Noe eller noen

This lesson goes over how to use “noe” and “noen.”

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	Tobias spiste kake etter middagen.	Tobias ate cake after dinner.
Nora brukte en paraply siden det regnet.	Nora used an umbrella since it rained.
V2	Etter middagen spiste Tobias kake	After dinner, Tobias ate cake.
Siden det regnet, brukte Nora en paraply.	Since it rained, Nora used an umbrella.

Eksempel

English

SVO

Tobias spiste kake etter middagen.

Tobias ate cake after dinner.

Nora brukte en paraply siden det regnet.

Nora used an umbrella since it rained.

Etter middagen spiste Tobias kake

After dinner, Tobias ate cake.

Siden det regnet, brukte Nora en paraply.

Since it rained, Nora used an umbrella.

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	Markus prøvde å ringe vennen sin i går.	Markus tried to call his friend yesterday.
Karina pleide å jobbe på et sykehus da hun bodde i Oslo.	Karina used to work in a hospital when she lived in Oslo.
V2	I går prøvde Markus å ringe vennen sin.	Yesterday, Markus tried to call his friend.
Da Karina bodde i Oslo, pleide hun å jobbe på et sykehus.	When Karina lived in Oslo, she used to work in a hospital.

Eksempel

English

SVO

Markus prøvde å ringe vennen sin i går.

Markus tried to call his friend yesterday.

Karina pleide å jobbe på et sykehus da hun bodde i Oslo.

Karina used to work in a hospital when she lived in Oslo.

I går prøvde Markus å ringe vennen sin.

Yesterday, Markus tried to call his friend.

Da Karina bodde i Oslo, pleide hun å jobbe på et sykehus.

When Karina lived in Oslo, she used to work in a hospital.

Verb Conjugation

Conjugating the present tense of verbs in Norwegian is fairly simple. Most present tense verbs just add an -r to the end of the infinitive, and drop the infinitive marker (å).

Infinitive	Present	English	Infinitive	Present	English
Å sparke	sparker	Kicks / Kicking	Å hjelpe	hjelper	Helps / Helping
Å mumle	mumler	Mutters / Muttering	Å tape	taper	Loses / Losing

Infinitive

Present

English

Infinitive

Present

English

Å sparke

sparker

Kicks / Kicking

Å hjelpe

hjelper

Helps / Helping

Å mumle

mumler

Mutters / Muttering

Å tape

taper

Loses / Losing

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 sparke

sparket

Kicked

Å mumle

mumlet

Mumbled

Å tape

tapte

Lost (to lose)

Å lære

lærte

Learned

Å eie

eide

Owned

Å leve

levde

Lived

Å spy

spydde

Threw up

Å ha

hadde

Had

There are two ways to talk about future activities. Sometimes a present tense verb + a time adverbial is used. Another way to express future tense is with modal verbs.

	Eksempel	English
Present Tense + Time Adverbial	Mathias spiller spillet senere.	Mathias will play the game later.
Modal Verbs	Tanten min skal bake bursdagskaken.	My aunt will bake the birthday cake.

Eksempel

English

Present Tense + Time Adverbial

Mathias spiller spillet senere.

Mathias will play the game later.

Modal Verbs

Tanten min skal bake bursdagskaken.

My aunt will bake the birthday cake.

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 gul banan	A yellow banana	Gule bananer	Yellow bananas
En ren tallerken	A clean plate	Rene tallerkener	Clean plates
Feminine	Ei gul lampe	A yellow lamp	Gule lamper	Yellow lamps
Ei ren jakke	A clean jacket	Rene jakker	Clean jackets
Neuter	Et gult eple	A yellow apple	gule epler	Yellow apples
Et rent rom	A clean room	rene rom	Clean rooms

