In Norwegian, adjectives must always agree with the number and gender of the noun. The plural form of the adjective is the same across all genders. The adjective also has two declensions: indefinite and definite. Unfortunately, there are many irregulars.

Indefinite Form

When using the indefinite form (en/ei/et; i.e. “en bil,” “ei bok,” etc), the adjective does not change when the noun is masculine or feminine gender (en / ei) but gets a -t ending if the noun is neuter (et) and an -e ending in plural in all three genders.

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En stor bil	A big car	Store biler	Big cars
Fem.	Ei stor hytte	A big cabin	Store hytter	Big cabins
Neut.	Et stort hus	A big house	Store hus	Big houses

Most adjectives decline the same way as “stor” does, which there are only 3 forms.

Stor - only used in the indefinite singular form for masc/fem nouns.
Stort - only used in the indefinite neuter singular form
Store - used in all other forms

Definite Form

In the definite form, the adjective almost always takes an -e ending:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Den store bilen	The big car	De store bilene	The big cars
Fem.	Den store hytta	The big cabin	De store hyttene	The big cabins
Neut.	Det store huset	The big house	De store husene	The big houses

The adjective declines the same as they do in the indefinite, when the adjective is predicative (i.e. after the noun).

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Bilen er stor	The car is big	Bilene er store	The cars are big
Fem.	Hytta er stor	The cabin is big	Hyttene er store	The cabins are big
Neut.	Huset er stort	The house is big	Husene er store	The houses are big

The definite form of the adjective is used in a number of ways in Norwegian:

After the definite article (den/det)
After the demonstrative pronoun (den/denne/dette)
After the possessive pronoun (min/mitt, etc)
After the genitive -s
After første, siste, neste, samme
Certain prepositional phrases
In some cases before a noun without a preceding article, usually when the adjective is part of a proper name or an expression of address.

Rule	Norwegian	English
After the definite article	Den fine bilen.	The pretty car.
After the demonstrative pronoun	Den / denne fine bilen.	That/this fine car.
After the possessive pronoun	Min lille venn	My little friend
After the possessive pronoun	Mitt store eple	My big apple
After the genitive -s	Pers nye hatt.	Per’s new hat.
After første, siste, neste, samme	Neste offentlige møte.	The next public meeting.
Certain prepositional phrases	Hele dagen	The whole day
	Midt på lyse dagen	In broad daylight
	Ut av løse luften	Out of thin air
Before a noun without a preceding article when the adjective is part of a proper name or an expression of address	Gamle Norge	Old Norway
	Kjære barn	Dear child

*Note: exception to this rule: mitt eget hus; min egen bil

Irregular Rules

If an adjective has a short stressed vowel followed by a single consonant, the consonant is doubled when the noun is plural, in the indefinite form:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En tom boks	An empty box	Tomme bokser	Empty boxes
Fem.	Ei tom hytte	An empty cabin	Tomme hytter	Empty cabins
Neut.	Et tomt hus	An empty house	Tomme hus	Empty houses

BUT it is doubled in the definite form in both singular and plural:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Den tomme boksen	The empty box	De tomme boksene	The empty boxes
Fem.	Den tomme hytta	The empty cabin	De tomme hyttene	The empty cabins
Neut.	Det tomme huset	The empty house	De tomme husene	The empty houses

If the adjective ends in an å, it takes a -tt ending if the noun is singular neuter (et), and the -e ending is optional if the noun is plural, in the indefinite form:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En grå bil	A grey car	Grå(e) biler	Grey cars
Fem.	Ei grå hytte	A grey cabin	Grå(e) hytter	Grey cabins
Neut.	Et grått hus	A grey house	Grå(e) hus	Grey houses

AND it is also optional in the definite form

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Den grå(e) bilen	The grey car	De grå(e) bilene	The grey cars
Fem.	Den grå(e) hytta	The grey cabin	De grå(e) hyttene	The grey cabins
Neut.	Det grå(e) huset	The grey house	De grå(e) husene	The grey houses

If the adjective ends in -el, -en, -er, then you drop the “e” that is in the stem before adding an -e at the end if the noun is plural in the indefinite form, and a double consonant will become single:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En gammel mann	An old man	Gamle menn	Old men
Masc.	En åpen dør	An open door	Åpne dører	Open doors
Fem.	Ei gammel kvinne	An old woman	Gamle kvinner	Old women
Fem.	Ei åpen hytte	An open cabin	Åpne hytter	Open cabins
Neut.	Et gammelt hus	An old house	Gamle hus	Old houses
Neut.	Et åpent hus	An open house	Åpne hus	Open houses

