er?
Do you know who she is?

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Three New Vowels

Norwegian has three extra vowels, Æ, Ø and Å.

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Greetings 3 · 2021-09-03 ^

Common Phrases

We've compiled a list of common phrases in the Norwegian language, for your reference.

Many of them are idiomatic, meaning that they don't translate word for word to English. You'll have to learn the entire phrase.

One example is "Ha det bra!", which literally means "Have it good!", but idiomatically translates to "Goodbye!"

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Norwegian Characters

By now, you're probably getting used to seeing the Norwegian vowels Æ, Ø and Å around.

If you're doing your Duolingo lessons on the app, you may need to install a Norwegian or international keyboard to type these. However, before you do so, try holding down A or O and see if they appear as options.

If you're doing your lessons on the web, you can either install a Norwegian keyboard, or just click the special characters displayed below the input field when you type your response.

When you have no other option, you can use these replacement characters, but don't get into the habit of relying on them, as it will be a hard one to break.

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Actions 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Definite Forms

The definite form, the man, the woman, et cetera, is formed by attaching the indefinite article onto the end of the noun. This ending is called a postfix or a suffix.

Although the t is pronounced as such in the phrase et barn, it turns silent in the definite form, barnet, which is pronounced more like barneh. This is the case with all neuter nouns in the singular definite form. Be sure to drop the t sound, otherwise you might sound rather Swedish.

For feminine-classified nouns, there is one irregularity in the definite form:

Both jenta and jenten are appropriate translations for the girl. These same endings apply to all feminine nouns. Please consult the tips and notes section for the first lesson if you would like a review of the Norwegian grammatical genders.

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Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

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Animals 9 · 2021-09-03 ^

Animals

Many animal names in Norwegian share etymological ties with English ones, but the meaning has drifted over time in one direction or another. Below are some examples.

Beware these false friends!

*In British English, "elg" and "elk" are actual cognates. In American English, "elk" refers to a different animal.

The following words are true friends, meaning that the words are similar in both spelling and meaning.

You know more Norwegian than you thought you did!

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Grammatical and Biological Gender

After being introduced to nouns such as ei jente, en gutt, and et barn, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there was a correlation between a word's grammatical gender and its biological gender, or sex.

However, this is not the case. Grammatical gender is a completely independent concept. While en hund is a masculine noun, that does not imply that the dog we're referring to is male, that's just the grammatical gender of the word itself.

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Phrases 12 · 2020-06-12 ^

Common Phrases

We've compiled a list of common phrases in the Norwegian language, for your reference.

Many of them are idiomatic, meaning that they don't translate word for word to English. You'll have to learn the entire phrase.

One example is "Ha det bra!", which literally means "Have it good!", but idiomatically translates to "Goodbye!"

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Norwegian Characters

By now, you're probably getting used to seeing the Norwegian vowels Æ, Ø and Å around.

If you're doing your Duolingo lessons on the app, you may need to install a Norwegian or international keyboard to type these. However, before you do so, try holding down A or O and see if they appear as options.

If you're doing your lessons on the web, you can either install a Norwegian keyboard, or just click the special characters displayed below the input field when you type your response.

When you have no other option, you can use these replacement characters, but don't get into the habit of relying on them, as it will be a hard one to break.

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Food 9 · 2021-09-03 ^

Cooking

In this skill, you'll learn the verb lager, which translates to make. There's no separate verb for cooking, instead, we use lager mat, literally make food.

Han lager mat.
He is cooking.

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Measure Words

Remember that in Norwegian, the word for of, av, is omitted where one would normally use it in English to join a measure word with another noun.

Neat, huh?

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Object Pronouns 11 · 2020-07-09 ^

Object Pronouns

We were introduced to the Norwegian pronouns in the first skill. Let's have a look at them here:

As in English, the pronouns above only pertain to subjects. The pronouns at the receiving end of a verb, in other words the object pronouns, are as follows:

Den is used to mean it or that when referring back to a masculine or feminine subject.

Det is used to mean it or that when referring back to a neuter subject, and when introducing a brand new noun that has not yet been mentioned - regardless of the gender of that noun.

Han is an alternative form of ham, but in this course we will use "han" exclusively as a subject ("he"), and "ham" for the object form ("him").

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Definite Forms 9 · 2019-08-29 ^

Definite Forms

The definite form ("the man", "the woman", et cetera) is formed by placing the indefinite article, "a/an", or in Norwegian, "en/et", at the end of the word instead of at the beginning. This is called a postfix or a suffix.

For feminine-classified nouns, there is one irregularity:

Both jenta and jenten are appropriate translations for the girl. These same endings apply to all feminine nouns.

It is also normal to use the masculine article "en" for indefinite forms, even when preferring a feminine suffix in definite. This is not considered an error!

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Plurals 7 · 2019-08-29 ^

Plurals

With few exceptions, most masculine or feminine nouns (most nouns) pluralize with -er or -r.

Single-syllable neuter nouns, such as hus house and dyr animal, often do not change spelling in the indefinite plural.

How then can you tell the difference between hus meaning house and hus meaning houses? That depends on context and adjective endings, which we will cover a bit later in the course.

One exception to these rules is the Norwegian word for "man" which pluralizes in an irregular way that's almost identical to English:

Here are some additional common irregular plurals, a couple of which are also irregular in English.

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Definite Plurals 6 · 2019-05-26 ^

Definite Plurals

With very few exceptions, all nouns can be converted to the definite plural form, i.e. the books, the cows, the dogs... by changing the -er ending on the plural form to an -ene ending:

Many neuter nouns do not have to follow this rule. Instead, they can become definite plurals by adding on an -a ending. The choice is yours, but the -ene ending is somewhat more common.

Keep in mind that the word "barn" meaning "child" almost always becomes "barna" in the definite plural, although "barnene" is grammatically correct as well.

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Verbs: Present Tense 21 · 2020-03-09 ^

Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

There are three groups of verbs with different patterns for forming tenses in Norwegian, but in the present case they all behave in the same way as you can see.

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The Swizz Army Knife of Prepositions

In this skill, we introduce the preposition på - arguably the most important word in the Norwegian language. På has as many uses and translations as there are types of brunost in Norway, but the one you'll learn right now deals with specifying languages.

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Specifying Language

På can be used to specify what language something is said or written in. When used in this meaning, it translates to in in English.

Hva betyr det på engelsk?
What does that mean in English?

Hva heter det på norsk?
What is that (called) in Norwegian?

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Plurals Ending in -E

With few exceptions, most masculine or feminine nouns (most nouns) pluralize with -er or -r.

However, words that end in -er already, add an extra -e to signify the plural.

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The Cafe 3 · 2019-09-22 ^

Getting Your Caffeine Fix

When ordering coffee at a cafe, you can simply say:

En kaffe, takk!
A coffee, thanks!

Replace kaffe with espresso, americano, cappuccino or latte to get your coffee of choice. Loanword heaven!

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Expressing Desire for Something

The verb for "want" is "vil" in Norwegian. When what you want is a noun, it needs to be accompanied by its friend "ha" ("have"). Where you in English could say either "I want [noun]" or "I want to have [noun]", it's always "Jeg vil ha [noun]".

Jeg vil ha et eple.
I want (to have) an apple.

Later in the course, you'll come across "vil" followed by a verb in the infinitive, in which case you do not need to add "ha".

Jeg vil spise et eple.
I want to eat an apple.

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The Swizz Army Knife of Prepositions

In this skill, we reintroduce the preposition på in a second meaning. På has as many uses and translations as there are types of brunost in Norway, but the one you'll learn right now deals with physical location.

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Describing Location

When used to describe location, på can translate to on, at, and sometimes even in, depending on the context. When translating, your best bet is opting for the preposition that sounds the most natural in English.

Vi sitter på kaféen.
We are sitting at the cafe.

Hun sitter på stolen.
She is sitting on the chair.

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Specifying Language

På can also be used to specify what language something is said or written in. When used in this meaning, it translates to in in English.

Hva betyr det på engelsk?
What does that mean in English?

Hva heter det på norsk?
What is that (called) in Norwegian?

So, if you order your coffee på norsk, you're ordering it in Norwegian.

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Counting 7 · 2020-05-09 ^

Counting

Welcome to Counting! Norwegian numbers are very easy for English speakers to learn in comparison to other languages. There is no tricky system or crazy multiplication weirdness. The numbers sound and work in a similar way as they do in English.

The most common word for seven is sju, but you may also hear the word syv used, which is decidedly less common. Be careful not to confuse it with the word tjue, which means twenty.

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One and One More

So far, you've seen the articles en (masculine) ei (feminine) and et (neuter) used to to mean a or an. These also do double duty as numbers, translating to one.

If you want more of something countable, you can use the adverb til. You then combine it with a number: en til becomes one more or another, to til becomes two more, and so on.

When specifying exactly what you want, by adding a noun, the number goes before the noun, while til goes after, like so: en kopp til (one more cup).

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Conversation 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Til & Fra

This skill introduces two new prepositions, "til" and "fra". Not to worry, though, as these both act predictably in this context, corresponding to "to" and "from" respectively. These work both for describing direction in a geographical sense, and in other contexts such as when giving a gift, talking to someone, or expressing where someone or something is from.

"Snakker du til meg?"
"Are you talking to me?"

"Vi flyr til Norge."
"We are flying to Norway."

"Jeg er fra England."
"I am from England."

"Han gir en gave til jenta."
"He gives a gift to the girl."

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Possessives 6 · 2019-08-29 ^

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns change depending on the gender and number of the possessor and the possessed.

My

The Definite Form

The above form takes the definite form of the noun and places the possessive pronoun after it. This is the more common form in colloquial Norwegian, and the one you will encounter most often.

• Faren min er fargeblind.

• My father is colorblind.

Another form is as follows:

The Indefinite Form

This form takes the possessive pronoun and places it before the indefinite form of the noun. This form is considered more formal and places special emphasis on the possessor.

• Mitt barn er perfekt.

• My child is perfect.

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Your (Singular)

• Hvem er foreldrene dine?

• Who are your parents?

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His

• Hunden hans er vennlig.

• His dog is friendly.

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Her

• Hva heter barnet hennes?

• What is her child's name?

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Our

• Vi elsker døtrene våre.

• We love our daughters.

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Your (Plural)

• Hvor kommer familien deres fra?

• Where does your family come from?

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Their

• Datamaskinen deres fungerer ikke.

• Their computer does not work.

Notice how deres can mean your (pl.) or their. You will be able to tell the difference through context.

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Personal Qualities 4 · 2019-04-10 ^

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives change for gender, number, indefinite and definite forms. Let's take a look at adjectives joined to nouns by the phrase to be, starting with the adjective stor, which means big or great.

The Indefinite Form

So far, so good. There is no change to the adjective in either masculine or feminine form.

As you can see above, the neuter noun changes the spelling of stor to include a -t ending, and the plural noun changes stor to include an -e ending. This pattern applies to most adjectives in the indefinite form, as shown below.

Many adjectives ending in -ig or -sk, like viktig and norsk, do not sound pleasant with a -t ending. This is why we do not add a -t to these specific adjectives in the neuter form.

We do still add the -e ending in the plural form, however!

The Definite Form

The simple thing about adjectives in the definite form is that the endings are almost all the same.

Most adjectives in the definite form end in -e.

In addition to the noun transitioning into the definite form, we place an additional word before the adjective in the definite form. This word changes depending on gender and number, as you see below.

Missing Endings in Old and Famous Names

As students of Danish may be aware, the postfixes after the nouns above are absent in Danish, and as a legacy of Danish colonialism, some Norwegian phrases lack the noun endings shown in the table above. These words are generally famous titles or institutions, such as The White House or The French Academy. See how they operate below.

Note that det hvite huset can also mean the white house, just not the one the US President lives inside.

Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

Pay special attention to context, and in time, these adjective endings become second nature.

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That and Those 3 · 2019-08-29 ^

That and Those

We learned early on how to describe definite nouns with the appropriate gender- and number-specific suffixes.

In order to specify further with the word that or those, all we do is add one gender- and number-specific word to the mix: den, det, or de.

Family 9 · 2021-02-08 ^

Family

Welcome to the family skill! Family words are some of the most common in Norwegian, but also some of the most irregular. Pay attention to how the following words pluralize.

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Location 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Location

To describe where something is, Norwegian often forgoes the verb to be in favor of to stand or to lie. Most often, upright objects with legs, such as beds, stand, while other objects, especially those on their side, tend to lie, just like in English.

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Dates 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

Below are the days of the week. The reason they're so similar to English is because English gets most of the words for the days of the week from the names of Norse gods. Keep in mind that the days of the week, unlike English, are only capitalized at the beginning of the sentence. The g at the end of these words may or may not be pronounced.