Singular Indefinite

Plural Indefinite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

En gul banan

A yellow banana

Gule bananer

Yellow bananas

En ren tallerken

A clean plate

Rene tallerkener

Clean plates

Feminine

Ei gul lampe

A yellow lamp

Gule lamper

Yellow lamps

Ei ren jakke

A clean jacket

Rene jakker

Clean jackets

Neuter

Et gult eple

A yellow apple

gule epler

Yellow apples

Et rent rom

A clean room

rene rom

Clean rooms

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

	Singular Definite	Plural Definite
	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Masculine	Den gule bananen	The yellow banana	De gule bananene	The yellow bananas
Denne rene tallerkenen	This clean plate	Disse rene tallerkenene	These clean plates
Feminine	Den gule lampa	The yellow lamp	De gule lampene	The yellow lamps
Denne rene jakka	This clean jacket	Disse rene jakkene	These clean jackets
Neuter	Det gule eplet	The yellow apple	De gule eplene	The yellow apples
Dette rene rommet	This clean room	Disse rene romma / rommene	These clean rooms

Singular Definite

Plural Definite

Norwegian

English

Norwegian

English

Masculine

Den gule bananen

The yellow banana

De gule bananene

The yellow bananas

Denne rene tallerkenen

This clean plate

Disse rene tallerkenene

These clean plates

Feminine

Den gule lampa

The yellow lamp

De gule lampene

The yellow lamps

Denne rene jakka

This clean jacket

Disse rene jakkene

These clean jackets

Neuter

Det gule eplet

The yellow apple

De gule eplene

The yellow apples

Dette rene rommet

This clean room

Disse rene romma / rommene

These clean rooms

Noe eller Noen

Both “noe” and “noen” can be translated to mean “some” in English, but they can also have other translations. How and when they are used can be a bit confusing for learners.

Noe

Used with uncountable nouns, to mean “some” or “any.”
Used to mean “something” or “anything.”
Used in question sentences to mean “any” or “some” for uncountable nouns and in spoken Norwgian, for countable singular neuter nouns.
Used in negation sentences (with “ikke” or “aldri”) for uncountable nouns and for countable singular neuter nouns..
NOTE: “Ikke noe” can mean “no,” or “not any,” as well as “nothing.”
Used in conditional sentences (“If this…then that”) when meaning “some.”

Let’s look at some examples:

Usage	Eksempel	English
“Some” or “any” For uncountable nouns	Lucas vil gjerne ha noe brød.	Lucas would like some bread.
Barnet ba om noe melk.	The child asked for some milk.
Er det noe sukker?	Is there any sugar?
Question sentences Means “any / some” Uncountable nouns Countable singular neuter nouns	Har du noe mel som jeg kunne brukt?	Do you have some flour that I could use?
Fikk Bergen noe snø sist vinter?	Did Bergen get any snow last winter?
Har du noe sted å bo?	Do you have a place to live?
Anything Something	“Jeg trodde at jeg hørte noe” sa gutten.	“I thought that I heard something,” said the boy.
Noe falt ned på kjøkkenet.	Something fell in the kitchen.
De hadde ikke noe å gjøre i karantene.	They didn’t have anything to do in quarantine.
Negation sentences For uncountable nouns For countable singular neuter nouns	Vi spiser aldri noe brød til frokost.	We never eat any bread with breakfast.
Bestemoren min måtte kjøpe noe melk, siden hun ikke hadde noe.	My grandmother had to buy some milk since she didn’t have any.
Jeg har ikke noe kattestativ til kattene mine.	I don’t have a cat tower for my cats.
Kjæresten min har aldri noe mel hjemme når jeg vil bake.	My boyfriend never has any flour at home when I want to bake.
Conditional sentences, meaning “some” For uncountable nouns	Hvis du har noe mel, kan du lage en kake.	If you have some flour, you can make a cake.
Hvis du lytter til noe musikk, vil du slappe av.	If you listen to some music, you will relax.
Hvis du spiser noe kake nå, vil du ikke være sulten til middag.	If you eat some cake now, you won’t be hungry for dinner.

