Norwegian Grammar Reference Help

7/28/2019 Norwegian Grammar Reference Help

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Norwegian Grammar Reference Help Contents©1995-1996 Translation Experts Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Verbs

Nouns

Articles

Adjectives

Adverbs

Pronouns

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Time & Numbers

Sentence Structure

Correspondence

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Verbs

Key Verbs

Basic Form & Present Tense

Past Tense

Irregular Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs

Passive Verbs

Verbs Ending in -s

Verbs Used in Other Ways



Key Verbs

English Norwegianto be å være

I am jeg er

you are (familiar sing.) du er

you are (polite sing.) De er

he is han er

she is hun er

it is (common gender) den er

it is (neuter gender) det er

we are vi er

you are (familiar pl.) dere er

you are (polite pl.) De er

they are de er

English Norwegian

to have å ha

I have jeg ha

you have (familiar sing.) du har

you have (polite sing.) De har

he has han har

she has hun har

it has (common gender) den har

it has (neuter gender) det har

we have vi har

you have (familiar pl.) dere har

you have (polite pl.) De har they have de har



Basic Form & Present Tense

Norwegian verbs do not change with the person (e.g. I hear = jeg hører or he hears = han hører). Themajority of infinitive Norwegian verbs end with either an unstressed e or a stressed vowel. In both

cases, the present tense is formed by adding an r , for example:

English Norwegian

Infinitive Infinitive Present Tense

to speak å snakke snakker

to eat å spise spiser

to run å løpe løper

to use å bruke bruker

to see å se ser

to sew å sy syr

A few verbs form the present tenses differently, for example:

to do å gjøre gjør

to know å vite vet

Norwegian does not have the equivalent of the English -ing form. The Norwegian equivalent of the

English -ing is expressed in the same manner as the simple present.



Past Tense

Some Norwegian verbs are regular, which means that there is no change of the stem vowel. Irregular Norwegian verbs change. Like English, Norwegian has a simple past tense (e.g. spoke), the perfect

tense (e.g. have spoken) and a pluperfect tense (e.g. had spoken). All formed in a manner similar to

English.

The perfect and the pluperfect tenses are comprised of the past participle (e.g. spoken) and the

appropriate tense of have, for example:

Infinite Present Past Perfect Pluperfect

English have have had have had had had

Norwegian ha har hadde har hatt hadde hatt

English be am was have been had been

Norwegian være er var har vært hadde vært

To create the simple past tense of most regular Norwegian verbs, add ede to the stem of the verb. If

the infinitive of the verb has a double consonant before the final e, the past tense retains the double

consonant.

To create the past participle, add et to the stem of the verb. Retain the double consonant of the

infinitive if it has one, for example:

Infinitive Past Perfect

English to kiss kissed have kissed

Norwegian å kysse kysset har kysset

English to cough coughed have coughed

Norwegian å hoste hostet har hostet

A small group of Norwegian verbs add te to the stem to form the past tense and t to form the past

participle, for example:

Infinitive Past Perfect

English to eat eated have eaten

Norwegian å spise spiste har spist



Irregular Verbs

English NorwegianInfinitive Past Perfect

ask spørre spurte har spurt

ask/pray be bad har bedt

bring bringe brakte har brakt

come komme kom har/er kommet

count telle telte har telt

do gjøre gjorde har gjort

follow følge fulgte har fulgt

get få fikk har fått

give gi gav har gitt

grease/butter smøre smurte har smurt

lay legge la har lagtlie ligge lå har ligget

put/set sette satte har satt

say si sa har sagt

see/look se så har sett

sell selge solgte har solgt

sit sitte satt har sittet

stay/become bli ble har blitt

take ta tok har tatt

walk/leave gå gikk har gått



Auxiliary Verbs

Shall, can, and will belong to the key group of verbs which are indispensable for use in conjunctionwith other verbs. Like English, these Norwegian verbs have no command form but, unlike their English

counterparts (with the exception of dare), they do have an infinitive.

English Norwegian

Infinitive Present

can/is able to å kunne kan

shall/is to/must å skulle skal

will/wants to å ville vil

may/must å måtte må

ought to å burde bor

dare(s) å tore tør



Passive Verbs

When one uses a verb to describe an action one has accomplished, the verb is said to be "active."When a verb is used to describe something done to one or to something, the verb is said to be

"passive." In Norwegian, the passive is created in one of two ways:

1 An s replaces the final r of the present tense or is added to the end of the past tense.

2 The copula bli + past participle also produces the passive voice.

Active Passive

English Norwegian English Norwegian

to treat å behandle to be treated å behandles/å bli behandlet

we treat we behandler we are treated vi behandles/vi blir behandlet

I treated jeg behandlet I was treated jeg behandles/jeg blir behandlet



Verbs ending in -s

Some verbs can have a "sense of each other" when used with the pasive s:

English Norwegian

they see each other often de ses ofte

se you! (we will see each other) vi ses!