These are the months of the year, also normally in lower-case. Keep in mind the RS sound in mars makes it sound like marsh. This RS letter combination creates an SH sound in the Norwegian language.

Clothing 7 · 2021-06-13 ^

Clothing

This lesson introduces you to clothing as well as the Norwegian word seg. This word is the reflexive pronoun for all third-person nouns, himself, herself, themselves, etc. It is used in many verbs. In fact, the reflexive is far more common in Norwegian than in English.

For clothing, one uses har på seg to describe what someone is wearing. It literally means, have on oneself and is the equivalent of the English, have on.

• Hun har på seg en hatt.
• She has on (herself) a hat.
• She's wearing a hat.
  

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The Restaurant 7 · 2021-06-13 ^

The Restaurant

Hungry already, are we? Nothing like a bit of language learning to work up an appetite.

Ordering

If you're visiting Norway as a tourist, ordering food at a restaurant is a good way to practice a little Norwegian.

After having a look at the menu and working up your courage, give the waiter your most charming smile, and say any of the following:

Jeg vil (gjerne) ha X.
I would like X.

Jeg har lyst på X.
I would like X.

X, takk.
X, please/thanks.

Remember, snapping your fingers or yelling to get a waiter's attention is rude. Try to make eye contact instead. If that fails, you can say unnskyld (excuse me), perhaps accompanied by a wave.

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Courses & Drinks

If you want to order a standard three-course meal, you can look at the menu and locate these three headings:

Water is usually free, but if you want anything else to drink you'll find the drinking menu either as the last section of the main menu or as a separate menu. The drinking age in Norway is 18 for beer and wine, but 21 for hard liquor, and it's strictly enforced.

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Receiving Your Food

When your food is ready, it will likely be delivered to you with a vær så god, which is the Norwegian equivalent of here you go or dig in.

The appropriate response is either takk, tusen takk, or takk skal du ha.

Later, the waiter may stop by and ask you how your food was, but apart from that you shouldn't expect much small talk or attention. Norwegians like to be left alone to enjoy their food, so the waiter isn't ignoring you to be rude, they're just treating you like Norwegians tend to prefer being treated.

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Tipping Culture

Both kitchen and waitstaff are paid decent wages in Norway, so you should never feel like you have to tip anyone. However, it's a nice gesture if you feel the meal or service was good and would like to show your appreciation. Norwegians will often round up to the nearest 100 or 50 kr, depending on how large the total was.

Tips are registered and taxed along with the rest of people's income, so whenever you tip someone you're actually also tipping the Norwegian welfare state, contributing to better healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Having dinner and saving lives - not bad for an evening's work!

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Direction and Motion 10 · 2019-09-07 ^

Direction and Motion

In Norwegian, adverbs of place that describe where something is change when they become adverbs of motion and describe where something moves. Below are some examples:

Be careful to use the proper adverb for each situation. For most of the words above, the endings fall off when in motion. Think of them like a pocket book on top of a car. The car moves, so the pocket book falls off.

The words hit and dit are related to the antiquated English words hither and thither, which used to describe here and there in motion. Note that it has to be motion toward a location - not in or at a location.

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Prepositions 7 · 2019-08-29 ^

Prepositions

As in English, all prepositions in Norwegian stand before the noun. Below is a reference sheet for the prepositions introduced in this chapter. "Av" and "for" are notoriously versatile prepositions, with several other definitions in addition to the ones mentioned.

Of course, you've already familiarized yourself with some key prepositions in earlier skills as well. Here comes a quick refresher:

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Phrasal verbs

While we won't mix them into this skill, both separable verbs and phrasal verbs are important parts of the Norwegian language.

Often, they'll use prepositions in ways that are unfamiliar, so if you ever come across a preposition you don't understand the function of, it is worth considering whether it actually forms part of the verb.

This and These 1 · 2019-05-16 ^

This and These

We learned early on how to describe definite nouns with the appropriate gender- and number-specific suffixes.

And how to specify further with the word that or those.

Now, we're introducing how to say this and these in Norwegian.

Adjectives 9 · 2020-03-25 ^

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives change for gender, number, indefinite and definite forms. Let's take a look at adjectives joined to nouns by the phrase to be, starting with the adjective stor, which means big or great.

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The Indefinite Form

So far, so good. There is no change to the adjective in either masculine or feminine form.

As you can see above, the neuter noun changes the spelling of stor to include a -t ending, and the plural noun changes stor to include an -e ending. This pattern applies to most adjectives in the indefinite form, as shown below.

Many adjectives ending in -ig or -sk, like viktig and norsk, do not sound pleasant with a -t ending. This is why we do not add a -t to these specific adjectives in the neuter form.

We do still add the -e ending in the plural form, however!

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Adjectives in the Definite Form

The simple thing about adjectives in the definite form is that the endings are almost all the same.

Most adjectives in the definite form end in -e.

In addition to the noun transitioning into the definite form, we place an additional word before the adjective in the definite form. This word changes depending on gender and number, as you see below.

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Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

Pay special attention to context, and in time, these adjective endings become second nature.

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Professions 1 · 2019-03-12 ^

Jobs

Unlike in English, Norwegian usually drops the indefinite article when describing someone's profession.

Be mindful that constructions such as jeg er en student are also grammatical, but they are far less common.

Two Verbs - One Job

In Norwegian, there are two very common verbs for to work, å arbeide and å jobbe.

While these are largely interchangeable, there are cases where one will be preferred to the other.

Å arbeide is the old workhorse, of Old Norse origin, and thus features in more compounds and fixed expressions.

Å jobbe is the young English apprentice, which has been adopted by the younger generations.

Both verbs are used extensively, and Norwegians will happily switch between the two within the same text or conversation.

Spelling Words of Greek Origin

Like English, Norwegian borrows heavily from Greek and Latin, especially for more technical terms. In this skill, you'll come across the noun fotograf, photographer, which stems from the words φῶς (phos), meaning light, and γραφή (graphê), meaning drawing or writing. That's what photographers do, right? They draw with light.

Whenever you come across a word of Greek origin that is spelled with a "ph" combination in English, it will be spelled with an "f" in Norwegian. Another example of this is elefant, which of course is elephant in English.

The same pattern holds true in Greek words with a "th" combination in English; the "h" disappears in Norwegian, leaving only the "t". An example from this skill is therapist, which becomes terapeut.

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Location 2 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Bor & Lever

In Norwegian, there are two verbs that translate to "to live", "å bo" and "å leve". However, they are rarely interchangeable with each other.

When talking about someone's place of residence, you should use the verb "bor".

When expressing that someone or something is alive, or describing their way of life, you use "lever".

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Ute & Utenfor

There are several of these pairs, but the ones we'll concentrate on is "ute" (adverb) and "utenfor" (preposition).

"Ute" (out; outside; outdoors) is an adverb, and can be used without a point of reference. If you ever want to refer to the great outdoors in Norwegian, you can say "ute".

Vi liker å være ute i naturen.
We like being out in nature.

"Utenfor" is a preposition, which means that it always needs a point of reference. What makes it a little confusing is that the point of reference can be implied; it doesn't have to be explicitly present in the sentence.

In the sentence below, there's an explicit reference point, "gjerdet".

De er utenfor gjerdet.
They are outside (of) the fence.

In the next sentence, there's no explicit reference point. However, we can imagine that the person uttering the sentence is inside a house, and that the subject of the sentence is sitting outside said house.

Hun sitter utenfor.
She is sitting outside.

In the last example, you could use "ute" as well. Either would be correct.

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Same, Same, but Different

Some of the prepositions and prepositional phrases you're learning have rather similar meanings, but there are still nuances to them, and you should strive to translate them precisely.

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Qualities 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Adjectives in the Definite Form

The simple thing about adjectives in the definite form is that the endings are almost all the same.

Most adjectives in the definite form end in -e.

In addition to the noun transitioning into the definite form, we place an additional word before the adjective in the definite form. This word changes depending on gender and number, as you see below.

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Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

Pay special attention to context, and in time, these adjective endings become second nature.

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Liten

The adjective liten, meaning little or small, is the most highly irregular adjective in the Norwegian language. Take a look at how it declines. Commit this table to memory, because as in English, the word small is used a lot.

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Missing Endings in Old and Famous Names

As students of Danish may be aware, the postfixes after the nouns above are absent in Danish, and as a legacy of Danish colonialism, some Norwegian phrases lack the noun endings shown in the table above. These words are generally famous titles or institutions, such as The White House or The French Academy. See how they operate below.

Note that det hvite huset can also mean the white house, just not the one the US President lives inside.

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Ownership 6 · 2020-11-26 ^

Ownership

Possessive pronouns change depending on the gender and number of the possessor and the possessed. Be sure to pay special attention to "sin, si, sitt, & sine," which do not have equivalents in English.

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Sin, Si, Sitt, & Sine

The above are an interesting set of possessive pronouns in Norwegian. They all translate to his, her, its, or their and can only be attached to objects in a sentence. Sin, si, sitt, & sine describe something that the subject has or owns, not somebody else. This distinction does not exist in English, so it may take some getting used to, but it's actually a useful distinction to be able to make; many sentences that would be ambiguous in English are perfectly clear in Norwegian.

In the last sentence, we use faren hennes instead of faren sin because her father is the subject, not the object, of the sentence.

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His, Her, or Their (Own)

Please note that you should not add "own" to your translations of si/sin/sitt/sine, it's just used here to explain the concept as clearly as possible.

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Expressing Possession with a Genitive "-s"

Sometimes you don't have a possessive pronoun to express the ownership with, as you may be talking about "the woman's car" rather than "her car". Just like in English, you can do this by adding a genitive -s at the end of the possessing noun.

• Kvinnens bil er rød.
  
• The woman's car is red.*
  

As you can see, you don't need to add an apostrophe in Norwegian. The only exception is when the noun itself ends in an -s, -x or -z already, in which case we add an apostrophe and forego the extra -s.

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Expressing Possession with "Til"

Another way of achieving the same thing, is using the preposition "til". It's the equivalent of expressing ownership with the preposition "of" in English. While this can sound stilted in English, it's perfectly natural in Norwegian.

• Bilen til kvinnen er rød.
  
• The car of the woman is red.
  
• The woman's car is red.

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Garpegenitiv

A final way to express possession is the so-called garpegenitiv. It's a format that saw some use in English in the 1600s, often referred to as his-genitive. What it does is link the possessing noun to the possessed noun with a possessive pronoun.

• Kvinnen sin bil er rød.
  
• The woman's car is red.

Literally, "The woman her car is red".

While this format is common in many dialects and recognized by Språkrådet as acceptable in Bokmål, it is considered informal and should not be what you turn to in formal writing.

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Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

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Colors 5 · 2022-02-04 ^

Colors as adjectives

Below is a reference chart for all of the most basic Norwegian colors.

Most colors change their endings for gender and number, like most other adjectives in Norwegian.

Certain colors are irregular, however, in certain situations.

The words hvit, grå and blå have an extra -t in their neuter forms, and grå and blå also have the option of omitting the plural ending.

Unlike most adjectives, the words rosa, oransje, and lilla never change for gender or number. They always remain the same.

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Colors as nouns

Colors can also be nouns. In that case they look a lot like the neuter form of the adjective:

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The Store 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Leisure 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Hos

"Hos" can be a tricky preposition to translate, as it does not have an equivalent in English. However, those of you who are familiar with French can liken it to "chez".

It's mainly used to express that you're at someone's place; in a person's home, at a company's office, etc.

De er hos oss.
They are at our place.

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Verbs: Present 2 17 · 2019-08-29 ^

Just One, Please!

As you may have noticed in previous lessons, we have yet to introduce a solid distinction between indefinite articles such as a or an in English, and the number one. So far, you've been using en (m), ei (f), and et (n) for both functions, and that's also what natives will do when they feel no need to specify.

In cases where you want to emphasize the number, you can use the following descriptors:

These will always translate to either one or a single (one). Translating them to a or an would be incorrect.

In speech, you make the distinction by putting stress on the number. The TTS voice used for this course is not great about doing that, so you need to exaggerate it a little more than she does.

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Både & Begge

There are two words for both in Norwegian, både and begge. Både is a conjunction and is used in constructions such as både ... og, ie. both ... and . In this case it is possible to list more than two elements. Begge is a quantifier and is used instead of alle when there are only two of something. If you need to use the word both on its own, you may use the phrase begge to, which literally means, both two.

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Liten

The adjective liten, meaning little or small, is the most highly irregular adjective in the Norwegian language. Take a look at how it declines. Commit this table to memory, because as in English, the word small is used a lot.

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Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also used in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

There are three groups of verbs with different patterns for forming tenses in Norwegian, but in the present case they all behave in the same way as you can see.

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Relatives 2 · 2021-06-13 ^

Relatives

In Norwegian, each grandparent has a unique name that's very intuitive.

Bestemor is the generic term for grandmother.