Usage

Eksempel

English

“Some” or “any”

For uncountable nouns

Lucas vil gjerne ha noe brød.

Lucas would like some bread.

Barnet ba om noe melk.

The child asked for some milk.

Er det noe sukker?

Is there any sugar?

Question sentences

Means “any / some”
Uncountable nouns
Countable singular neuter nouns

Har du noe mel som jeg kunne brukt?

Do you have some flour that I could use?

Fikk Bergen noe snø sist vinter?

Did Bergen get any snow last winter?

Har du noe sted å bo?

Do you have a place to live?

Anything
Something

“Jeg trodde at jeg hørte noe” sa gutten.

“I thought that I heard something,” said the boy.

Noe falt ned på kjøkkenet.

Something fell in the kitchen.

De hadde ikke noe å gjøre i karantene.

They didn’t have anything to do in quarantine.

Negation sentences

For uncountable nouns
For countable singular neuter nouns

Vi spiser aldri noe brød til frokost.

We never eat any bread with breakfast.

Bestemoren min måtte kjøpe noe melk, siden hun ikke hadde noe.

My grandmother had to buy some milk since she didn’t have any.

Jeg har ikke noe kattestativ til kattene mine.

I don’t have a cat tower for my cats.

Kjæresten min har aldri noe mel hjemme når jeg vil bake.

My boyfriend never has any flour at home when I want to bake.

Conditional sentences, meaning “some”

For uncountable nouns

Hvis du har noe mel, kan du lage en kake.

If you have some flour, you can make a cake.

Hvis du lytter til noe musikk, vil du slappe av.

If you listen to some music, you will relax.

Hvis du spiser noe kake nå, vil du ikke være sulten til middag.

If you eat some cake now, you won’t be hungry for dinner.

NOTE: “Ingenting” can also be used, instead of “ikke noe” to mean “nothing.”

Eksempel

English

Det er ikke noe i skålen.

There is nothing in the bowl.

Det er ingenting i skålen.

There is nothing in the bowl.

Noen

Used in question sentences, to mean “any,” for countable nouns and in spoken Norwegian, for countable singular masculine and feminine nouns.
Used to mean “anybody,” “anyone at all,” “somebody,” and “someone.”
Used in negation sentences (i.e. containing “ikke” or “aldri”) for countable plural nouns and for countable singular masculine and feminine nouns.
NOTE: “Ikke noen” can translate to “no,” “no one,” “nobody.”
Used in conditional sentences (i.e. “If this…then that”), when it means “any.”
Used for plural nouns; can translate to “some,” “a few,” or “ a couple of.”

Let’s look at some examples:

Usage	Eksempel	English
Question sentences Means “any” For countable plural nouns For countable singular masc / fem nouns	Har du sett noen gule hus i denne gaten?	Have you seen any yellow houses on this street?
Har faren din funnet noen sykler til salgs?	Has your dad found any bikes for sale?
Har du noen idé om hva som skjedde?	Do you have an / any idea what happened?
Vil du lese noen bøker i dag?	Do you want to read some books today.
Anyone Anybody Someone Somebody	Er der noen her?	Is there anyone / anybody / someone here?
Noen banket på døren.	Someone knocked on the door.
Noen har sovet i sengen min.	Someone has slept in my bed.
Negation sentences For countable nouns in plural For countable singular masc / fem nouns	Moren min har aldri noen fridager.	My mom never has any days off.
Det er ikke noen skitne rom i huset.	There aren’t any dirty rooms in the house.
Jeg har ikke noe idé om hva som skjedde.	I have no idea what happened.
Jeg hadde aldri noe fritid.	I never had any free time.
Conditional sentences, meaning “any” For countable nouns	Hvis bestemoren min har noen epler, skal hun lage en eplepai til oss.	If my grandmother has any apples, she will make an apple pie for us.
Hvis du har noen spørsmål, så spør oss.	If you have any questions, then ask us.
Hvis jeg kommer på noen ideer, vil jeg fortelle deg dem.	If I come up with any ideas, I’ll tell you (them).
Plural	Moren min har noen epletrær i hagen.	My mom has some apple trees in the backyard.
Det er noen bøker på gulvet.	There are some books on the floor.
Hun ga ham noen epler.	She gave him some / a few / a couple of apples.
Pingvinen laget litt mat og jaktet noen isbjørn.	The penguin made food and hunted some polar bears.

