Grammar
Each topic starts with a short explanation in your language, followed by Norwegian examples you can listen to.
⚠️ Common mistakes English speakers make in Norwegian 💬 Phrases
A1 A1 – Beginner
Nouns: gender and articles
Every Norwegian noun has a gender. The gender decides which article you use.
Open →Verbs in the present tense
Good news: Norwegian verbs have the same form for every person.
Open →Personal pronouns
Pronouns have one form as the subject and another as the object: jeg – meg, han – ham.
Open →Possessives: min, din, sin
Possessives show who something belongs to. Many of them change with the gender of the noun.
Open →Question words
Most Norwegian question words start with hv-. The verb comes right after the question word.
Open →The infinitive: å + verb
The infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb. It usually comes with å in front – but not always.
Open →The imperative: Kom! Spis!
You use the imperative to tell someone to do something. The form is simple: the infinitive without -e.
Open →Numbers, time and dates
Numbers from 0 to 1000, telling the time and saying dates.
Open →Plural of nouns
Most nouns take -er and -ene, but some have a life of their own.
Open →The alphabet and spelling
Norwegian has 29 letters: the 26 you already know plus æ, ø and å. Here you learn how to say them, how to spell your name on the phone and which letters are written but not pronounced.
Open →Negation: ikke, ingen, aldri
Ikke, ingen and aldri are how you say no in a sentence. One negative word is enough, and where you put it follows a few fixed rules.
Open →Yes/no questions and short answers
You make a yes/no question by putting the verb first. Norwegians rarely answer with a bare «ja» – they say «Ja, det gjør jeg» or «Nei, det er jeg ikke», much like English «Yes, I do».
Open →Object pronouns: meg, deg, ham, henne
When a person isn't doing the action but receiving it, or comes after a preposition, Norwegian uses the object form: jeg becomes meg, vi becomes oss – just like English I → me, we → us.
Open →Noun gender: en, ei, et
Every Norwegian noun is masculine (en), feminine (ei) or neuter (et). The gender decides the article, the ending and the adjective form, so learn each noun together with en, ei or et.
Open →Stress, tones and long vs short vowels
Norwegian has its own melody. Get the stress and the vowel length right, and people will understand you much more easily – even when your grammar isn't perfect.
Open →A2 A2 – Elementary
Adjectives: agreement
Adjectives change their ending to match the noun.
Open →Past tense (preteritum)
Use preteritum for things that happened at a specific time in the past.
Open →Word order: the verb in second place
In a Norwegian main clause the verb is always the second element. This is the most important rule of Norwegian syntax.
Open →Modal verbs
Modal verbs express ability, wish, obligation and permission. They are followed by an infinitive without å.
Open →Present perfect: har + participle
Use the perfect for something that has happened when the exact time is not important, or that matters now.
Open →Prepositions of time and place
I, på, til and om are small words, but tricky. Learn them together with fixed expressions.
Open →The four weak verb groups
Weak verbs take an ending in the past: -et, -te, -de or -dde. The consonants before the -e of the infinitive usually tell you the group.
Open →Strong and irregular verbs
Strong verbs take no ending in the past. They change their vowel instead: drikke – drakk. The most common verbs are strong, so you have to learn them by heart.
Open →Demonstratives
Denne bilen, det huset der: when you point at something, the noun goes in the definite form.
Open →Adverbs
Where does ikke go? Why hjem but hjemme? Here are the rules for adverbs.
Open →Conjunctions and subordinators
Og, men, så join main clauses. At, fordi, når start a subordinate clause – and change the word order.
Open →Compound words
Norwegian makes new words by gluing old ones together: buss + sjåfør = bussjåfør (bus driver). Once you see the parts, long words get easy – but you have to write them as one word.
Open →Irregular adjectives
Most adjectives follow a simple pattern: stor – stort – store. A small group breaks it, and of course they're words you use all the time: liten, annen, egen, blå, gammel.
Open →Genitive and ownership: Pers bil, bilen til Per
Norwegian has several ways to say who owns what: Pers bil, bilen til Per and – in speech – Per sin bil. For things and places it often uses a preposition instead: taket på huset (the roof of the house).
