Demonstratives

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	Moren tok barna sine til parken sist helg.	The mother took her children to the park last weekend.
Mads var gymnast da han var ung.	Mads was a gymnast when he was young.
V2	Sist helg tok moren barna sine til parken.	Last weekend, the mother took her children to the park.
Da Mads var ung, var han gymnast.	When Mads was young, he was a gymnast.

Eksempel

English

SVO

Moren tok barna sine til parken sist helg.

The mother took her children to the park last weekend.

Mads var gymnast da han var ung.

Mads was a gymnast when he was young.

Sist helg tok moren barna sine til parken.

Last weekend, the mother took her children to the park.

Da Mads var ung, var han gymnast.

When Mads was young, he was a gymnast.

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	Gutten lerte å bake i fjor.	The boy learned to bake last year.
Martin liker å campe når været er varmt.	Martin likes to go camping when the weather is warm.
V2	I fjor lerte gutten å bake.	Last year, the boy learned to bake.
Når været er varmt, liker Martin å campe.	When the weather is warm, Martin likes to go camping.

Eksempel

English

SVO

Gutten lerte å bake i fjor.

The boy learned to bake last year.

Martin liker å campe når været er varmt.

Martin likes to go camping when the weather is warm.

I fjor lerte gutten å bake.

Last year, the boy learned to bake.

Når været er varmt, liker Martin å campe.

When the weather is warm, Martin likes to go camping.

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 sykle	sykler	Bikes / Biking	Å bake	baker	Bakes / Baking
Å reise	reiser	Travels / Travelling	Å kjøre	kjører	Drives / Driving

Infinitive

Present

English

Infinitive

Present

English

Å sykle

sykler

Bikes / Biking

Å bake

baker

Bakes / Baking

Å reise

reiser

Travels / Travelling

Å kjøre

kjører

Drives / Driving

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

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).

If the verb ends with a double consonant, consonant cluster, or voiced plosive (b / d), past tense will end in -et.
If the verb ends in a single consonant (except v / b / d), past tense ends in -te.
If the verb ends with v or diphthong, the past tense ends in -de.
If the verb has only one syllable with a long vowel, past tense ends in -dde.

Rule Number

Infinitive

Past Tense

English

Å gjette

Gjettet

Guessed

Å tegne

tegnet

Drew

Å kjøpe

Kjøpte

Bought

Å betale

betalte

Paid

Å leve

Levde

Lived

Å overveie

overveide

Considered

Å blø

Blødde

Bled

Å sy

Sydde

Sewed

For future tense, often 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
Han reiser til Oslo neste måned.	He is travelling to Oslo next month.
Laget spiller i konkurransen neste helg.	The team is playing in the competition next week.

Eksempel

English

Han reiser til Oslo neste måned.

He is travelling to Oslo next month.

Laget spiller i konkurransen neste helg.

The team is playing in the competition next week.

Adjective Basics

Adjectives typically have to agree with the gender and the number of the noun. If the noun is neuter gender, then in the singular indefinite form, the adjective takes a -t ending. In the plural indefinite, the adjective takes an -e ending. Note there are exceptions.

	Singular Indefinite	Plural Indefinite
	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Masculine	En sterk hest	A strong horse	Sterke hester	Strong horses
En brun stein	A brown stone	Brune steiner	Brown stones
Feminine	Ei sterk kasse	A strong crate	Sterke kasser	Strong crates
Ei brun ku	A brown cow	Brune kuer / kyr	Brown cows
Neuter	Et sterkt tre	A strong tree	Sterke trær	Strong trees
Et brunt bord	A brown table	Brune bord	Brown tables

Singular Indefinite

Plural Indefinite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

En sterk hest

A strong horse

Sterke hester

Strong horses

En brun stein

A brown stone

Brune steiner

Brown stones

Feminine

Ei sterk kasse

A strong crate

Sterke kasser

Strong crates

Ei brun ku

A brown cow

Brune kuer / kyr

Brown cows

Neuter

Et sterkt tre

A strong tree

Sterke trær

Strong trees

Et brunt bord

A brown table

Brune bord

Brown tables

When the noun is in the definite form, the adjective takes an -e ending.