Bestefar is in turn the generic term for grandfather.

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Feelings 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

Feelings

To prepare you for the emotional roller-coaster that is the Norwegian course, this skill will supply you with vocabulary to express your basic feelings.

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Irregular Adjectives

While most of the words follow patterns you've already learned, there are a couple of irregularities among the adjectives.

Glad and redd do not take a -t ending in their neuter forms.

Stakkars stays the same in all forms, no matter the gender or number of the noun it modifies.

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Fixed Expressions - Love Them or Fear Them

When expressing emotions, you're going to come across a couple of fixed expressions.

å være glad i
to be fond of, to love

å være redd for
to be afraid of

Because these are fixed expressions, their adjectives, glad and redd, do not change to the plural form when used with a plural subject.

Vi er glad i deg.
We love you.

Vi er redd for ulver.
We are afraid of wolves.

Using the plural adjective is by no means a grave error, and actually quite common among natives, but if you want to impress your Norwegian teacher or ace that exam, you'll stick to the singular.

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Expressing Emotions in the Cold North

Norwegians tend to be a little reserved, and, as an extension of that, rather economical with their emotions. That doesn't mean that they don't feel as strongly about things, it's just not as readily expressed. Unless we're drunk, of course.

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Work 11 · 2019-08-29 ^

Work

Unlike in English, Norwegian usually drops the indefinite article when describing someone's profession.

Be mindful that constructions such as jeg er en student are also grammatical, but they are far less common.

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Finding Your Voice

Now that you're becoming familiar with the sound of the Norwegian language, listening exercises are probably starting to become a little easier. However, speaking can still be a hurdle!

It's perfectly natural to feel shy about speaking a new language, but it's something that becomes more comfortable the more you practice it. The good news is that you don't have to run out and find a native speaker to practice. Saying the Duolingo sentences out loud is a great start, and will get your tongue used to making those unfamiliar twists and turns. And yes, we do mean every sentence - not just the listening exercises!

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Verbs: Infinitive 7 · 2021-06-13 ^

Infinitives

To infinitives, and beyond!

Most infinitive verbs in Norwegian end in the stem -e. There are many, many exceptions, however. A few modal constructions exist that link to infinitive verbs directly, such as kan and vil.

Many infinitives link with other parts of the sentence with the word å, which translates to to, as in, å se or to see. This applies to all situations where an infinitive is present without a modal verb.

You may have noticed that in the final sentence above, the verb å lage mat could have easily translated to cooking, and you would be correct. Sometimes an infinitive beginning with an å can act like a gerund, which is nerd for a noun ending in -ing.

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Vacation 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Vacation

Phew! After all that work, it's finally time for a vacation. No phrasal verbs, no new prepositions, and not an irregular adjective in sight. Just sit down, relax, and enjoy the scenery.

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Norwegian Vacation Habits

For Norwegians, vacation time tends to mean one of two things.

One alternative is to put on three layers of wool clothing and drive all the way up to your cabin in the mountains. This cabin may or may not have water and electricity, but that's not important; what matters is that it's koselig. If you get cold, you can always chop some wood, go on a hike, or shovel some snow.

The other, and polar opposite, is to stock up on sunscreen, put on your socks and sandals, and catch a plane to Syden. Where is this mysterious Syden, you ask? Well, it tends to be anywhere that's warm enough to feel like Norwegian summer in the winter time. Bonus points if there are cheap flights. The Canary Islands are practically overrun with Norwegian pensioners, so it might not be the worst place to go if you want to practice your Norwegian.

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Norway as a Vacation Destination

Norway is a popular vacation destination due to its beautiful nature, but you're going to need a bit of spending money, because the only thing that's cheap here is the water. Food and lodging are both on the expensive side, and beer prices are outrageous.

However, if you plan ahead, it doesn't have to break the bank. Youth hostels, apartments for rent, or even your own tent or van will enable you to live on the cheap, and while the food in the grocery stores is still expensive, it's definitely less so than eating out.

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Schedule 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Times of Day

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Familiar Prepositions, New Contexts

You're already familiar with the prepositions i, om and på from previous skills. Here, you'll meet them again, but in new contexts and with different translations.

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As you can see, both på and om can be used to express that something happens at day or in the morning.

If you're referring to a specific point in time, like five in the morning, you would use fem på morgenen. If you're just referring to the morning in general, you may use either på or om. Some dialects have a preference for one over the other, but that's nothing you need to worry about here.

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Two Verbs - One Job

In Norwegian, there are two very common verbs for to work, å arbeide and å jobbe.

While these are largely interchangeable, there are cases where one will be preferred to the other.

Å arbeide is the old workhorse, of Old Norse origin, and thus features in more compounds and fixed expressions.

Å jobbe is the young English apprentice, which has been adopted by the younger generations.

Both verbs are used extensively, and Norwegians will happily switch between the two within the same text or conversation.

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Traits 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Liten

The adjective liten, meaning little or small, is the most highly irregular adjective in the Norwegian language. Take a look at how it declines. Commit this table to memory, because as in English, the word small is used a lot.

Pay special attention to context, and in time, these adjective endings become second nature.

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Negative Prefixes

Just as in English, there are a few different negative prefixes that can be used to negate an adjective. In this skill you'll learn to use u-, but there are a few others as well such as a-, in-, dis-, and mis-, so we'll give examples for all of them while we're at it.

As you can see, there are plenty of cognates going around, but sometimes the choice of prefix does change from language to language, as is the case for "utrolig", which turns into "incredible".

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Altfor

You've already learned the intensifying adverb "for", which translates to "too". However, in cases where you feel like that isn't quite strong enough, you can intensify the meaning further by adding the prefix alt-.

"Altfor" translates to "all too", "far too", "way too", or "much too". Note that it cannot be translated to just "too".

"Denne kjolen er altfor dyr!"
"This dress is far too expensive!"

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Declining Adjectives

Need a refresher on how to decline adjectives? Have a look at the Tips & Notes for the Adjectives skill.

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Community 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Community

Since you're here learning a language, you probably already know the importance of community and connecting with other people. Now, you'll learn the vocabulary for it as well!

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Boyfriend/Girlfriend - It's All the Same to Us

The Norwegian word for boyfriend or girlfriend is kjæreste, which literally means dearest. This is gender neutral in the sense that it does not say anything about the gender of one's partner.

So, if you're queer and in the closet, you can still talk about your significant other in public.

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There Are People, and Then There Are People

As in German, Norwegian has a few words that translate to the English word people. Below is a brief overview.

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Making Friends in Norway

While Norwegians are notorious for avoiding conversation on the bus and in the elevator, you'll find them more receptive in other contexts.

If you don't have the luxury of already knowing someone who can introduce you to new people, or the option of mingling at the workplace, your best bet is to find a shared activity to bond over. This could be a hobby or interest, or just taking a walk in the woods. Norwegians actually greet strangers in the woods, true story.

Why this need for a shared activity? Well, it bypasses the need for small talk, as you'll already have something to talk about that interests both parties. You can liken it to dating: On a coffee date, you may have to work to keep the conversation going, but take your date to do some sort of activity that you both enjoy, and the hours will fly by.

So, sign up for some classes! Learn new things, enjoy nature's offerings, have fun and connect. Build your own little community. :)

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Determiners 9 · 2020-07-10 ^

This and These

We learned early on how to describe definite nouns with the appropriate gender- and number-specific suffixes.

And how to specify further with the word that or those.

Now, we're introducing how to say this and these in Norwegian.

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Other & Second

There is only one word for other and second in Norwegian, annen. It declines irregularly, so watch out.

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Både & Begge

There are two words for both in Norwegian, både and begge. Både is a conjunction and is used in constructions such as både ... og, ie. both ... and . In this case it is possible to list more than two elements. Begge is a quantifier and is used instead of alle when there are only two of something. If you need to use the word both on its own, you may use the phrase begge to, which literally means, both two.

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Days 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Weekdays

Below are the days of the week. The reason they're so similar to English is because English gets most of the words for the days of the week from the names of Norse gods. "Thursday" is Thor's day, and so on.

Keep in mind that the days of the week, unlike in English, are only capitalized at the beginning of the sentence. The g at the end of these words may or may not be pronounced, depending on dialect, register, and stress. Even when pronounced, it should be quite soft.

Monday through Friday are referred to as hverdager, while Saturday and Sunday are helgedager.

Since all of the days are compound nouns ending in the masculine noun en dag, they too are treated as masculine nouns.

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Preposition Use

When you want to express that something's happening on a specific day, you say på mandag, on Monday.

However, if you want to say that something's happening on the weekend, it's i helgen.

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Present Tense, Future Meaning

As you already know, you can make some statements about the future using the present tense in English. An example would be "We are going to Norway next month." We still understand that the sentence must be about the future, as a future point in time has been specified.

In Norwegian, you can do exactly the same. In fact, it's even more common to do so.

Vi drar på onsdag.
We are leaving on Wednesday.

Prøven er fredag.
The test is on Friday.

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Questions 12 · 2022-02-04 ^

A heartfelt welcome to the Norwegian course!

Norwegian is a language with simpler grammar than many other European languages, but it is still a gendered language with three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.

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Grammatical Gender

All feminine gendered nouns can be classified as masculine gender as well. In theory, one could treat all feminine nouns as masculine ones, but most Norwegians still use the feminine form to some degree, especially for certain words.

The choice really is up to you! Both en kvinne and ei kvinne are grammatically correct, and the tendency to use the feminine gender depends on geography and dialect.

We have opted to teach it where it is most natural to use it, with words such as jente meaning girl, for example, but in the first couple of skills we'll let you focus on the masculine and neuter noun patterns.

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Pronouns

Norwegian pronouns are very straightforward and correspond well to English ones:

When referring to a neutral subject, det is used to mean it or that. However, when referring to a masculine or feminine subject, it becomes den instead.

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Verbs

Conjugation couldn't be simpler. All conjugated verbs have an -r stem in the present, and verbs don't change according to the subject! How easy is that?

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Pronunciation

As a general rule, words are spelled as they're pronounced in Norwegian. One exception is words beginning with hv, such as hvem, meaning who. In this word, the h is silent.

In addition, there are several letters and letter combinations that are pronounced differently from English.

Special Notes on Common Words

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Core Vocabulary

Countries and Nationalities 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

The words for most countries and nationalities are very similar to their English equivalents, with a few notable exceptions, as shown below.

In addition, several more countries' names end in -ia in Norwegian than they do in English.

Nationalities are not that straightforward, but a base of the country name are usually found in the nationality, with the exception of "a Greek, from Greece", en greker, fra Hellas.

If the nationality adjective ends in -sk one special rule applies, it will not become -skt for neuter nouns.

En norsk mann, ei norsk dame, et norsk barn, flere norske personer.

Verbs: Present 3 12 · 2020-06-17 ^

Indefinite Pronouns

When we're not referring to a specific person, but are making a general statement, we often use an indefinite or impersonal pronoun.

English has two such pronouns, the rather formal "one", which one imagines the queen uses a fair bit more than the general population, and the less formal general "you".

In Norwegian, there are also two of these pronouns, "man" and "en". However, there is no difference in formality; they can be used freely in both the formal and informal register.

"Man kan aldri være helt sikker."
"One can never be completely certain."

Note that "man" can only be used as a subject pronoun, while "en" can be used as both a subject pronoun and an object pronoun. "Ens" is the possessive pronoun, corresponding to "one's" or the general "your".

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Learning and Teaching

In this skill, you'll learn the verb lærer, which changes meaning depending on whether it has an indirect object or not.

If it lacks an indirect object, it translates to learn/learns/am learning/are learning/is learning.

Jeg lærer norsk.
I am learning Norwegian.

However, if it has an indirect object, it becomes teach/teaches/am teaching/are teaching/is teaching. You can see how it works in the sentence below, where meg is the indirect object and the person being taught something.

Hun lærer meg norsk.
She is teaching me Norwegian.

What about when you want to say "teach", and you don't have an indirect object? Well, then you can add the adverb "bort" to "lærer", like so:

De lærer bort norsk.
They are teaching Norwegian.

You can also use a whole other verb, which you will learn in a later skill. "Underviser" is used for teaching in a school or university context - classroom teaching.

Professoren underviser i norsk.
The professor teaches Norwegian.

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To Exist or Just to Be, That is the Question

The verb finnes is an interesting one. Not only does it have the passive ending -s, but it's used much more extensively than its English counterpart, exist.

Finnes is the passive version of finner, find, so anything that finnes is something that is to be found. Depending on what sounds more natural, you should translate it to either is/are or exist(s) in English.

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Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also used in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

There are three groups of verbs with different patterns for forming tenses in Norwegian, but in the present case they all behave in the same way as you can see.

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The Clock 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Telling Time

In order to ask what time it is, you may ask,

Hva er klokka?

or literally, What is the clock?

