Adverbs

   |  Dan

Adverbs are used to modify adjectives, verbs, clauses and other adverbs. This lesson explains the many uses of adverbs and how to use them in sentences.

Grammar Review

Sentence structure

While most Norwegian sentences use the subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, like English does, Norwegian does have the V2 (verb second) rule. If an adverbial phrase or subordinate clause is at the front of the sentence, the subject and the verb have to switch places (this is called “inversion”) so that the verb stays in the second position.

Eksempel English

SVO

Markus besøkte moren sin i går.

Markus visited his mother yesterday.

Nora hadde på seg en genser siden det var kaldt.

Nora wore a sweater since it was cold.

V2

I går besøkte Markus moren sin.

Yesterday, Markus visited his mother.

Siden det var kaldt, hadde Nora på seg en genser.

Since it was cold, Nora wore a sweater.

If a sentence has more than one verb, the second verb will be in a nonfinite form (e.g. å finne). If the sentence has inversion, then the subject will come between the finite (i.e. conjugated) verb and the nonfinite verb.

Eksempel English

SVO

Oliver begynte å jobbe i en ny jobb i går.

Oliver began working at a new job yesterday.

Ella prøvde å lære spansk siden kjæresten hennes var fra Spania.

Ella tried to learn Spanish since her boyfriend was from Spain.

V2

I går begynte Oliver å jobbe på en ny jobb.

Yesterday, Oliver began working at a new job.

Siden Ellas kjæreste var fra Spania, prøvde hun å lære spansk.

Since Ella’s boyfriend is from Spain, she tried to learn Spanish.

Verb Conjugation

Conjugating present tense of verbs in Norwegian is fairly simple. Most present tense verbs just add an -r to the end of the infinitive.

Infinitive Present English Infinitive Present English

Å tegne

Tegner

Draws / Drawing

Å spille

Spiller

Plays / Playing

Å besøke

Besøker

Visits / Visiting

Å snakke

Snakker

Talks / Talking

There are some exceptions / irregulars:

Infinitive

Present

English

Infinitive

Present

English

Å kunne

Kan

To be able to

Å måtte

Må

To have to

Å skulle

Skal

To have to; to be going to

Å ville

Vil

To want

Å være

Er

To be

Å vite

Vet

To know

Past tense conjugation is a bit more difficult, however there are some guidelines (but keep in mind there are exceptions).

  1. If the verb ends with a double consonant, consonant cluster, or voiced plosive (b / d), past tense will end in -et.

  2. If the verb ends in a single consonant (except v / b / d), past tense ends in -te.

  3. If the verb ends with v or diphthong, the past tense ends in -de.

  4. If the verb has only one syllable with a long vowel, past tense ends in -dde.

Rule Number

Infinitive

Past Tense

English

1

Å snakke

Snakket

Talked

Å ønske

Ønsket

Wished

2

Å lære

Lærte

Learned

Å kjøpe

Kjøpte

Bought

3

Å leve

Levde

Lived

Å pleie

Pleide

Used

4

Å bo

Bodde

Lived

For future tense, typically the present tense verb is used with a time adverbial to clarify it is a future action. (Note: There are ways to form future sentences using modals; that is covered in a more in-depth lesson).

Eksempel

English

Sofie kjører til Oslo i morgen.

Sofie is driving to Oslo tomorrow.

Filmen kommer ut neste uke.

The film comes out next week.

Adjective Basics

Adjectives typically have to agree with the gender and the number of the noun.

Singular Indefinite Plural Indefinite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

En rød genser

A red sweater

Røde gensere

Red sweaters

En svart ravn

A black raven

Svarte ravner

Black ravens

Feminine

Ei rød vogn

A red wagon

Røde vogner

Red wagons

Ei svart kråke

A black crow

Svarte kråker

Black crows

Neuter

Et rødt skjerf

A red scarf

Røde skjerf

Red scarves

Et svart ekorn

A black squirrel

Svarte ekorn

Black squirrels

When the noun is in the definite form, the adjective takes an -e ending (like in the plural indefinite above).

