Continuous Action
In English, to express that something is happening currently, we use the present continuous (also called “progressive”) form of the verb (i.e. adding -ing at the end; for example, “I am reading a book.”). Norwegian does not have this form so in order to express such a concept they either use the present tense (i.e. “Jeg leser en bok”), or they add “sitte,” “ligge,” and “stå” to add emphasis. Which verb is used is dependent on the position of the person performing the action. Let’s look at some examples:
| Eksempel | English |
|---|---|
Hun ligger og leser en bok. |
She (is lying down and) is reading a book. |
Han står og venter på en venn. |
He (is standing and) is waiting for a friend. |
De hadde stått og pratet i timevis. |
They had stood chatting for hours. |
NOTE: Norwegian does have an -ende ending which is equivalent to the English “-ing” ending but it is not used for continuous action; it’s used as a present participle.
Ex: Naboen er irriterende.
The neighbor is annoying.
Norwegian has some phrases that can be used to express duration when the emphasis is on a specific action in progress.
| Phrase | Eksempel | English |
|---|---|---|
Holde på med å - |
Han holder på med å male huset akkurat nå. |
He is painting the house right now. |
Sofia holder på med å vaske opp nå. |
Sofia is washing the dishes now. |
|
Drive og - |
Kvinnen drev og reparerte bilen da han kom. |
The woman was in the process of repairing the car when he arrived. |
Lukas drev og monterte den nye sengen da du ringte. |
Lukas was in the process of assembling the new bed when you called. |
Mini-exercise 1: Say a sentence about doing something.
Infinitive
The infinitive verb form is the form where you put the infinitive marker (“å”) in front of the verb…but not always (I’ll explain in a minute).
Infinitive |
English |
Infinitive |
English |
Å lese |
To read |
Å snakke |
To talk |
Å drømme |
To dream |
Å skrive |
To write |
The infinitive form is used when there is another verb preceding it.
| Infinitive | Eksempel | English |
|---|---|---|
Å lese |
Jeg liker å lese. |
I like to read. |
Å skrive |
Isabella begynte å skrive en ny bok. |
Isabella began writing a new book. |
Å besøke |
Markus håper å besøke Norge snart. |
Markus hopes to visit Norway soon. |
It is also used when there is a modal verb. In this case, the “å” is dropped, but the verb retains the form.
| Eksempel | Modal Verb | Infinitive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
Hun skal gjøre det snart. |
skal |
gjøre |
She will do it soon. |
Lars vil se den nye filmen. |
vil |
se |
Lars wants to see the new film. |
Moren min må rydde huset før besøkende kommer. |
må |
rydde |
My mother must clean the house before visitors arrive. |
NOTE: In each of the above sentences, the infinitive verbs drop the infinitive marker “å” because they follow a modal verb.
The “å” is also dropped after the following verbs:
-
Be (to ask)
-
Høre (to hear)
-
Kjenne (to know)
-
La (to let)
-
Se (to see)
| Verb | Eksempel | English |
|---|---|---|
Be (To ask) |
Jeg ba ham komme. |
I begged him to come. |
Høre (To hear) |
Jeg hørte ham snakke med Maria. |
I heard him talking to Maria. |
La (To let) |
Han lot oss bruke bilen. |
He let us use the car |
When there are a string of infinitives, the “å” is usually dropped after og and eller.
| Eksempel | English |
|---|---|
Han lærte å snakke og (å) skrive. |
He learned to read and (to) write. |
Han må lære å snakke, (å) skrive og (å) lese. |
He must learn to speak, (to) write, and (to) read. |
Mini-exercise 2: Say a sentence that uses the infinitive.
Imperative
Imperatives are basically directives that are aimed at one or more people. Verbs that cannot be used as directives, such as modal verbs, do not appear in the imperative form. Here is how the imperative is formed:
Infinitive |
Imperative |
English |
|
Vowel Stem |
Gå |
Gå! |
Go! |
Se |
Se! |
Look! |
|
Consonant Stem |
Hjelpe |
Hjelp! |
Help! |
Løpe |
Løp! |
Run! |
|
Double Consonant |
Snakke |
Snakk! |
Talk! |
Sitte |
Sitt! |
Sit! |
In some cases, whether the last letter is dropped or not is optional. This is the case with verbs that, in the infinitive, end with -dle or -kle, which tend to be hard to pronounce without the ‘’e’’. Therefore Norwegians tend to add an ‘’e’’ to these words, because it’s easier to pronounce.
Infinitive |
Imperative |
Meaning |
Å handle |
Handl+e! |
Shop! |
A forvandle |
Forvandl+e! |
Transform! |
Å takle |
Takl+e! |
Tackle / Manage! |
Å sykle |
Sykl+e! |
Cycle! |
If the verb ends in -ere, some people think that an accent mark is used over the last vowel but this is not the case.
Infinitive |
Imperative |
Meaning |
Å kontrollere |
Kontroller! |
Control! |
Å kalkulere |
Kalkuler! |
Calculate! |
Genitive
The genitive is the little ‘s in English that demonstrates that something belongs to someone or something. In Norwegian, genitive is usually pretty easy; they just put an “s” at the end of the word without the apostrophe.
Eksempel |
English |
Eksempel |
English |
Martins bil |
Martin’s car |
Lærerens bok |
The teacher’s book |
Guttenes klær |
The boys’ clothes |
Barnas leker |
The children’s toys |
However, there are some exceptions to this rule in Norwegian. If the person’s name ends in -s, -z, or -x, then an apostrophe is added at the end of the name without the additional -s.
Eksempel |
English |
Det er Mads’ hus. |
It is Mads’s house. |
Har du sett Max’ bil? |
Have you seen Max’s car? |
If there are two or more in a group, the -s is added to the last one in the group.
| Eksempel | English |
|---|---|
Jentene og guttenes leker er på gulvet. |
The girls’ and boys’ toys are on the floor. |
Oliver og Mathias’ sykler ser helt nye ut. |
Oliver’s and Mathias’s bikes look brand new. |
Genitive is used less and less frequently in spoken Norwegian; instead phrases using prepositions are being used more often.
| Genitive | English | Prepositional Phrase | English |
|---|---|---|---|
Prestens datter |
The priest’s daughter |
Datteren til presten |
The daughter of the priest |
Kjolens pris |
The dress’s price |
Prisen på kjolen |
The price of the dress |
Norges konge |
Norway’s king |
Kongen i Norge |
The king of Norway |
In some idioms, the genitive is compulsory.
Idiom |
English |
Idiom |
English |
Verdens ende |
The end of the world |
En times tid |
An hour’s time |
Livets gang |
The passage of life |
Sorgens time |
The hour of grief |
**If the lesson was beneficial, please consider buying me a virtual coffee. Thanks.**
References:
Exercise: Write six sentences
-
Two using continuous form
-
Two using infinitive
-
One using imperative
-
One using genitive