The response will be something like,

Klokka er to.

which means the clock is two, or in other words,

It's two o'clock.

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AM, PM & Military Time

Norwegians are used to seamlessly jumping between using 12-hour and 24-hour time, depending on what the situation requires.

When the intended point of time should be obvious from the context, they'll use 12-hour time without specifying AM or PM.

When there is room for confusion, they will either use 12-hour time in conjunction with a time of day to specify, or they'll switch to 24-hour time, also known as military time.

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The Confusing Half Hours

When someone says halv to in Norwegian, it actually means half past one. The half hour relates to the next whole hour, rather than the previous one, which may take a little getting used to.

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Jobs 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Jobs

Unlike in English, Norwegian usually drops the indefinite article when describing someone's profession.

Be mindful that constructions such as jeg er en student are also grammatical, but they are far less common.

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Two Verbs - One Job

In Norwegian, there are two very common verbs for to work, å arbeide and å jobbe.

While these are largely interchangeable, there are cases where one will be preferred to the other.

Å arbeide is the old workhorse, of Old Norse origin, and thus features in more compounds and fixed expressions.

Å jobbe is the young English apprentice, which has been adopted by the younger generations.

Both verbs are used extensively, and Norwegians will happily switch between the two within the same text or conversation.

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Spelling Words of Greek Origin

Like English, Norwegian borrows heavily from Greek and Latin, especially for more technical terms. In this skill, you'll come across the noun fotograf, photographer, which stems from the words φῶς (phos), meaning light, and γραφή (graphê), meaning drawing or writing. That's what photographers do, right? They draw with light.

Whenever you come across a word of Greek origin that is spelled with a "ph" combination in English, it will be spelled with an "f" in Norwegian. Another example of this is elefant, which of course is elephant in English.

The same pattern holds true in Greek words with a "th" combination in English; the "h" disappears in Norwegian, leaving only the "t". An example from this skill is therapist, which becomes terapeut.

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Conjunctions 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Conjunctions

Below is a short list of some of the most common conjunctions in the Norwegian language. Four of them, og, men, fordi, and eller, you're already familiar with.

Norwegian conjunctions act very similarly to English ones, with a couple of special rules.

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Ikke

Keep in mind that in dependent clauses, the negation ikke gets pulled to a position in-between the subject and the main verb. This occurs with several other constructions as well. This is one weird quirk with Norwegian grammar, but it will sound natural after a while.

Isn't that interesting?

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V-2 Word Order

The V-2 Rule is a linguistic law that applies to all Germanic languages... except English. You can see a rare instance of it in English in the expression here comes the bus. This rule states that all sentences that are statements, in other words not questions, must have a verb in the second position. This allows for some flexibility in the word order for emphasis. What it essentially means is that Norwegian verbs refuse to move from the second position in statements.

The V-2 Rule applies to dependent clauses that begin sentences. In this specific situation, the whole dependent clause is treated as being in the first position, so the verb in the independent clause comes immediately after it, in the second position, followed by the subject in the independent clause.

This may sound jarring, but this rule of inversion becomes easy enough after some exposure.

If you think this word order is weird, try German.

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Adverbs 10 · 2021-06-13 ^

Adverbs

In Norwegian, adverbs usually follow the verb.

One exception is that adverbs of time often appear at the end of the sentence or clause.

Another exception is related to the V-2 Rule in Germanic linguistics, which applies to all Germanic languages... besides English. You can see a rare instance of it in English in the expression here comes the bus. This rule states that all sentences that are statements, in other words not questions, must have a verb in the second position. This allows for some flexibility in the word order for emphasis, but don't get crazy.

The final example is a demonstration of the V-2 Rule. When the adverb moved to the front of the statement, the subject moved to the other side of the verb har. This is because Norwegian verbs refuse to move from the second position in statements.

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Imperative 3 · 2019-04-12 ^

The Imperative

Forming the imperative in Norwegian is quite simple. Take the base form of the verb, such as spise and drop the -e to form the word spis. Congratulations! You have successfully created the imperative in Norwegian!

You may be wondering about how we handle verbs that do not end in -e in their base form, such as tro and ta, which mean believe and take. The answer is, we don't change the verb at all in the imperative.

Some verbs that do end in -e end in a string of consonants that may sound strange without the -e. This is why you are given the option to keep the -e ending in the imperative if you so desire, but only in these specific verbs.

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Places 12 · 2019-08-29 ^

Oh the Places You'll Go...

Norway is a country of fjords and valleys, of babbling brooks and scenic waterfalls, and it's all topped off with a coastline longer than the polar night. If you ever get a chance to visit, you're in for a treat!

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Rural Communities

When describing rural communities in Norway, you can use either en/ei bygd or et tettsted.

Ei bygd is a small town or hamlet. It can have a defined center, but often it's more like a handful of farms strewn about the countryside, with a local store and not much more. Some even have to drive to another bygd to do their grocery shopping.

Et tettsted is a very vague term, as it can refer to any congregation of houses with a number of inhabitants of 200 and upward. So, it could be a tiny village, or one of Norway's largest cities.

When talking about villages outside of Norway, or in a historic context, we use the noun en landsby instead. There's a quaintness to it.

Larger towns and cities are referred to as en by.

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Gate & Vei

We observe the same distinction as in English, where en gate, a street, is bordered by houses, while en vei, a road, just has to take you from A to B.

You can use vei when referring to a street as well, but it doesn't work the other way around; gate would never be used for a country road or a highway.

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Left & Right

When something is to the left of you, you can say that it's either på venstre side, på venstre hånd, or til venstre.

It works the same way for høyre, right. Take care not to get the noun for the direction, høyre, mixed up with the noun for straight or correct, rett.

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Verbs: Infinitive 2 2 · 2019-10-13 ^

Infinitives

To infinitives, and beyond!

Most infinitive verbs in Norwegian end in the stem -e. There are many, many exceptions, however. A few modal constructions exist that link to infinitive verbs directly, such as kan and vil.

Many infinitives link with other parts of the sentence with the word å, which translates to to, as in, å se or to see. This applies to all situations where an infinitive is present without a modal verb.

You may have noticed that in the final sentence above, the verb å lage mat could have easily translated to cooking, and you would be correct. Sometimes an infinitive beginning with an å can act like a gerund, which is nerd for a noun ending in -ing.

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Animals 2 6 · 2019-08-29 ^

Animals

You've already learned the names of some of the most common animals, and in this skill you'll get to familiarize yourself with some staples of the Norwegian fauna, such as rein, mus, and ugle, as well as some løver and elefanter that seem to have escaped from the zoo.

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Mostly Harmless

Among the animals native to Norway, there are few that pose a real threat to humans. Sure, there are bears and wolves, but they're few and far between, and don't actually tend to attack unless provoked. You should probably be more wary of moose and cattle.

We have one venomous snake, huggorm (Vipera berus), which will only bite if it feels threatened. If you're bitten you should seek medical attention, but there's no need to panic; bites are seldom fatal, just painful and nauseating.

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Demands and Requests 3 · 2022-02-04 ^

Saying Please

There are a number of ways to say please in Norwegian. Some go at the beginning of the sentence, while others are more comfortable at the very end of the sentence.

Note that vær så snill is a plea or request, while vennligst is more of a polite demand. You'll often see vennligst used on signs in stores, restaurants, and other public areas.

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The Imperative

Forming the imperative in Norwegian is quite simple. Take the base form of the verb, such as spise and drop the -e to form the word spis. Congratulations! You have successfully created the imperative in Norwegian!

You may be wondering about how we handle verbs that do not end in -e in their base form, such as tro and ta, which mean believe and take. The answer is that we don't change the verb at all in the imperative.

Some verbs that do end in -e end in a string of consonants that may sound strange without the -e. This is why you are given the option to keep the -e ending in the imperative if you so desire, but only in these specific verbs. The versions with the -e suffix is generally preferred, so those are the ones we'll teach you in this course.

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Time 17 · 2021-06-13 ^

Time

While we're not quite as obsessed with timeliness as the Germans, being reasonably punctual is important both at work and in private. If you want to make a good impression, you should always strive to be on time.

Of course, sometimes you're late because of things out of your control, in which case it's good to notify the people waiting for you that you're running late, giving some indication of when you're expecting to arrive.

Public transport in Norway tends to be pretty punctual as well. City buses may be late during rush hour, but trains and coaches are usually on time, as are ferries unless the weather's acting up.

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Døgn

Et døgn is a really neat noun, which allows you to make a distinction that doesn't exist in everyday English. It translates to a day, but specifically refers to the full 24-hour period. So it's not day as opposed to night, but the day and the night all wrapped up in one unambiguous package.

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For ... Siden

When translating the English word ago, you need two words in Norwegian, for ... siden. You should place for in front of the time expression and siden after.

For fem år siden
Five years ago

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Prepositions

Several Norwegian expressions of time use the preposition i in combination with a noun. These must be learned independently and treated as completely separate from the nouns they're used with. For example:

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Wrestling With the Past

Your first encounter with the past tense will be made in this skill, in the form of var (was), hadde (had), and kom (came).

As in many other languages, some of the most important verbs have highly irregular conjugations. No need to despair, though: We're introducing them early so that you'll get plenty of practice using them. By the time you're halfway through the course, these will have become second nature to you.

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Regular Past Tense Verbs

The majority of regular verbs end in either -te or -et, such as spiste and snakket, which mean ate and spoke, respectively.

Some also end in -de or -dde.

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Ordinal Numbers

With one notable exception, all adjectival ordinal numbers have the same spelling regardless of gender or number, ending in -e across the board.

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Objects 15 · 2019-08-29 ^

The Home 7 · 2021-09-03 ^

Home, Sweet Home

Or hjem, kjære hjem, as it goes in Norwegian. Of course, it's difficult to make generalizations about people's homes, but don't think for a second that we're going to let that stop us from trying.

If you're Norwegian, chances are that you either live in a wooden house or in a condo building in one of the larger cities. Most households consist of either a single person or a small family; it's rare to see more than two generations living together.

For the past couple of decades, people have been very busy painting their walls white, which admittedly makes sense in a country with such dark winters. Scandinavian interior design tends to emphasize materials, wood in particular, and there's a certain minimalism to it.

Many Norwegian homes have a fireplace or an oven, to make sure everything's suitably koselig (cozy). What you won't see a lot of are wall-to-wall carpets; wooden floors with the odd rug is where it's at.

With Janteloven, the Law of Jante, still going strong, there aren't many huge or flashy houses around. Mansions are few and far between.

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Mind Your Manners

When invited into someone's home, it's customary to take off your shoes as soon as you've made it inside the front door. Norwegians wear socks or slippers indoors.

If you're wearing a hat of some sort, you should leave that in the entryway with your coat and shoes as well, at least if you're visiting someone of the older generation.

So far, so good, right? From here on out, you should get by on basic courtesy, but do remember to thank your host for the food or drink if any is served. Leaving a dinner table without thanking the host or hostess for feeding you is tantamount to treason. It doesn't even matter if the food was bad - your manners have to be better.

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*The vocabulary lists are not exhaustive. What you see listed are the main lexemes of each skill, but each lexeme can contain several forms of a word.

For example, a verb lexeme may contain all its conjugations, while a noun lexeme may contain all its declensions. Sometimes, a single lexeme may even comprise several word classes, provided they share the same root and translate predictably into English.

Compound Words 7 · 2020-11-29 ^

Compounds

Compound words are words built from at least two different elements, each with their own separate meaning. Together, they mean something new, but related. English has a few of these words, like "fireman", "starfish" and "windmill". It also has nouns that act like descriptors before other nouns, like "chocolate milk", "apple pie" and "grocery store".

Unlike the English phrases above, Norwegian compounds are almost always a single word, without the extra space. Just like in English, the final element in the compound is what conveys the true meaning of the word. Take the word teskje, which means teaspoon. Although it's a combination of two nouns, we recognize that the word refers to a type of spoon, and not a type of tea. In Norwegian, the word teskje behaves just like the word skje meaning spoon, simply with a te- prefix.

There are several ways to form compound nouns in Norwegian:

A noun is combined with a second noun.

A verb is combined with a noun.

A noun is combined with "s" and a second noun.

A noun is combined with "e" and a second noun.

Determining which way to form a compound noun is not intuitive, but there are some patterns. For example, animals, human or otherwise, will often combine with "e" to form a compound phrase, such as in the word "hestesko" above.

Compound nouns consisting of two or more nouns take on the gender of the last noun.

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*The vocabulary lists are not exhaustive. What you see listed are the main lexemes of each skill, but each lexeme can contain several forms of a word.

For example, a verb lexeme may contain all its conjugations, while a noun lexeme may contain all its declensions. Sometimes, a single lexeme may even comprise several word classes, provided they share the same root and translate predictably into English.