	Singular Definite	Plural Definite
	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Masculine	Den sterke hesten	The strong horse	De sterke hestene	The strong horses
Denne brune steinen	This brown stone	Disse brune steinene	These brown stones
Feminine	Den sterke kassa	The strong crate	De sterke kassene	The strong crates
Denne brune kua	This brown cow	Disse brune kuene / kyrne	These brown cows
Neuter	Det sterke treet	The strong tree	De sterke trærne	The strong trees
Dette brune bordet	This brown table	Disse brune borda	These brown tables

Singular Definite

Plural Definite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

Den sterke hesten

The strong horse

De sterke hestene

The strong horses

Denne brune steinen

This brown stone

Disse brune steinene

These brown stones

Feminine

Den sterke kassa

The strong crate

De sterke kassene

The strong crates

Denne brune kua

This brown cow

Disse brune kuene / kyrne

These brown cows

Neuter

Det sterke treet

The strong tree

De sterke trærne

The strong trees

Dette brune bordet

This brown table

Disse brune borda

These brown tables

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are words that we use to direct the attention to an object or objects, i.e. this, that, these, etc. In Norwegian, some of the demonstratives have to agree with the gender and number of the noun, while others do not.

Den, Det, Denne, etc.

Den, det, de - “That, those;” used to indicate that the person, object, or idea is distant in time or space.

Denne, dette, disse - “This, these;” used to indicate that the person, object, or idea is close in time or space.

	Gender	Close	Far	Eksempel	English
Singular	Masculine	Denne	Den	Denne bilen er Jakobs.	This car is Jakob’s.
Den bygningen er et bibliotek.	That building is a library.
Feminine	Denne	Den	Denne hytta tilhører familien min.	This cabin belongs to my family.
Den stjerna er lys.	That star is bright.
Neuter	Dette	Det	Dette brevet er til deg.	This letter is for you.
Det huset er til salgs.	That house is for sale.
Plural	Masc; Fem; Neut	Disse	De	Disse bildene er gamle.	These pictures are old.
De skoene er dyre.	Those shoes are expensive.

Gender

Close

Far

Eksempel

English

Singular

Masculine

Denne

Den

Denne bilen er Jakobs.

This car is Jakob’s.

Den bygningen er et bibliotek.

That building is a library.

Feminine

Denne

Den

Denne hytta tilhører familien min.

This cabin belongs to my family.

Den stjerna er lys.

That star is bright.

Neuter

Dette

Det

Dette brevet er til deg.

This letter is for you.

Det huset er til salgs.

That house is for sale.

Plural

Masc; Fem; Neut

Disse

Disse bildene er gamle.

These pictures are old.

De skoene er dyre.

Those shoes are expensive.

NOTE: In a sentence where “that / this / those / these” are the subject of the verb “to be,” the neuter form (det / dette) will always be used, regardless of the gender or number of the noun it refers to.

Eksempel	English	Eksempel	English
Det er et stort hus.	That is a big house.	Dette er en stor bok.	This is a big book.
Det er store fugler.	Those are big birds.	Dette er store hytter.	These are big cabins.

Eksempel

English

Eksempel

English

Det er et stort hus.

That is a big house.

Dette er en stor bok.

This is a big book.

Det er store fugler.

Those are big birds.

Dette er store hytter.

These are big cabins.

Keep in mind this is different than when using a demonstrative to mean “it.”

Eksempel	Eksempel	English
Det er en stor bil.	Den er blå.	That is a big car. It is blue.
Det er en gammel hund.	Den er grå.	That is an old dog. It is grey.
Dette er boka mi.	Den er ny.	This is my book. It is new.
Det er en søt katt.	Den er leken.	That is a cute cat. It is playful.

Eksempel

English

Det er en stor bil.

Den er blå.

That is a big car. It is blue.