they meet (each other) de møtes

the boys are fighting (each other) guttene slåss

Some verbs can have a special meaning with the passive s:

English Norwegian

there are det finnes

it seems det synes

I think/I am of the opinion that jeg synes



Verbs Used in Other Ways

Just as in English, some Norwegian verbs can be used to create an adjective. This can beaccomplished in one of two ways. The past participle is often used as an adjective :

English Norwgian

a cleaned floor et renset gulv

a newly built farm en nybygget gård

the painted wall en malt vegg

all whitewashed houses alle hvitkalkete hus

In English, the -ing form of a verb is often used as an adjective or adverb. The Norwegian equivalent: is

created by adding -nde to the infinitive or -ende if the infinitive ends with a stressed vowel:

English Norwegian

a dying man en døende manna satisfying answer et tilfredsstillende svar

She is a rising (coming) star Hun er en kommende stjerne

the existing rule den eksisterende regel

on my writing days på mine skrivende dager

Is that a hardworking assistent? Er det en hardtarbeidende assistent?



Nouns

Nouns & Articles

Plural Nouns



Nouns & Articles

Norwegian nouns can be masculine (en), feminine (ei/en) or neuter (et ). The feminine ei is mostlyused in dialects. Most beings and occupations use the en (ei) form. Aside from this one generality,

there is no hard and fast rule by which one can determine the gender of a specific noun.

In the infinitive (a) form, en/ei and et precede the noun (e.g. a dog = en hund, a cow = ei ku, a woman

= en kvinne, a house = et hus). In the definitive (the) form, they are added to the end of the word (e.g.

the dog = hunden, the cow = kua, the woman = kvinnen, the house = huset). Note that the feminine

form can have either the a or (e)n ending.

Norwegian English

"a" form "the" form

Masculine en hund hunden dog

en mann mannen man

Feminine ei jente jenta girl

en kvinne kvinnen woman

Neuter et tre treet tree

et hus huset house

If the noun ends with an unstressed e, the definitive form only adds the n or the t:

Mas./Fem. en kvinne kvinnen woman

Neuter et teppe teppet carpet

Nouns which end with a stressed e (those having only one syllable or an accent on the e to show

stress) take the full ending:

Mas./Fem. en skje skjeen spoon

en kafé kaféen café



Plural Nouns

In both English and Norwegian, the plural is sometimes formed by simply changing the vowel of thestem (man/men = mann/menn). The majority of Norwegian nouns add er for the indefinitive plural, or, if

they already end in a unstressed e, just r . In the definitive form, the ending is ne and ene is used, for

example:

Singular

Indefinitive

Plural

Definitive

Plural

English a flower flowers these flowers

Norwegian en blomst blomster blomstene

English a teacher teachers these teachers

Norwegian en lærer lærere lærerne



Adjectives

Adjective Endings

Comparison of Adjectives



Adjective Endings

In Norwegian, adjectives change with the gender of the noun as well as the definitive (the), indefinitive(a) and plural forms.

The "basic" form of a Norwegian adjective is unchaged when used with masculine or feminine nouns or

singular nouns in their indefinitive (a) form:

English Norwegian

a sweet cake en søt kake

a good woman en god kvinne

a large Welshman en stor waliser

an amusing anecdote en morsom anekdote

a red car en rød bil

When adjectives are used to describe a singular neuter noun, they usually require the addition of a t:

English Norwegian

a sweet smile et søtt smil

a good heart et godt hjerte

a large meal et stort måltid

an amusing fairy tale et morsomt eventyr

a red carpet et rødt teppe

In the indefinitive plural, most adjectives end with an e:

English Norwegian

sweet things søte saker

good deeds gode gjerninger

great events store begivenheter

When an adjective is placed before a noun in the definite (the) form, the definite ending is added to the

noun and the adjective is preceded by the definite article den (for masculine/feminine singular), det

(for neuter singular) or de (for plural). The ending of the adjective, however, is the same for all three:'

English Norwegian

the sweet pain den søte smerten

the large meal det store måltidet

the lovely experiences de deilige opplevelsene



Comparision of Adjectives

Comparative adjectives in Norwegian is somewhat similiar to English: short/shorter/shortest =kort/kortere/kortest. The comparative English ending er becomes ere in Norwegian and the English

superlative est is also est in Norwegian.

The superlative form adds an e in the indefinitive plural and in all definitive forms (den søteste

sangen/de søteste sangene = the sweetest song/the sweetest songs').

English Norwegian

Comparative Superlative

soft bløt bløtere bløtest

expensive dyr dyrere dyrest

rich rik rikere rikest

wise klok klokere klokest

high høy høyere høyest

low lav lavere lavest

wide bred bredere bredest

Adjectives ending in ig or som add only st in the superlative:

English Norwegian


lovely deilig deiligere deiligst

cheap billig billigere billigst

poor fattig fattigere fattigst

happy lykkelig lykkeligere lykkeligst

slow langsom langsommere langsomst

If an adjective ends with el , en or er , the e is normmally dropped before adding the ere or est endings.