Body Parts 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Body Parts

When it comes to body parts, there are plenty of cognates to go around. Have a quick look at the vocabulary list at the bottom of the tips before you get started, and see how many of the Norwegian words resemble their English counterparts.

There are a few irregular nouns to watch out for as well: en tann, en tå, en hånd and en fot all get a vowel change in their plural forms. In the table below, you'll see their full declensions.

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Implied Possessives

In Norwegian, as in many other languages, body parts generally do not carry possessive pronouns. Instead, we use the definite form for all pronouns. Øyet can mean the eye, my eye, or your eye, etc. The person's body in question should be intuited from context.

This is especially common when speaking about one's own body parts.

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*The vocabulary lists are not exhaustive. What you see listed are the main lexemes of each skill, but each lexeme can contain several forms of a word.

For example, a verb lexeme may contain all its conjugations, while a noun lexeme may contain all its declensions. Sometimes, a single lexeme may even comprise several word classes, provided they share the same root and translate predictably into English.

Bedroom 12 · 2019-08-29 ^

Getting Dressed

In the Clothing skill, you learned to use the reflexive phrasal verb å ha på seg for wearing - or having on - clothing.

In this skill, you will familiarize yourself with its two friends, å ta på seg and å ta av seg. These are also reflexive phrasal verbs, and follow the same pattern.

In case you wish to take this opportunity to revise the reflexive pronouns, we've provided a table below.

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Keeping the Cold at Bay

If you live in a warmer part of the world, you may be accustomed to sleeping under just a thin quilt or blanket, but in Norway the duvet reigns supreme. The thicker the better, especially during those cold and dark winter nights.

A duvet is like a thick quilt, with either down or synthetic filling. We always put a removable duvet cover on them, which can be taken off and washed, removing the need for a top sheet.

The only time we don't rely on our trusty duvets is when we're out hiking. Then, we'll bring our extra warm soveposer, sleeping bags, instead.

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A Sweet Dream or a Beautiful Nightmare

Just like in English, Norwegian makes a distinction between drømmer, which can refer to any type of dream, and mareritt, which specifically refers to nightmares.

En mare is a mare in the more sinister sense of the word, a malicious supernatural being, perhaps even a demon. This creature was traditionally thought to be riding the victim of a nightmare, and that's where the second half of the Norwegian word, ritt comes from.

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Hygiene 8 · 2020-07-07 ^

Yes, You May Talk About Toilets

In English, you might ask someone to excuse you while you go to the bathroom, or even to powder your nose, but in Norwegian, we just say where we're actually going, på do or på toalettet.

On the topic of toilets, quite a few public toilets are actually unisex toilets. This might seem daunting to some, but you can relax. Norwegians will go about their business there just like they will on public transport: by making absolutely no eye contact and pretending you don't exist. You might as well be alone in the room!

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Declining Compound Nouns

You've already learned quite a few compound nouns at this point in the course. In the Compounds skill, we looked at how they're formed, and now it's time to learn how they decline.

A compound noun will always take its cue from the last noun in the compound. That means that it takes on the grammatical gender of the last noun, and declines exactly as that noun would on its own.

So, et badekar declines like the monosyllabic neuter noun et kar, while en tanntråd declines like the masculine en tråd, and en/ei dagbok can follow either the masculine or the feminine declination just like en/ei bok.

Meanwhile, the first noun in the compound never changes. If you think about it, it works the same way in English: toothpaste doesn't become teethpastes in the plural!

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The Farm 3 · 2022-02-04 ^

*The vocabulary lists are not exhaustive. What you see listed are the main lexemes of each skill, but each lexeme can contain several forms of a word.

For example, a verb lexeme may contain all its conjugations, while a noun lexeme may contain all its declensions. Sometimes, a single lexeme may even comprise several word classes, provided they share the same root.

Shopping 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Marriage 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Determiners 2 1 · 2019-05-16 ^

People 13 · 2020-05-09 ^

People

As in German, Norwegian has a few words that translate to the English word people. Below is a brief overview.

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Honorifics

Titles such as "Mr", "Mrs" and "Miss" have almost completely gone out of use since the 1960s. We'll list them regardless, as you might see them on airline tickets and they are sometimes used in a joking manner, just as in English a husband may refer to his wife as "the missus".

Pupils used to refer to female teacher as "Frøken", but this has also gone out of use.

Herre also means Lord, so in Norway all men are lords. Perhaps it's only fair, with the word kvinne sharing the same root as queen.

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All Ladies are Women, But...

Remember how the saying goes in English? Well, in Norwegian it's more like "All ladies are women, and all women are ladies too", because we don't have the same clear distinction between the words en/ei dame and en/ei kvinne.

Yes, en/ei dame can refer to a lady of noble birth or demeanor, but it can just as well be used to refer to women in general. Different dialects tend to prefer one word over the other, and use that almost exclusively.

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Love, Just Not Too Strongly

You've already encountered the two verbs å elske and å være glad i, which both can translate to to love in English.

When referring to people, å elske is used sparingly. It's what you say to your significant other, and possibly your children, but it's not something to throw around lightly. Teenage girls tend to use it a little more broadly, but in general you don't want to overdo it.

The phrasal verb å være glad i can mean anything from I'm fond of you to I really, really love you. It can be said to your lover, your family, your friends, your dog, etc. It can carry as much weight as å elske, but it can also be closer to å like, to like, depending on the context.

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Adverbs 2 7 · 2022-02-04 ^

Adverbs

In Norwegian, adverbs usually follow the verb.

One exception is that adverbs of time often appear at the end of the sentence or clause.

Another exception is related to the V-2 Rule in Germanic linguistics, which applies to all Germanic languages... besides English. You can see a rare instance of it in English in the expression here comes the bus. This rule states that all sentences that are statements, in other words not questions, must have a verb in the second position. This allows for some flexibility in the word order for emphasis, but don't get crazy.

The final example is a demonstration of the V-2 Rule. When the adverb moved to the front of the statement, the subject moved to the other side of the verb har. This is because Norwegian verbs refuse to move from the second position in statements.

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The Office 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

The Year 3 · 2020-05-09 ^

A Full Year of Cognates

In the table below, you'll find the twelve months of the year listed. Notice how they all share the same etymology as their English counterparts? That's right, this skill is going to be a breeze!

Just like weekdays, months are not capitalized in Norwegian. Unless they begin a sentence, of course. If you ever need to abbreviate them, just take the first three letters of any month and stick a period at the end.

Keep in mind the RS sound in mars makes it sound like marsh. This RS letter combination creates an SH sound in the Norwegian language.

For grammatical purposes, all of the months are treated as masculine nouns.

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Two Types of Seasons

While English tends to use the same word for both, Norwegian has one word for the four seasons of the year, en/ei årstid, and another one for any other type of season, like the hunting season or the skiing season, en sesong.

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Preposition Use

As you already know, we use the preposition på when referring to days or times of day.

When talking about months and seasons, we switch things up a bit and use the preposition i instead. This is also the preposition of choice when it comes to describing how many times a week/month/year something happens.

If you're talking about something that isn't happening this winter in particular, but just generally happens in the wintertime, you would say om vinteren.

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Present 4 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Present

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now:

Jeg leser nå. I am reading now.

The present tense is also used in general statements that are independent of time:

Jorda er rund. The earth is round.

For things that repeat and that are still recurring:

Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night.

The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain:

Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow.) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow.) tenses in English.

You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense.

Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary).

The table below shows you how to do it:

There are three groups of verbs with different patterns for forming tenses in Norwegian, but in the present case they all behave in the same way as you can see.

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Nature 7 · 2021-06-13 ^

Nature

Norwegians love being out in nature, and who can blame them? Wherever you turn, it's like you're in the middle of a beautiful landscape painting.

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Allemannsretten

In Norway, everyone enjoys the right of access to uncultivated land in the countryside. Yes, that privilege extends to you as a tourist as well.

Of course, this means that it's also everyone's responsibility to show consideration to landowners and to respect nature. Littering in the city might earn you some angry glares, but littering in nature might just earn you a spot on someone's hit list. Whenever you leave the great outdoors, it should look as if you were never there.

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Playing With Fire

In this skill, you'll learn the general term for fire as a concept and fire as a controlled resource, ild.

Later in the tree, you'll come to know two other terms for fire as well. There's en brann, which is an uncontrolled, destructive fire. Hopefully, you'll never need to, but the fire department's number is 110 in Norway.

You can also call 112 (police) or 113 (medical assistance), and they'll patch you through to the right department. 112 is actually a standard emergency number used throughout the EU states, so you might as well commit it to memory if you're planning to travel in Europe. Most mobile phones will now patch you through if you use 911 as well, so if you blank on the number, just call the one that comes to mind.

The third term for a fire is for bonfires specifically, et bål. Note that you may only make bonfires out in the woods between September 15. and April 15. This is a precaution against forest fires during the drier summer months.

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Verb Endings 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Special Endings

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This Verb Looks Familiar...

Many Norwegian verbs that end in -erer in the present tense, such as importerer and produserer, are loan words from Latin. As such, they are especially easy to learn for an English speaker. Be sure to recognize them when you can.

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Why Does This Verb End in S?

There are a very special set of verbs and expressions that exclusively end in the letter "s" in Norwegian. Usually, this construction is reserved for the passive form, but not here. These verbs represent very abstract concepts and must be learned individually.

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I Would Like...

You already know how to say that you want something using vil+[bare infinitive] and vil ha+[noun]. In this skill, you'll learn a slightly more polite way of expressing desire, using the phrasal verbs å ha lyst til+[infinitive] and å ha lyst på+[noun].

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Simple Past 8 · 2021-06-13 ^

Simple Past

The simple past is used in a nearly identical way to how it is used in English. The vast majority of verbs in the simple past end in either -te or -et, such as spiste and snakket, which mean ate and spoke, respectively.

There are several irregular past forms, but, thankfully, these are often similar to the ones that exist in English. You've already encountered the two most common ones, var and hadde, in the Time skill, so you even have a head start!

Notice how some of the irregular verb only get a vowel change in the past tense, with no added ending?

Watch out for two verbs in particular, å se and å si, as they are ridiculously easy to confuse in the past tense. Here they are in the present tense, as a review.

The past tense forms of these verbs are tricky for many reasons. They are each very, very common and they only have a circle above the a to distinguish them! If you imagine this circle to be an eyeball, it will go a long way to remembering that så means saw and that sa means said.

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Transport 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Numbers 11 · 2020-04-25 ^

Numbers

You already know how to count to ten, but with Norwegian prices being what they are, that's just not going to cut it. Best get to work!

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Writing Numbers in Running Text

Since you're here to learn Norwegian, you should always be writing out the numbers rather than just using numerals (fem, not 5). That's the only way you're going to learn to spell and pronounce them.

However, once you feel comfortable with them and are starting to produce your own texts outside of Duolingo, it's good to know the general rules for representing numbers.

In running text, the whole numbers 1-12 are usually written out in letters. For the numbers 13 and up, you're free to use numerals.

Decimal numbers are always expressed using numerals. When numbers are small and whole, but precision is important, for example when taking measurements or writing a recipe, it's also customary to use numerals.

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Number Reform

The Norwegian language has seen constant changes over the past century. There have been several language reforms, which we won't go into here, but pertinent to this skill topic is the number reform of 1951.

This reform changed how the numbers between 20 and 100 were said and written, which really is quite impressive if you think of it. While the reform was a moderate success, the old way of counting is still alive and well among the older generation and in certain dialects.

We will go a little more into details about what the reform entailed in the next numbers skill, but the relevant change for this skill is that the number 20 is no longer expressed as tyve in Bokmål, but exclusively as tjue.

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Relative Pronouns 2 · 2019-04-22 ^

School 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Prediction 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Prediction

One way to talk about the future in Norwegian, is to use kommer til with the infinitve of the verb. Kommer til is a bit hard to translate directly, but the closest equivalent would be going to. Sometimes, it can also be translated as will, but never as shall, as it does not carry that degree of control and certainty.

It is often used when making predictions about what is probably going to happen. In other words, often about things that you can't control.

Jeg tror at det kommer til å regne i morgen.
I think it is going to rain tomorrow.

Hun kommer nok ikke til å like gaven. She is probably not going to like the gift.

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Hope 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Compare 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Traits & Comparisons

In this skill, you'll be getting a taste of how comparisons are formed in Norwegian.

Comparisons, in the grammatical sense, are adjectives that express a relationship between two nouns. Some of them are irregular, just like in English. Luckily, irregular comparisons in Norwegian are mostly cognates with English ones.

For example:

Just like in English, there are two ways to form comparisons in Norwegian:

A special ending is added to the adjective.

The word "more" or "most" is added, particularly for longer adjectives.

Be careful, though, since sometimes one language has a special ending where the other language does not.