Det er en gammel hund.

Den er grå.

That is an old dog. It is grey.

Dette er boka mi.

Den er ny.

This is my book. It is new.

Det er en søt katt.

Den er leken.

That is a cute cat. It is playful.

NOTE: “Det” and “dette” can refer to an entire phrase.

Eksempel	English
Ingrid studerte men det hjalp ikke.	Ingrid studied but that didn’t help.
Han prøvde å reparere sykkelen selv men det gikk ikke.	He tried to repair the bike himself, but that didn’t work.
Jeg prøvde å bruke datoen som kode, men det gikk ikke.	I tried to use the date as a code but that didn’t work.

Eksempel

English

Ingrid studerte men det hjalp ikke.

Ingrid studied but that didn’t help.

Han prøvde å reparere sykkelen selv men det gikk ikke.

He tried to repair the bike himself, but that didn’t work.

Jeg prøvde å bruke datoen som kode, men det gikk ikke.

I tried to use the date as a code but that didn’t work.

Slik / Sånn

Slik - “Such, that / this kind;” refers to something that is mentioned or experienced earlier.

Sånn - “Such, that / this kind;” synonym for slik.

Both “slik” and “sånn” have to decline based on the gender and number of the noun. In singular neuter, they take a -t ending; in plural, they take an -e ending.

	Eksempel	English
Slik	Jeg vil gjerne ha en slik gave til bursdagen min.	I would like to have such a gift for my birthday.
Han eier ei slik hytte.	He owns such a cabin.
Har du sett et slikt maleri?	Have you seen such a painting?
Et slikt hus er dyrt.	Such a house is expensive.
Slike bøker liker jeg.	I like such books.
Slike gamle hus trenger ofte reparasjoner.	Such old houses often need repairs.
Sånn	Jeg vil gjerne ha en sånn gave til bursdagen min.	I would like to have such a gift for my birthday.
Han eier ei sånn hytte.	He owns such a cabin.
Har du sett et sånt maleri?	Have you seen such a painting?
Et sånt hus er dyrt.	Such a house is expensive.
Sånne bøker liker jeg.	I like such books.
Sånne gamle hus trenger ofte reparasjoner.	Such old houses often need repairs.

Eksempel

English

Slik

Jeg vil gjerne ha en slik gave til bursdagen min.

I would like to have such a gift for my birthday.

Han eier ei slik hytte.

He owns such a cabin.

Har du sett et slikt maleri?

Have you seen such a painting?

Et slikt hus er dyrt.

Such a house is expensive.

Slike bøker liker jeg.

I like such books.

Slike gamle hus trenger ofte reparasjoner.

Such old houses often need repairs.

Sånn

Jeg vil gjerne ha en sånn gave til bursdagen min.

I would like to have such a gift for my birthday.

Han eier ei sånn hytte.

He owns such a cabin.

Har du sett et sånt maleri?

Have you seen such a painting?

Et sånt hus er dyrt.

Such a house is expensive.

Sånne bøker liker jeg.

I like such books.

Sånne gamle hus trenger ofte reparasjoner.

Such old houses often need repairs.

Samme

Samme - “Same;” used to indicate something is identical to another thing; it’s not declined.

	Gender	Eksempel	English
Singular	Masculine	De bruker den samme bilen.	They use the same car.
Feminine	Jeg liker den samme boka som Emil.	I like the same book as Emil.
Neuter	Vennene går på det samme universitet.	The friends go to the same university.
Plural	Masc; Fem; Neut	Lars Helge og jeg har de samme hunderasene.	Lars Helge and I have the same breeds of dogs.
Kong Harald og Karin har de samme klærne.	Kong Harald and Karin have the same clothes.

Gender

Eksempel

English

Singular

Masculine

De bruker den samme bilen.

They use the same car.

Feminine

Jeg liker den samme boka som Emil.

I like the same book as Emil.

Neuter

Vennene går på det samme universitet.

The friends go to the same university.