In double consonant words, one consonant is dropped in the process:

English Norwegian


noble edel edlere edlest

lazy doven dovnere dovnest

cheerful munter muntrere muntrest

delicious lekker lekrere lekrest



Adverbs

Common Adverbs

Adverbs of Place & Movement



Common Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs to which they are added. In Norwegian, adjectives inthe neuter form are often used as adverbs (e.g. godt = well; langt = far). Sometimes adjectives remain

unchanged when used as adverb (e.g. lett = lightly).

Some common adverbs:

English Norwegian

never/all the same aldri

anyway allikevel

always alltid

only bare/kun

then/besides da

furthermore dessuten

unfortunately desverre

yet/however dog

otherwise ellers

still/yet endnu

too for

quite/rather ganske

willingly gjerne

fortunately heldigvis

not ikke

especially især

far langt

(for a) long (time) lenge

perhaps muligensperhaps kanskje

of course naturligvis

now nå

almost nesten

often ofte

also også

of course selvfølgelig

sometimes noen ganger

immediately straks

then så

occasionally av og til



Adverbs of Place & Movement

English NorwegianMovement Place

went away gikk bort ----

was away/gone ---- var borte

went/walked home gikk hjem ----

stayed at home ---- ble hjemme

walk forward gå frem ----

we have got there ---- vi er fremme

come in! kom inn! ----

we are locked in ---- vi er lukket inne

out you go ut med deg ----

we are out vi er ute

up(wards) opp oppe



Pronouns

Subject Pronouns

Object Pronouns

Relative Pronouns



Subject Pronouns

English NorwegianI jeg

you du

he ha

she hun

it den

we vi

you dere

they de



Object Pronouns

English Norwegianme meg

you (familiar sing.) deg

you (polite sing.) Dem

him han/ham

her henne

it den/det

us oss

you (familiar pl.) dere

you (polite pl.) Dem

them dem



Relative Pronouns

The single Norwegian word som can be used for the English who, that and which.



Prepositions

English Norwegian

along bortover

of av

behind bak

among blant

after etter

for for

before foran

past forbi

before før

from/off fra

through gjennom

with/at hos

along langs (med)

with med

among/between mellom

towards/against mot

near nær

about/on om

around omkring

over/above over

opposite overfor

on på

to til

without uten



Conjunctions

English Norwegian

and og

or eller

but men

plus samt

as well as så vel som

for/because for

so så



Time & Numbers

Days & Months

Hours of the Day

Numbers



Days & Months

Days

English Norwegian

Monday mandag

Tuesday tirsdag

Wednesday onsdag

Thursday torsdag

Friday fredag

Saturday lørdag

Sunday søndag

Months

English Norwegian

January januar

February februar

March mars

April april

May mai

June juni

July juli

English Norwegian

August august

September september

October oktober

November november December desember



Hours of the Day

The 24-hour clock is used in Norway. The English a.m. or p.m. designations are not known.

Time Norwegian

6-9 morgen

9-12 (15) formiddag

12 (15)-18 ettermiddag

18-24 kveld

24-6 natt



Numbers

Number Norwegian0 null

1 en/ett

2 to

3 tre

4 fire

5 fem

6 seks

7 syv

8 åtte

9 ni

10 ti

11 elleve12 tolv

13 tretten

14 fjorten

15 femten

16 seksten

17

18 atten

19 nitten

20 tjue

21 tjueen

22 tjueto

30 tretti

40 førti50 femti

60 seksti

70 sytti

80 åtti

90 nitti

100 hundre

101 hundreogen

113 hundreogtretten

231 tohundreogtrettien

8,010 åttetusenogti

100,000 (ett)hundretusen

2,000,000 to millioner



Sentence Structure

Norwegian word order is often the same as English but there are some very important differences. In

Norwegian sentences, the verb changes place if the sentence starts with an adverb or a subordinate

clause precedes the the main clause:

English Norwegian

I am buying a car today Jeg kjøper en bil i dag

Today I am buying a car I dag kjøper jeg en bil

I take the car if it rains Jeg tar bilen hvis det regner

If it rains, I take the car Hvis det regner, tar jeg bilen



Correspondence

The Date

In Norwegian, the date is written with the date preceding the month, for example: 8. mai (May 8) or 25.

desember (December 25).

Letter Opening

In Norwegian there is no equivalent to the English opening: "Dear Sir(s)." When writing to a company,

for example, one should proceed straight into the text unless the addressee is known by their title and

name.

Letter Closings

English Norwegian

Business Yours faithfully Vennlig hilsen

Yours sincerely Med vennlig hilsen

Friends Kind regards Vennlig hilsen

devoted Mange venlige hils(e)ner or

Deres/din hengivne

Documents

Norwegian Grammar Reference Help