Singular Definite Plural Definite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

Den røde genseren

The red sweater

De røde genserne

The red sweaters

Denne svarte ravnen

This black raven

Disse svarte ravnene

These black ravens

Feminine

Den røde vogna

The red wagon

De røde vognene

The red wagons

Denne svarte kråka

This black crow

Disse svarte kråkene

These black crows

Neuter

Det røde skjerfet

The red scarf

De røde skjerfa

The red scarves

Dette svarte ekornet

This black squirrel

Disse svarte ekornene

These black squirrels

Adverbs

Adverbs are used to either modify, amplify, or diminish.

Modify

They can be used to modify either a verb, adjective, a clause, or another adverb.

What it modifies

Example sentence

Adverb

What it is modifying

English

Verb

Faren min løper fort.

fort

løper

My father runs fast.

Adjective

Emilie er ekstremt smart.

ekstremt

smart

Emilie is extremely smart.

A clause

Filip arbeider ofte sent.

ofte

arbeider sent

Filip often works late.

Adverb

Hun løper utrolig fort.

utrolig

fort

She runs incredibly fast.

Amplify

Adverbs that amplify, strengthen the meaning of an adjective or another adverb. Many adverbs that are derived from adjectives act as amplifiers.

Adverb

English

Example sentence

What it is amplifying

English

Helt

Entirely, completely

Koppen er helt full.

full

The cup is entirely full

Mye

Very; much

Maja tegner mye bedre enn meg.

bedre

Maja draws much better than me.

Altfor

Far too

Jeg har bodd her altfor lenge.

lenge

I have lived here for far too long.

Fryktelig

Dreadfully; terribly

Det var en fryktelig kjedelig film.

kjedelig

It was a dreadfully boring film.

Diminish

Adverbs that diminish, lessen or weaken the meaning of an adjective or another adverb.

Adverb

English

Example sentence

What it is diminishing

English

Litt

A little

Kan du snakke litt tregere?

tregere

Can you speak a little slower?

Nok

Enough

Har du nok mat å spise?

mat

Do you have enough food to eat?

Nesten

Almost

Han vant nesten konkurransen.

vant

He almost won the competition.

Adverbs describe how often the action (being described) occurred and the speaker’s attitude about what is being said.

Example

Adverb

English

Manner

Tor løper fort.

fort

Tor runs fast.

Time

Tor løper ofte.

ofte

Tor runs often.

Place

Tor løper ute.

ute

Tor runs outside.

Degree

Tor løper svært fort.

svært

Tor runs very fast.

Sentence adverbs express a condition that is related to the entire sentence.

Example Adverb English

Jeg skal ikke lese i dag.

ikke

I will not read today

Jeg skal kanskje lese i dag.

kanskje

I will maybe read today.

Jeg må dessverre lese i dag.

dessverre

I have to read today, unfortunately.

Jeg vil gjerne lese i dag.

gjerne

I would like to read today.

Jeg skal sannsynligvis lese i dag.

sannsynligvis

I probably will read today.

Types of Adverbs

There are two major types of adverbs: Simple adverbs and adverbs that are derived from other words.

Simple Adverbs:

Adverb

English

Adverb

English

Alltid

Always

Da

When; then; as

Aldri

Never

Ellers

Otherwise

Der

There

Ikke

Not

Her

Here

Kanskje

Perhaps

Bare

Only

Litt

A little; somewhat

Mye

Very; much

Nok

Enough; probably

Nesten

Almost

Nå

Now

Ofte

Often

Akkurat

Exactly

Sikkert

Probably; surely

Egentlig

Really

Også

Also

Altså

Therefore

Sannelig

Certainly

Imidlertid

However

Sjelden

Rarely

Ennå

Yet

Nettopp

Just

Nylig

Recently

Neppe

Hardly

Nær

Near; close

Slik

So

Hvorledes

(rarely used)

In what way

Adverbs derived from other words

Many adverbs are derived from adjectives by adding a -t to the singular form. In many cases, this means it is identical to the neuter gender singular form of the adjective.

Norwegian English Example English

Adverb

Vakkert

Beautifully

Moren min synger vakkert.