BUT In the definite form, the “e” is dropped from the stem, and an -e is added to the end in both singular and plural:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Den gamle mannen	The old man	De gamle mennene	The old men
Masc.	Den åpne døren	The open door	De åpne dørene	The open doors
Fem.	Den gamle kvinna	The old woman	De gamle kvinnene	The old women
Fem.	Den åpne hytta	The open cabin	De åpne hyttene	The open cabins
Neut.	Det gamle huset	The old house	De gamle husene	The old houses
Neut.	Det åpne huset	The open house	De åpne husene	The open houses

A double consonant is reduced to a single consonant before the neuter -t in the indefinite form.

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En trygg bil	A safe car	Trygge biler	Safe cars
Fem.	Ei trygg hytte	A safe cabin	Trygge hytter	Safe cabins
Neut.	Et trygt hus	A safe house	Trygge hus	Safe houses

Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel usually take a -tt ending in neuter singular***** in the indefinite form.

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En ny bil	A new car	Nye biler	New cars
Fem.	Ei ny hytte	A new cabin	Nye hytter	New cabins
Neut.	Et nytt hus	A new house	Nye hus	New houses

**Note:* Some exceptions are: bra (good), sky (shy), sjalu (jealous), kry (proud)

BUT Only a single -t is added in neuter form when the adjective ends in a diphthong, in the indefinite form.

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En grei bil	A decent car	Greie biler	Decent cars
Fem.	Ei grei hytte	A decent cabin	Greie hytter	Decent cabins
Neut.	Et greit hus	A decent house	Greie hus	Decent houses

And then we have the adjective “little”….which kind of does its own thing.

Indefinite:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	En liten hund	A little dog	Små hunder	Little dogs
Fem.	Ei lita jente	A little girl	Små jenter	Little girls
Neut.	Et lite hus	A little house	Små hus	Little houses

Definite:

Gender	Singular	English	Plural	English
Masc.	Den lille hunden	The little dog	De små hundene	The little dogs
Fem.	Den lille jenta	The little girl	De små jentene	The little girls
Neut.	Det lille huset	The little house	De små husene	The little houses

The following adjectives do not inflect for number or gender.

Certain adjectives which end in a stressed vowel.

Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Bra	Good	Slu	Sly	Lilla	Lilac
Troende	Faithful	Ru*	Rough	Sky*	Shy
Sjalu*	Jealous	Sta*	Stubborn	Edru*	Sober

*Note: In the ordbok, the -e ending is optional for these words.

Ex:

Den edru(e) mannen – The sober man
Et bra bilde – A good picture
Eslene er sta(e) – The mules are stubborn

Adjectives which end in an unstressed -e.

Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Øde	Deserted	Sovende	Sleeping	Bedre*	Better
Stille	Quiet	Syngende	Singing	Penere*	Prettier
Steinete	Stony	Gående	Walking	Mindre*	Smaller

*Note: These words are comparatives; most (if not all) comparatives end in an unstressed -e and therefore do not inflect.

Ex:

Et øde område – a deserted area
Et sovende barn – a sleeping child
Mannen var stille – the man was quiet

Some adjectives ending in -s.

Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Stakkars	Poor	Gratis	Free	Nymotens	Newfangled
Avsides	Remote	Felles	Mutual	Forgjeves	In vain
Innvortes	Internal

Ex:

Stakkars folk! – poor people
Et gratis måltid – a free meal

Resources:

Exercise 1: Fill in the blank

En (grå) ___________ elefant spiste eplet.

Den (rask) __________ kvinnen løper mye.

Det (gammel) __________ huset er (stygg) ______.

De (brun) _______ kattene dine er (søt) ______.

De (ung) ________ hundene jager hverandre.

Bryllupet var (vakker) __________.

(Rød) _____ epler smaker bedre enn (grønn) _______ epler.

Min (stakkars) _______ kone er syk igjen.

Jeg fant et (trygg) ______ skjulested.

Det (dum) ______ barnet hadde på seg en (stor) _______ hatt.

Hannibal lager (fantastisk) __________ måltider.

Exercise 2: Write 5 sentences

One indef. singular
One def. singular
One plural
And at least 2 sentences with irregulars