Plural

Masc; Fem; Neut

Lars Helge og jeg har de samme hunderasene.

Lars Helge and I have the same breeds of dogs.

Kong Harald og Karin har de samme klærne.

Kong Harald and Karin have the same clothes.

NOTE: Do not confuse “samme” with “sammen;” the latter means “together.”

Eksempel

English

De bor sammen.

They live together.

De bor i samme leilighet.

They live in the same apartment.

Selv

Selv - “Self;” is a demonstrative that does not decline; it emphasizes nouns or pronouns.

Emphasizes

Eksempel

English

Meg

Jeg skrev det selv.

I wrote it myself.

Jeg tegnet dragen selv.

I drew the dragon myself.

Jeg leste boka selv.

I read the book myself.

Deg

Kan du lese det selv?

Can you read it yourself

Skrev du diktet selv?

Did you write the poem yourself?

Spilte du spillet selv?

Did you play the game yourself?

Seg

Markus reparerte bilen selv.

Markus fixed the car himself.

Hun lagde måltidet selv.

She made the meal herself.

Kan han kjøre bilen selv?

Can he drive the car himself?

“Both”

Begge - “Both;” can be used as an adjective before a noun

Både…og - “Both…and;” connects two or more units of any kind.

Begge to - “Both of them;” refers to two persons or two countable, concrete objects.

Begge deler - “Both kinds;” refers to uncountable objects, general concepts or actions.

	Meaning	Eksempel	English
Begge	Both	Begge kattene er vennlige.	Both cats are friendly.
Både…og	Both…and	Jeg liker både kaffe og te.	I like both coffee and tea.
Begge to	Both of them	Person 1: Har du sett Per og Kari? Person 2: Ja, jeg har sett begge to i dag.	Person 1: Have you seen Per and Kari? Person 2: Yes; I have seen both of them today.
Begge deler	Both kinds	Person 1: Hva er best? Kaffe eller te? Person 2: Jeg liker begge deler.	Person 1: What is best? Coffee or tea? Person 2: I like both.

Meaning

Eksempel

English

Begge

Both

Begge kattene er vennlige.

Both cats are friendly.

Både…og

Both…and

Jeg liker både kaffe og te.

I like both coffee and tea.

Begge to

Both of them

Person 1: Har du sett Per og Kari?
Person 2: Ja, jeg har sett begge to i dag.

Person 1: Have you seen Per and Kari?
Person 2: Yes; I have seen both of them today.

Begge deler

Both kinds

Person 1: Hva er best? Kaffe eller te?
Person 2: Jeg liker begge deler.

Person 1: What is best? Coffee or tea?
Person 2: I like both.

Let’s practice:

Eksempel	English
Folk diskuterer hva som er bedre, katter eller hunder, men begge deler er bra.	People debate about which is better, cats or dogs, but both are good.
Jeg liker både kaffe, te, og brus.	I like (both) coffee, tea, and NaCl.
Hun vil ha begge hundene.	She wants both dogs.
Person 1: Vil du ha den røde pillen eller den blå pillen? Person 2: Kan jeg få begge to?	Person 1: Do you want the red pill or the blue pill? Person 2: Can I have both?
Lukas har begge bøker.	Lukas has both books.
Kan jeg få både vanilje og sjokolade?	Can I have both the vanilla and chocolate?

Eksempel

English

Folk diskuterer hva som er bedre, katter eller hunder, men begge deler er bra.

People debate about which is better, cats or dogs, but both are good.

Jeg liker både kaffe, te, og brus.

I like (both) coffee, tea, and NaCl.

Hun vil ha begge hundene.

She wants both dogs.

Person 1: Vil du ha den røde pillen eller den blå pillen?

Person 2: Kan jeg få begge to?

Person 1: Do you want the red pill or the blue pill?

Person 2: Can I have both?

Lukas har begge bøker.

Lukas has both books.

Kan jeg få både vanilje og sjokolade?

Can I have both the vanilla and chocolate?

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Resources:

Exercise: Write 7 sentences using demonstratives.