Keep in mind that all these comparison adjectives still behave like adjectives. This means they'll usually take an -e ending in the definite or plural forms.

• Boka er viktig.
• Denne boka er viktigere.
• Den boka er viktigst.
• Det er den viktigste boka.

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Simple Past 2 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

Simple Past

The simple past is used in a nearly identical way to how it is used in English. The vast majority of verbs in the simple past end in either -te or -et, such as spiste and snakket, which mean ate and spoke, respectively.

Although there is no conjugation in the simple past, or anywhere in Norwegian, there are several irregular past forms, but they are similar to the ones that exist in English.

Watch out for two verbs in particular, å se and å si, as they are ridiculously easy to confuse in the past tense. Here they are in the present tense, as a review.

The past tense forms of these verbs are tricky for many reasons. They are each very, very common and they only have a circle above the a to distinguish them! If you imagine this circle to be an eyeball, it will go a long way to remembering that så means saw and that sa means said.

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Order 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Ordinal Numbers

With one notable exception, all adjectival ordinal numbers have the same spelling regardless of gender or number. All but one of them have an -e ending.

The one exception is annen, which we introduced in the Determiners chapter as meaning second or other. Watch how it operates below.

Keep in mind that annet is pronounced like the British or Boston pronunciation of the word aunt. It can also mean else, as in noe annet or something else.

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The Nordic Countries 3 · 2021-09-03 ^

The Nordic Countries

The Nordic Countries, Norden, are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as their associated territories, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands. These countries share both cultural and linguistic heritage, and their inhabitants generally get along well.

Sure, there's plenty of teasing, svenskevitser, and sibling rivalry going around, but we don't call the Swedes söta bror (sweet brother) for nothing.

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Scandinavia

There may be some confusion regarding the term Scandinavia in English, but in Norwegian Skandinavia refers unequivocally to the countries Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. No, this is not up for discussion.

These three nations have a long history of unions and messy breakups, but we seem to be in a good phase currently.

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Capitalization

While the names of countries and regions are considered proper nouns and capitalized accordingly, the same does not hold true for the corresponding languages, adjectives, and demonyms.

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The Pharmacy 3 · 2021-03-18 ^

Shapes 5 · 2020-03-23 ^

Travel 4 · 2021-09-03 ^

Small Talk 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Europe 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

The words for most countries and nationalities are very similar to their English equivalents, with a few notable exceptions, as shown below.

In addition, several more countries' names end in -ia in Norwegian than they do in English.

Nationalities are not that straightforward, but a base of the country name are usually found in the nationality, with the exception of "a Greek, from Greece", en greker, fra Hellas.

If the nationality adjective ends in -sk one special rule applies, it will not become -skt for neuter nouns.

En norsk mann, ei norsk dame, et norsk barn, flere norske personer.

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Abstract Objects 8 · 2021-06-13 ^

Abstract Nouns

One can often recognize an abstract noun through one of several endings. Below is a sampling of them.

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Education 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Simple Past 3 4 · 2021-09-03 ^

Simple Past

The simple past is used in a nearly identical way to how it is used in English. The vast majority of verbs in the simple past end in either -te or -et, such as spiste and snakket, which mean ate and spoke, respectively.

Although there is no conjugation in the simple past, or anywhere in Norwegian, there are several irregular past forms, but they are similar to the ones that exist in English.

Watch out for two verbs in particular, å se and å si, as they are ridiculously easy to confuse in the past tense. Here they are in the present tense, as a review.

The past tense forms of these verbs are tricky for many reasons. They are each very, very common and they only have a circle above the a to distinguish them! If you imagine this circle to be an eyeball, it will go a long way to remembering that så means saw and that sa means said.

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Reactions 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Numbers 2 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Ordinal Numbers

With one notable exception, all adjectival ordinal numbers have the same spelling regardless of gender or number. All but one of them have an -e ending.

The one exception is annen, which we introduced in the Determiners chapter as meaning second or other. Watch how it operates below.

Keep in mind that annet is pronounced like the British or Boston pronunciation of the word aunt. It can also mean else, as in noe annet or something else.

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Computers 5 · 2019-08-29 ^

The News 4 · 2020-06-17 ^

Nightlife 5 · 2020-06-17 ^

The Other Feminine Ending

By now, you're well aware that Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender, and also that grammatical gender is unrelated to biological gender.

However, certain nouns, the majority of which are professions, do have an optional feminine ending which takes its cue from biological gender.

We teach very few of the feminine versions in the course, as they're quickly disappearing from contemporary Norwegian in favor of their neutral (previously masculine) counterparts. In this skill, you will learn one that is still common, *en/ei venninne, the word for a female friend - a girl friend, just not in the romantic sense.

The "-inne" ending present in "venninne" is one you will recognize in other word pairs with the option to differentiate based on biological gender, a few of which have been listed below. The split is still observed for titles of nobility, but becoming obsolete for profession titles.

*still common
**still observed

The ending persists through all declensions of the noun:

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Verbs 1 · 2019-05-16 ^

Comparison 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Comparison

Comparisons, in the grammatical sense, are adjectives that express a relationship between two nouns. Some of them are irregular, just like in English. Luckily, irregular comparisons in Norwegian are mostly cognates with English ones.

For example:

Just like in English, there are two ways to form comparisons in Norwegian:

A special ending is added to the adjective.

The word "more" or "most" is added, particularly for longer adjectives.

Be careful, though, since sometimes one language has a special ending where the other language does not.

Keep in mind that all these comparison adjectives still behave like adjectives. This means they'll usually take an -e ending in the definite or plural forms.

• Boka er viktig.
• Denne boka er viktigere.
• Den boka er viktigst.
• Det er den viktigste boka.

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Verbs: Present Perfect 3 · 2019-08-06 ^

Present Perfect

Present perfect is used to talk about the past when the time is uncertain.

• Jeg har bodd i Oslo.
• I have lived in Oslo.

It is also used to talk about actions or states that started in the past, that have not completed and that stretch into the present and/or the future.

• Jeg har bodd her i tre år.
• I have lived here for three years.

Finally, it is used when talking about the future when one action ends before another begins.

• Når jeg har spist, skal jeg ringe deg.
• When I have eaten, I will call you.

What we have to do to express present perfect in Norwegian, is to create a form of the verb, called the past participle. Then we combine this with the present form of ha, which is har.

• Du har vasket hendene. (You have washed your hands.)
• De har kjørt bil. (They have driven a car.)
• Hun har levd lenge. (She has lived a long time.)
• Jeg har solgt henne en avis. (I have sold her a newspaper.)
• Jeg har bodd i et hus i Oslo. (I have lived in a house in Oslo.)

This probably looks complicated, and to be perfectly honest, it is. There are three different basic ways to construct present perfect in Norwegian, and they look like this:

Group 1

This group is easy which is good since most of the verbs in Norwegian belong to it. The past participle is the same as the simple past.

We use the suffix -et in this course, since it is the most common form in writing and there are a few cases where it is also the only allowed form. In speech, the suffix -a is common and in some dialects the only one used.

Group 2

This is the other big group. The past participle is formed by adding a -t. If the stem ends in v, g or a diphthong (ai, au, ei, oi, øy) we use a -d.

Group 3

In this group we find single syllable words such as tro, så, nå, bry og spå. They get the ending -dd or -tt such as ha.

Keep in mind when forming the present perfect that there are no built-in progressive forms in Norwegian. The present perfect covers both the progressive and non-progressive meanings of the verb.

All the difficulties aside, good luck learning the Norwegian present perfect skill!

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Passive Voice 5 · 2019-08-29 ^

The Passive Voice

There are two ways to form the passive voice in Norwegian:

You can form the passive with the verb bli, which usually means to become. You combine the conjugated verb with the past participle, just like in English. This is the more usual, less formal way of forming the passive, and the most likely to be spoken.

The other way to form the passive is with an -s ending on a verb. This method is more abstract, more formal, and more likely to appear in written texts.

Either passive form can be combined with future constructions (and the bli-form with past constructions) to change the tense of the passive verb.

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Adjectives 2 7 · 2019-08-29 ^

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives change for gender, number, indefinite and definite forms. Let's take a look at adjectives joined to nouns by the phrase to be, starting with the adjective stor, which means big or great.

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The Indefinite Form

So far, so good. There is no change to the adjective in either masculine or feminine form.

As you can see above, the neuter noun changes the spelling of stor to include a -t ending, and the plural noun changes stor to include an -e ending. This pattern applies to most adjectives in the indefinite form, as shown below.

Many adjectives ending in -ig or -sk, like viktig and norsk, do not sound pleasant with a -t ending. This is why we do not add a -t to these specific adjectives in the neuter form.

We do still add the -e ending in the plural form, however!

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The Definite Form

The simple thing about adjectives in the definite form is that the endings are almost all the same.

Most adjectives in the definite form end in -e.

In addition to the noun transitioning into the definite form, we place an additional word before the adjective in the definite form. This word changes depending on gender and number, as you see below.

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Missing Endings in Old and Famous Names

As students of Danish may be aware, the postfixes after the nouns above are absent in Danish, and as a legacy of Danish colonialism, some Norwegian phrases lack the noun endings shown in the table above. These words are generally famous titles or institutions, such as The White House or The French Academy. See how they operate below.

Note that det hvite huset can also mean the white house, just not the one the US President lives inside.

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Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

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The World 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Nations & Nationalities

The words for most countries and nationalities are very similar to their English equivalents, with a few notable exceptions, as shown below.

In addition, several more countries' names end in -ia in Norwegian than they do in English.

Nationalities are not that straightforward, but a base of the country name are usually found in the nationality, with the exception of "a Greek, from Greece", en greker, fra Hellas.

If the nationality adjective ends in -sk one special rule applies, it will not become -skt for neuter nouns.

En norsk mann, ei norsk dame, et norsk barn, flere norske personer.

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Employment 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Contrast 3 · 2021-09-03 ^

Comparison

Comparisons, in the grammatical sense, are adjectives that express a relationship between two nouns. Some of them are irregular, just like in English. Luckily, irregular comparisons in Norwegian are mostly cognates with English ones.

For example:

Just like in English, there are two ways to form comparisons in Norwegian:

A special ending is added to the adjective.

The word "more" or "most" is added, particularly for longer adjectives.

Be careful, though, since sometimes one language has a special ending where the other language does not.

Keep in mind that all these comparison adjectives still behave like adjectives. This means they'll usually take an -e ending in the definite or plural forms.

• Boka er viktig.
• Denne boka er viktigere.
• Den boka er viktigst.
• Det er den viktigste boka.

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Present Perfect 2 4 · 2020-03-25 ^

Present Perfect

Present perfect is used to talk about the past when the time is uncertain.

• Jeg har bodd i Oslo.
• I have lived in Oslo.

It is also used to talk about actions or states that started in the past, that have not completed and that stretch into the present and/or the future.

• Jeg har bodd her i tre år.
• I have lived here for three years.

Finally, it is used when talking about the future when one action ends before another begins.

• Når jeg har spist, skal jeg ringe deg.
• When I have eaten, I will call you.

What we have to do to express present perfect in Norwegian, is to create a form of the verb, called the past participle. Then we combine this with the present form of ha, which is har.

• Du har vasket hendene. (You have washed your hands.)
• De har kjørt bil. (They have driven a car.)
• Hun har levd lenge. (She has lived a long time.)
• Jeg har solgt henne en avis. (I have sold her a newspaper.)
• Jeg har bodd i et hus i Oslo. (I have lived in a house in Oslo.)

This probably looks complicated, and to be perfectly honest, it is. There are three different basic ways to construct present perfect in Norwegian, and they look like this:

Group 1

This group is easy which is good since most of the verbs in Norwegian belong to it. The past participle is the same as the simple past.

We use the suffix -et in this course, since it is the most common form in writing and there are a few cases where it is also the only allowed form. In speech, the suffix -a is common and in some dialects the only one used.

Group 2

This is the other big group. The past participle is formed by adding a -t. If the stem ends in v, g or a diphthong (ai, au, ei, oi, øy) we use a -d.

Group 3

In this group we find single syllable words such as tro, så, nå, bry og spå. They get the ending -dd or -tt such as ha.

Keep in mind when forming the present perfect that there are no built-in progressive forms in Norwegian. The present perfect covers both the progressive and non-progressive meanings of the verb.

All the difficulties aside, good luck learning the Norwegian present perfect skill!

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The Garden 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Presence 1 · 2019-03-12 ^

Adjectives of Presence

The adjective ending -full is used to indicate the presence of a quality or thing. It's a component of words like smakfull, tasty, håpefull, hopeful, and verdifull, valuable.

It has a direct equivalent in the English -ful, but as you can see from the examples above, it doesn't always translate that way.