Usage

Eksempel

English

Question sentences

Means “any”
For countable plural nouns
For countable singular masc / fem nouns

Har du sett noen gule hus i denne gaten?

Have you seen any yellow houses on this street?

Har faren din funnet noen sykler til salgs?

Has your dad found any bikes for sale?

Har du noen idé om hva som skjedde?

Do you have an / any idea what happened?

Vil du lese noen bøker i dag?

Do you want to read some books today.

Anyone
Anybody
Someone
Somebody

Er der noen her?

Is there anyone / anybody / someone here?

Noen banket på døren.

Someone knocked on the door.

Noen har sovet i sengen min.

Someone has slept in my bed.

Negation sentences

For countable nouns in plural
For countable singular masc / fem nouns

Moren min har aldri noen fridager.

My mom never has any days off.

Det er ikke noen skitne rom i huset.

There aren’t any dirty rooms in the house.

Jeg har ikke noe idé om hva som skjedde.

I have no idea what happened.

Jeg hadde aldri noe fritid.

I never had any free time.

Conditional sentences, meaning “any”

For countable nouns

Hvis bestemoren min har noen epler, skal hun lage en eplepai til oss.

If my grandmother has any apples, she will make an apple pie for us.

Hvis du har noen spørsmål, så spør oss.

If you have any questions, then ask us.

Hvis jeg kommer på noen ideer, vil jeg fortelle deg dem.

If I come up with any ideas, I’ll tell you (them).

Plural

Moren min har noen epletrær i hagen.

My mom has some apple trees in the backyard.

Det er noen bøker på gulvet.

There are some books on the floor.

Hun ga ham noen epler.

She gave him some / a few / a couple of apples.

Pingvinen laget litt mat og jaktet noen isbjørn.

The penguin made food and hunted some polar bears.

NOTE: “Ingen” can be used instead of “ikke noen.”

Eksempel

English

Det er ikke noen i kontoret.

There’s nobody in the office.

Det er ingen i kontoret.

There’s nobody in the office.

NOTE: Some nouns in Norwegian are countable but uncountable in English and vice versa. For example, in English, “advice” (råd) is uncountable but is countable in Norwegian.

Let’s practice: Fill in the blank with either noe eller noen.

	Eksempel	English
1	Har du noen penger?	Do you have any money?
2	Det er noen i telefonen til deg.	There is someone on the phone for you.
3	Kvinnen har noe kaffe på kjøkkenet.	The woman has some coffee in the kitchen.
4	Kan jeg få noe melk?	Can I have some milk?
5	Det er ikke noen ildfluer i Norge.	There aren’t any fireflies in Norway.
6	Hvis du trenger noe hjelp, så spør bare.	If you need some help, then just ask.
7	Faren min gav meg noen råd.	My father gave me some advice.
8	Vil noen ha noe kaffe?	Would anyone like some coffee?

Eksempel

English

Har du noen penger?

Do you have any money?

Det er noen i telefonen til deg.

There is someone on the phone for you.

Kvinnen har noe kaffe på kjøkkenet.

The woman has some coffee in the kitchen.

Kan jeg få noe melk?

Can I have some milk?

Det er ikke noen ildfluer i Norge.

There aren’t any fireflies in Norway.

Hvis du trenger noe hjelp, så spør bare.

If you need some help, then just ask.

Faren min gav meg noen råd.

My father gave me some advice.

Vil noen ha noe kaffe?

Would anyone like some coffee?

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Resources:

Exercise: Write three sentences for each word (noe and noen) for a total of 6 sentences.