My mom sings beautifully.

Adjective

Beautiful

Språket er vakkert.

The language is beautiful.

Adverb

Godt

Well

Kattene leker godt sammen.

The cats play well together.

Adjective

Well, good

Sønnen min er et godt barn.

My son is a good child.

Adverb

Høyt

Loudly

Hun skrek høyt.

She screams loudly.

Adjective

Loud

Hun ga et høyt skrik.

She gave a loud shriek.

Adverb

Langt

Far

Vennen min bor langt unna.

My friend lives far away.

Adjective

Long

Han hadde et langt tau.

He had a long rope.

NOTE: If an adjective does not take a -t ending in the indefinite neuter gender singular form, then it will not take a -t ending when it is used as an adverb.

Eksempel

English

Adjective

Det er et billig leketøy.

It is a cheap toy

Adverb

Produktet var billig laget.

The product was cheaply made.

Some adverbs can be used to make comparisons.

Basic

English

Comparison

Superlative

Fort

Fast

Fortere

Fortest

Pent

Pretty

Penere

Penest

Sakte

Slow

Saktere

Saktest

Ofte

Often

Oftere

Oftest

Stygt

Ugly

Styggere

Styggest

Sjeldent

Rare

Sjeldnere

Sjeldnest

Høyt

High

Høyere

Høyest

There are some adverbs that are irregular when making comparisons:

Basic

English

Comparison

Superlative

Bra

Good

Bedre

Best

Dårlig

Bad

Verre

Verst

Mye

Much

Mer

Mest

Lite

Little

Mindre

Minst

Location and Motion Towards

Among those adverbs that denote place, there are some that have two distinct but parallel forms:

  • The base form (without -e): used to indicate motion (whether actual, imagined, or implied) towards a place.

  • The expanded form (with -e): used to indicate location, rest, or movement within a location or area.

Motion Towards

English

Location

English

Inn

Inside; in

Inne

In; inside; indoors

Ut

Out; outside

Ute

Out; outside; outdoors

Opp

Up; upstairs

Oppe

Upstairs

Ned

Down; downstairs

Nede

Downstairs

Bort

Away

Borte

Away

Hjem

Home(ward)

Hjemme

(at) home

Frem

Forward

Fremme

At the destination

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

Example Adverb English

Motion towards

Han vil gå hjem i morgen.

hjem

He will go home tomorrow.

Han klatret opp i et tre.

opp

He climbed up into a tree.

Location

Han er ikke hjemme i dag.

hjemme

He is not home today.

Fuglene sitter oppe i treet.

oppe

The birds are sitting up in the tree.

Adding Adverbs

When adding adverbs to a sentence, such as “ikke,” word order becomes a little more tricky.

If the adverb is in the main clause:

  1. SVO - The adverb is placed after the finite (i.e. conjugated) verb.

  2. V2 - The adverb is placed after the subject.

Eksempel

English

SVO

Jeg kjøpte ikke en frakk i dag.

I did not buy a coat today.

V2

I dag kjøpte jeg ikke en frakk.

Today, I did not buy a coat.

If the adverb is in the subordinate clause, the adverb comes before the finite verb, regardless of whether there is inversion.

Eksempel English

SVO

Jeg kjøpte en frakk, siden den ikke var dyr.

I bought a coat since it was not expensive.

V2

Siden den ikke var dyr, kjøpte jeg frakken.

Since it was not expensive, I bought the coat.

If the sentence contains a compound verb (i.e. har brukt; har besøkt, etc),

  1. SVO - The adverb comes after the finite verb in the compound.

  2. V2 - The subject comes after the finite verb of the compound, followed by the adverb, then the second verb in the compound.

Eksempel English

SVO

Jeg har ikke brukt den nye frakken min ennå.

I have not used my new coat yet.

V2

Siden det var deilig ute, hadde jeg ikke tatt med meg frakken min.

Since it was nice outside, I had not brought my coat (with me).

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Resources:

Exercise: Write 3 sentences with simple adverbs and 2 sentences with adverbs derived from adjectives (found on pg 7).