Industry 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Oljeeventyret

Oljeeventyret, literally the petroleum fairy tale, is a word used to describe how we struck oil and the fairy-tale-like effect it had on what was then a country still rebuilding its economy after wartime. 1969, the year when the first oil well was found in Norwegian territory, is but a generation ago.

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Important Industries

While it's been in decline for a few years already, the oil and gas industry is still Norway's most lucrative industry by far. Another important industry is the fishing industry, closely followed by the metal industry. All told, a little over 230,000 people work in the industry sector. Not a huge number, at less than 10% of the country's total workforce, but the value created is substantial.

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Thought 5 · 2019-08-29 ^

Theater 2 · 2019-09-04 ^

The Museum 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Amounts 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

Amounts

Since the words relating to numbers and amounts are often confused, we've compiled a small list for you:

tall = the generic word for (cardinal) numbers
siffer = digit, not the kind you have on your hands
antall = number of something; quantity of countable noun
mengde = an amount of something; a quantity of an uncountable noun,
nummer = used for a number in an order, and for identification numbers, phone numbers, etc.
ordenstall = ordinal number with ordinal ending

Context Examples

Hva er yndlingstallet ditt?
What is your favorite number?

Tallet hadde fem siffer.
The number had five digits.
It was a five-digit number.

Et firesifret tall
A four-digit number

Et stort antall studenter
A large number of students

Antallet må økes.
The number must be increased.

Nedbørsmengden er stabil.
The amount of precipitation is stable.

Han er nummer fire.
He is number four.

Husnummeret vårt er 86.
Our house number is 86.

Vi trenger ditt fødselsnummer.
We need your social security number.

Hun kom på fjerdeplass.
She came in fourth place.

"Fjerde" er et ordenstall.
"Fourth" is an ordinal number.

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Large Numbers

There are a couple of things to pay attention to when expressing large numbers. Firstly, when translating "five million" or "eight billion" to Norwegian, you need to use the plural: fem millioner and åtte milliarder respectively.

Another thing to note, is that a comma is used to separate decimals in Norwegian, 5.2 becomes 5,2. So, if you're looking to make large numerals more easily readable, you need to use spacing for that instead.

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Children 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Modal Verbs 2 · 2020-12-04 ^

Modal Verbs

Below are four modals from previous lessons:

And here are the new modals introduced in this chapter:

All of the modal verbs above also have forms in the simple past, as shown below:

One of These Verbs Is Not Like the Other...

The first rule of Modal Club is that a modal is followed by a bare infinitive, i.e. an infinitive without the infinitive marker "å".

Jeg vil danse.
Hun må dra.
Vi skal gifte oss.

However, the verb tør is the exception to that rule. The infinitive marker is optional following tør.

Han tør ikke (å) bli med.

Verbs: Past Perfect 3 · 2019-08-29 ^

Past Perfect (aka Pluperfect)

Oh dear, yet another tense. But do not worry! There is no new form of the verb to learn. The past perfect is identical to the present perfect, except for one small thing. The auxillary verb ha is in the past tense, hadde rather than in the present tense, har.

The challenge is to know when to use it. The past perfect is used to talk things that happened before some other thing in the past.

• Da jeg hadde spist, gikk jeg på skolen.
• When I had eaten, I went to school.

The past perfect is also used in indirect speech, when someone said something about the past in the past. That sounds confusing, but hopefully the following example will help:

• Hun sa at hun hadde gått på skolen.
• She said that she had gone to school.

What we have to do to express past perfect in Norwegian, is to create a form of the verb, called the past participle, our friend from the present perfect. Then we combine this with the past form of ha, which is hadde.

• Du sa at du hadde vasket hendene. (You said that you had washed your hands.)

• Hun visste at de hadde kjørt bil. (She knew that they had driven a car.)

• Da hun døde, hadde hun levd lenge. (When she died, she had lived for a long time.)

• Da jeg hadde solgt henne en avis, gikk hun. (When I had sold her a newspaper, she left.)

• Før det hadde jeg bodd i Oslo. (Before that, I had lived in Oslo.)

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Philosophy 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Philosophy

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Livsløgn

A livsløgn is a personal favorite untranslatable philosophical concept, invented by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in the play Vildanden, or The Wild Duck. A løgn is a lie or an untruth, and the prefix livs- means of life. Therefore, a livsløgn is commonly translated as a life-lie. Ibsen defined a livsløgn as the central delusion we have in life that keeps us happy. It could be anything ranging from the conviction that you will become a famous Hollywood actor to the belief that your ex-spouse will change his/her mind and remarry you. Once the lie is exposed as such, a person is left without hope for the future, and becomes only a shell of a human being.

Philosophy is not a science for the faint of heart.

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Verbs Review 12 · 2019-08-29 ^

What is Verbs Review?

Verbs Review is a set of action words using all the constructions and tenses introduced thus far. It is a grammatical review for the intermediate learner.

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Space 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Destiny 7 · 2020-11-07 ^

Destiny

Welcome to what's arguably the gloomiest skill of the Norwegian course. Whether you're looking to acquire a mild depression or a full-blown existential crisis, we've got you covered!

Jokes aside, there's probably a reason the term Nordic noir exists. It's cold, dark, and inhospitable here for half of the year, and when you haven't seen the sun for two months, you might be forgiven if you start pondering the meaning of life. Norwegians are also an earnest people; we don't like to sugarcoat things, and darker subjects are less of a taboo around these parts than in many other western countries.

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Suicide Prevention

Each year, between 500 and 600 people commit suicide in Norway. That's between 500 and 600 people too many.

Never be afraid to reach out, neither for help nor to help.

The suicide hotlines listed are open 24/7 and can be called free of charge from Norway. In case of emergency, you can also call 113 for immediate medical assistance.

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To Kill a Mocking Bird, To Murder a Man

In English, a distinction is made between to kill and to murder. A similar distinction can be made in Norwegian, but it's not as strict.

Å drepe is the general word for to kill. It can be used for killing animals, for accidental human deaths, but also for premeditated murder.

Å myrde is the equivalent to to murder, only used for premeditated or intentional murder of another human being.

The corresponding nouns are et drap and et mord. Unless you're dealing with a compound that requires one or the other, you can't go wrong when using å drepe or et drap, as these cover the entire spectrum.

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Vocabulary (Tree 4)

Passive Voice 2 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

The Passive Voice

There are two ways to form the passive voice in Norwegian.

You can form the passive with the verb bli, which usually means to become. You combine the conjugated verb with the past participle, just like in English. This is the more usual, less formal way of forming the passive, and the most likely to be spoken.

The other way to form the passive is with an -s ending on a verb. This method is more abstract, more formal, and more likely to appear in written texts.

Either passive form can be combined with future constructions (and the bli-form with past constructions) to change the tense of the passive verb.

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Future 3 · 2019-08-29 ^

Future

Let's talk about the future. There are three different ways to express future in Norwegian.

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The Present Tense

The present tense can be used to talk about the future, especially when it is certain. To make sure it is about the future we include some adverb specifying the time. For example:

Jeg reiser i morgen.

I am leaving tomorrow.

Although the same kind of constructions exist in English they are a bit more common in casual Norwegian.

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Skal & Vil

It is also possible to use the auxillary verbs skal and vil and the infinitve. In Norwegian, skal and vil are the equivalent of the English verbs shall and will, as in I shall or I will. Note that skal does not sound anyway near as formal as shall in English.

Jeg skal ta eksamen til våren.

I shall take the examination this spring.

Det vil snø i fjellet.

It will snow in the mountains.

This construction can be used "modally" as well to express desire and obligation.

Du skal gjøre leksene dine først.

You shall do your homework first.

Jeg vil ikke gå!

I do not want to go!

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Kommer til

The third way is to use kommer til with the infinitve of the verb. Kommer til is a bit hard to translate directly, but the closest equivalent would be going to. It is often used when making predictions about what is probably going to happen. In other words, often about things that you can't control.

Jeg tror at det kommer til å regne i morgen.

I think it is going to rain tomorrow.

Hun kommer nok ikke til å like gaven.

She is probably not going to like the gift.

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Sports 7 · 2019-08-29 ^

Exercise 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Weather 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Games 4 · 2019-08-29 ^

Literature 3 · 2019-08-29 ^

Abstract Objects 2 6 · 2021-09-03 ^

Abstract Nouns

One can often recognize an abstract noun through one of several endings. Below is a sampling of them.

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Religion 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Religion

Norway is a country with an interesting religious history. It is a society that was Christianized relatively late in comparison to the rest of Western Europe, beginning in the 11th century with the martyrdom of St. Olaf.

Along with Denmark, Sweden, and large swaths of Northern Germany, Lutheranism became the state religion of Norway in the first half of the 16th century, and most Norwegians remain nominally Lutheran to this day.

Even though Lutheranism dominates Norwegian religious history, most Norwegians are somewhat if not entirely secular, with a sizable percentage of the population subscribing to atheism or agnosticism. The unaffiliated make up the second largest religious group after Lutheran Protestants.

Islam and Roman Catholicism each are practiced by about 2.5% of the Norwegian population. There are many houses of worship for these religions and for several smaller communities as well, including from the Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Bahá'í, and Jewish religious traditions.

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Capitalization

Yep, you guessed it, we don't capitalize religions either, nor are the adjectives derived from them capitalized.

Gud will be capitalized when referring directly to God in the Abrahamic religions, such as in passages of the Bible or Quran, as it's then used as a proper noun, a name. However, gud should not be capitalized when referring to gods in general or to god as a concept.

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The Other Feminine Ending

By now, you're well aware that Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender, and also that grammatical gender is unrelated to biological gender.

However, certain nouns, typically profession names, do have an optional feminine ending which takes its cue from biological gender.

We teach very few of the feminine versions in the course, as they're quickly disappearing from contemporary Norwegian in favour of their neutral (previously masculine) counterparts. In this skill, you get to learn one of the few pairs whose gendered forms still stand strong: "gud" (gender neutral, previously reserved for male deities) and "gudinne" (strictly for female deities).

The "-inne" ending present in "gudinne" is one you will recognise in other word pairs with the option to differentiate based on biological gender, and we will list a few below. The split is still observed for titles of nobility, but becoming obsolete for profession titles.

bestyrer - bestyrerinne
beundrer - beundrerinne
gud - gudinne (still common)
greve - grevinne (still observed)
hertug - hertuginne (still observed)
keiser - keiserinne (still observed)
maler - malerinne
sanger - sangerinne
skuespiller - skuespillerinne
venn - venninne (still common)

The ending persists through all declensions of the noun:

en sangerinne - sangerinnen - sangerinner - sangerinnene

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Music 7 · 2019-08-29 ^

Emergency 6 · 2019-08-29 ^

Emergency

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Fire!

You've already learned the general term for fire as a concept and a controlled resource, ild

In this skill, you'll be learning en brann, which is an uncontrolled, destructive fire. Hopefully, you'll never need to, but the fire department's number is 110 in Norway.

You can also call 112 (police) or 113 (medical assistance), and they'll patch you through to the right department. 112 is actually a standard emergency number used throughout the EU states, so you might as well commit it to memory if you're planning to travel in Europe. Most mobile phones will now patch you through if you use 911 as well, so if you blank on the number, just call the one that comes to mind.

The third term for a fire is for bonfires specifically, et bål. Note that you may only make bonfires out in the woods between September 15. and April 15. This is a precaution against forest fires during the drier summer months.

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Police!

As mentioned above, the police department emergency number is 112. Norwegian police officers do not carry firearms outside of severe crisis situations, and police brutality is almost unheard of, so you should never be afraid to seek help or make contact.

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Medical Assistance!

Should you ever need urgent medical assistance while in Norway, the emergency number is 113. As much as we'd love for you to practice your Norwegian, you can absolutely switch to English when making an emergency call, if that's more comfortable for you.

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Art 5 · 2020-05-13 ^

Politics 8 · 2021-06-13 ^

Politics

Norway is a centrally governed constitutional monarchy with a unicameral legislature in Oslo. The Norwegian Constitution was signed and dated on May 17, 1814. For this reason, Norwegians celebrate May 17th as their national holiday. The Constitution itself, which is still in use today, ranks among the oldest in the world.

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Parliamentary Parties of Norway

The following is a list of parties that are currently represented in the Storting, also called the Norwegian Parliament.

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Health 10 · 2021-06-13 ^

Implied Possessives

In Norwegian, as in many other languages, body parts generally do not carry possessive pronouns. Instead, we use the definite form for all pronouns. Øyet can mean the eye, my eye, or your eye, etc. The person's body in question should be intuited from context.

This is especially common when speaking about one's own body parts

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Media & Communication 6 · 2019-12-24 ^

Mixed Messages

In this course, you will learn no less than three different nouns that translate to a message. Hopefully, this brief overview will help nuance their usage for you.

Et budskap is the actual message you're trying to communicate - the point you want to get across. For example, a film might seemingly be about a budding romance in 18th century France, but the message the director is trying to get across could be deeper and more universal. Perhaps the film is really about how we project our own insecurities onto others?

En beskjed is the more mundane sort of message. On a train, you may hear Dette er en beskjed til alle passasjerer, this is a message/notice for all passengers, over the calling system. It can also be written down, on a post-it note you leave for your spouse on the kitchen counter, for example. Å gi beskjed is to give notice - to let someone know.

En melding holds more or less the same meaning as en beskjed, but it's also the word we use specifically for text messages. Send meg en melding"means text me.

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Illness and Injury 10 · 2021-06-13 ^

Government 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Online 2 · 2019-09-01 ^

Optional Latin Plurals

Some Norwegian words of Latin root have optional plural endings, much like in English. An example from this skill is et forum, a forum, which becomes either fora, fora, or foraer, forums in the indefinite plural.

The table below shows the three possible declension patterns for the word. Note the bolded forms which retain the Latin plural -a.

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Measurements 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Conflict 4 · 2021-09-03 ^

Law 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Present Participles 3 · 2019-08-30 ^

Present Participles

Present participles are adjectives and adverbs that end in -ing in English and -ende in Norwegian. Remember: these are adjectives and adverbs, not verbs. As such, they describe nouns and verbs.

Present participles never change spelling in Norwegian. They always end in -ende. Remember that the D is silent, so the ending sounds like eneh.

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Science 4 · 2020-06-18 ^

Crime 4 · 2021-06-13 ^

Passive Participles

Passive participles are past participles that act like adjectives. That means that unlike past participles, they are declined for gender, number, and definite or indefinite form.

Conditional 3 · 2019-08-30 ^

The Conditional Mood

As with many aspects of Norwegian grammar, the conditional gives the speaker several opportunities to express subtleties through linguistic options. There are two ways that the conditional may be expressed in Norwegian. There is no single word for "would", however.

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Ville (+ Ha) + Past Participle

The modal verb "ville" plays a role in the first way to express the conditional, alongside (ha and) the past participle. Although this form is in the conditional perfect tense, and hence in the past, it can refer to hypothetical situations at any point on the timeline. Let's look at how it works.

Note that in spoken and colloquial Norwegian, the word ha is quickly disappearing from the conditional altogether. The sentences above may be expressed without the word entirely.

• Han ville spist lunsj med henne.
• Ville du skrevet det samme brevet?

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Modal + The Infinitive

One may also express the conditional using one of several modal verbs introduced earlier in the course, combined with the infinitive form. These modals include ville, skulle, kunne, burde, and måtte. See how they operate below.

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Future Perfect 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

The Future Perfect

The Norwegian future perfect is formed by combining the helping verb vil or kommer til å with the present perfect, which is ha in addition to the past participle. Take a look at some examples, which translate directly word-for-word.

Wilderness 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

Wilderness

One seldom has to walk very far to reach what feels like untouched wilderness in Norway. However, unless you're high up in the mountains, chances are that you're actually standing on what was once someone's field, pasture, hunting grounds, or source of peat or firewood.

Originally, most of the woods in Norway consisted either of pine trees or of deciduous trees. The large areas of spruce that now dominate, and look like they've always been there, were actually planted by humans just a few generations back.

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Come Warm Yourself by the Fire

By now, you've already learned the general term for fire as a concept and a controlled resource, ild. You're also familiar en brann, which is an uncontrolled, destructive fire, as well as with the number for the fire department in Norway, 110.

The third term for a fire is for bonfires specifically, et bål. Note that you may only make bonfires out in the woods between September 15. and April 15. This is a precaution against forest fires during the drier summer months.

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Camping

As mentioned in the Nature skill, everyone enjoys the right of access to uncultivated land in the countryside. This means that you can also camp pretty much anywhere you want to in the woods and mountains. Just leave the spot like you found it.

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The City 4 · 2019-08-30 ^

Academics 5 · 2021-06-13 ^

Traffic 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Style 6 · 2021-06-13 ^

Identity 3 · 2020-06-19 ^

Business 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Food 2 11 · 2021-06-13 ^

Cooking

In this skill, you'll learn the verb lager, which translates to make. There's no separate verb for cooking, instead, we use lager mat, literally make food.

Han lager mat.
He is cooking.

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Measure Words

Remember that in Norwegian, the word for of, av, is omitted where one would normally use it in English to join a measure word with another noun.

Neat, huh?

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Emotions 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Adverbs 3 4 · 2019-08-30 ^

Adverbs

In Norwegian, adverbs usually follow the verb.

One exception is that adverbs of time often appear at the end of the sentence or clause.

Another exception is related to the V-2 Rule in Germanic linguistics, which applies to all Germanic languages... besides English. You can see a rare instance of it in English in the expression here comes the bus. This rule states that all sentences that are statements, in other words not questions, must have a verb in the second position. This allows for some flexibility in the word order for emphasis, but don't get crazy.

The final example is a demonstration of the V-2 Rule. When the adverb moved to the front of the statement, the subject moved to the other side of the verb har. This is because Norwegian verbs refuse to move from the second position in statements.

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Banking 2 · 2019-08-30 ^

The Body 5 · 2019-09-03 ^

Implied Possessives

In Norwegian, as in many other languages, body parts generally do not carry possessive pronouns. Instead, we use the definite form for all pronouns. Øyet can mean the eye, my eye, or your eye, etc. The person's body in question should be intuited from context.

This is especially common when speaking about one's own body parts

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Cooking 6 · 2020-10-17 ^

Tools 4 · 2019-09-03 ^

Romance 3 · 2019-08-30 ^

Wildlife 3 · 2021-06-13 ^

Continuous Forms 2 · 2019-03-04 ^

Continuous Forms

Thus far, we have learned that the Norwegian present tense covers both the English simple present (e.g. 'I eat') and the English present continuous ('I am eating'). While this is correct, we are going to nuance this a little bit.

In Norwegian, there are certain constructions emphasizing a continuous action - and that correspond to the English present continuous (i.e. the -ing form).

holder på is used when the continuity is strong and we want to emphasize this. It can be followed by an infinitive or by the present tense.

Jeg holder på å lære meg norsk. 'I am (in the process of) learning Norwegian.'

If the emphasis is less strong, but the markedness is still desired, we can use one of the verbs sitter/ligger/står together with another present tense verb. This is equal to the English present continuous, but different in the sense that not only does it mark continuity, it also marks the position of the subject.

Jeg ligger og leser. I am (lying) reading.

Jeg sitter og ser på tv. I am (sitting) watching television.

Jeg står og lager mat akkurat nå. I am (standing) cooking right now

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Adjectives 3 8 · 2019-08-30 ^

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives change for gender, number, indefinite and definite forms. Let's take a look at adjectives joined to nouns by the phrase to be, starting with the adjective stor, which means big or great.

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The Indefinite Form

So far, so good. There is no change to the adjective in either masculine or feminine form.

As you can see above, the neuter noun changes the spelling of stor to include a -t ending, and the plural noun changes stor to include an -e ending. This pattern applies to most adjectives in the indefinite form, as shown below.

Many adjectives ending in -ig or -sk, like viktig and norsk, do not sound pleasant with a -t ending. This is why we do not add a -t to these specific adjectives in the neuter form.

We do still add the -e ending in the plural form, however!

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The Definite Form

The simple thing about adjectives in the definite form is that the endings are almost all the same.

Most adjectives in the definite form end in -e.

In addition to the noun transitioning into the definite form, we place an additional word before the adjective in the definite form. This word changes depending on gender and number, as you see below.

Missing Endings in Old and Famous Names

As students of Danish may be aware, the postfixes after the nouns above are absent in Danish, and as a legacy of Danish colonialism, some Norwegian phrases lack the noun endings shown in the table above. These words are generally famous titles or institutions, such as The White House or The French Academy. See how they operate below.

Note that det hvite huset can also mean the white house, just not the one the US President lives inside.

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Combining Possessive Pronouns with Adjectives

There are two ways to combine possessive pronouns with adjectives. The possessive pronoun can either follow the noun in the definite form or precede the adjective. Let's take a look at how this works.

In the second set of examples, notice how the adjective endings are all -e, just like in the definite form, but the nouns have no endings, just like in the indefinite form. In a sense, this second method of combining possessive pronouns and adjectives is a blending of grammar rules.

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Passive Participles 2 · 2019-03-04 ^

Passive Participles

Welcome to another lesson in the magical world of participles!

Passive participles are past participles that act like adjectives. That means that unlike past participles, they are declined for gender, number, and definite or indefinite form.

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Dessert 4 · 2019-08-30 ^

The Sea 2 · 2019-08-30 ^

Future Preterite 2 · 2019-03-04 ^

Future Preterite

The future preterite is used about time and also modally.

About time it is used about something in the past that is going to happen after something else also in the past.

Etter at de hadde stått opp, skulle de spise frokost. After they had woken up, they were going to eat breakfast.

Similarly, it is used modally in hypothetical statements:

Hvis han vant, ville han reise jorden rundt. If he won, he would travel around the world.

And also when expressing wishes and polite speach:

Jeg skulle ønske det virket I should wish it worked.

The future preterite is expressed using the auxillary verbs skulle and ville and the infinitive. That's right, the same as in the future tense except our friends skal og vil are in the past.

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Absence 2 · 2019-08-30 ^

Adjectives of Absence

You've already learned the adjective ending -full, used to indicate the presence of a quality or thing. It's a component of words like smakfull, tasty, håpefull, hopeful, and verdifull, valuable.

In this skill, you'll be introduced to the ending -løs, which is used to the opposite effect: to indicated the absence of a quality or thing. In the vast majority of cases, it translates directly to -less in English. One example would be håpløs, which translates to hopeless.

While many of these adjectives have negative connotations, as is the case for hjelpeløs, helpless, and verdiløs, worthless, that's not a requirement. Take the adjective tidløs, timeless, for example.

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Materials 3 · 2020-06-17 ^

Bugs 5 · 2020-07-07 ^

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TEST 0

1. Test
   
2. Test

TEST 1

1. Test
2. Test

TEST 2

1. Test
2. Test

TEST 3

-1. Test
-2. Test

TEST 4

1. Test
   
2. Test

TEST 4

1. Test
2. Test

TEST 4

1. Test
2. Test

Symbols 3 · 2019-08-30 ^

Punctuation

While the punctuation system in Norwegian is, thankfully, very similar to that of English, there are a few notable exceptions.

Firstly, Oxford commas are not used. If you're genuinely afraid you'll be misunderstood, you're free to add one, but if it's just a stylistic choice you have to let it go.

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Punctuation in Numbers

Norwegian uses a comma ("et komma") rather than a decimal point to separate a whole number from a decimal.

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The Golden Rule

Punctuation is there to make the text more easily readable. It either separates distinct units of text or represents a pause that would be present in speech. Use it in a way that serves the text.

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Parenthesis or Parentheses?

In Norwegian, one would say that (this word) står i parantes, using the singular noun, as we think of the two brackets as forming one parenthesis.

In English, one would say that (this word) is in parentheses, using a plural noun, as English counts each bracket as one separate parenthesis.

Keep this in mind when translating from Norwegian to English and vice versa.

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Fantasy 3 · 2019-08-30 ^

Language and Linguistics 6 · 2021-09-03 ^

We Heard You Like Languages, So...

Finally! Now you can geek out about languages in your learning language. It doesn't get much better than that.

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Mixed Messages

You've already learned two words that translate to a message, en beskjed and en/ei melding.

Et budskap is the actual message you're trying to communicate - the point you want to get across. For example, a film might seemingly be about a budding romance in 18th century France, but the message the director is trying to get across could be deeper and more universal. Perhaps the film is really about how we project our own insecurities onto others?

En beskjed is the more mundane sort of message. On a train, you may hear Dette er en beskjed til alle passasjerer, this is a message/notice for all passengers, over the calling system. It can also be written down, on a post-it note you leave for your spouse on the kitchen counter, for example. Å gi beskjed is to give notice - to let someone know.

En/ei melding holds more or less the same meaning as en beskjed, but it's also the word we use specifically for text messages. Send meg en melding means text me.

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Celebrations 8 · 2022-02-04 ^

Gratulerer!

You have reached the summit of our course mountain. We hope the view from here is wonderful, and we wish you a pleasant trip skiing down.

Please keep learning!

Med vennlig hilsen,

Aleksander, Andreas, Andrew, Gry, Leon, Linn, and Madeline

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Uppercase Letters Get No Holidays

Holidays such as jul, Christmas, and påske, Easter are not capitalized in Norwegian. This also holds true for other days of note or celebration, like morsdag, Mother's Day, farsdag, Father's Day, and kvinnedagen, Women's Day.

That's right, the lowercase letters get all the fun.

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179 skills with tips and notes