Open →Indefinite pronouns: noen, ingen, alle, hver
Noen, ingen, alle and mye are words you use when you can't or don't want to say exactly who or what. You hear them all day – in the shop, at work and on the bus.
Open →S-verbs: synes, trives, finnes, møtes
Some verbs always end in -s, even though they aren't passive. You need them every day: Jeg synes det er kaldt (I think it's cold). Hvordan trives du i Norge? (How do you like Norway?)
Open →Confusing verb pairs: ligge/legge, sitte/sette, vite/kjenne
Some Norwegian verbs look alike, or split up what is one word in your language. Here you'll see the difference between ligge and legge, vite and kjenne, bli and være – with everyday examples.
Open →Spelling: double consonants and capital letters
Norwegian is spelled almost the way it sounds, but a few rules are worth knowing. The main ones are about double consonants and when to use a capital letter.
Open →Time expressions: i går, om en uke, for ... siden
Little words like om, i, for … siden, da and når tell you when something happens. They're easy to mix up, but you use them every single day – at work, at the doctor's and when you make plans with friends.
Open →B1 B1 – Intermediate
Subordinate clauses: ikke before the verb
Clauses that start with at, fordi, som, hvis, når (and similar words) have their own word order.
Open →Comparison of adjectives
With the comparative and superlative you compare things: stor – større – størst.
Open →Future: skal, kommer til å, present
Norwegian has no special future form. You choose between three ways depending on the meaning.
Open →The past perfect: hadde + participle
The past perfect shows that something happened before another point in the past: Da jeg kom, hadde toget gått – when I arrived, the train had left.
Open →The conditional: ville, skulle and hvis
Norwegian has no separate conditional form. You use ville or skulle + infinitive, and the past tense in the hvis-clause.
Open →Det as a formal subject
Norwegian always needs a subject. When there is none, we put in det.
Open →Indirect speech
Han sa at han var syk. Hun spurte om jeg kom. This is how you report what others said.
Open →Ongoing actions: holder på å, sitter og leser
Norwegian has no -ing form. Plain present usually does the job, but to say that something is going on right now, you use phrases like holder på å or sitter og leser.
Open →Infinitive phrases: for å, uten å, ved å
After a preposition, Norwegian uses å + infinitive: for å lære (to learn), uten å spørre (without asking). It's a short way to say why or how you do something. You'll also see when at can be dropped, and how om and hvis differ.
Open →Paired conjunctions: både – og, verken – eller, enten – eller
Some linking words come in pairs: både … og (both … and), verken … eller (neither … nor), enten … eller (either … or). They join two things and show whether both apply, neither, or only one.
Open →Commas and punctuation
Norwegian comma rules are fairly logical, but they're not the same as in your language. Here you'll learn the few rules that cover almost everything you write day to day.
Open →Word formation: prefixes and suffixes
Many long Norwegian words are built from small, familiar parts. Learn the most common prefixes and suffixes, and you can guess the meaning of words you've never seen before.
Open →Bli and få – two small verbs with many jobs
Bli and få are among the most common Norwegian verbs, and each has several meanings. Here you'll see the main ones – and the difference between 'må ikke' and 'trenger ikke', which really matters at work.
Open →Where does ikke go? Sentence adverbs
Little words like ikke, aldri, alltid, også and bare have a fixed place in the sentence. That place is different in main and subordinate clauses, and getting it wrong is one of the most common mistakes in Norwegian.
Open →B2 B2 – Upper intermediate
Reflexive verbs
Reflexive verbs have a pronoun that refers back to the subject: Jeg setter meg (I sit down).
Open →Passive: bli passive and s passive
In the passive the action matters more than who does it. Norwegian has two passive forms.
Open →Relative clauses with som
Som means “who”, “which” and “that”, and it never changes form.
Open →Particle verbs: gi opp, finne ut
A particle verb is a verb + a small word (opp, ut, av, på …) that together get a new meaning – like English phrasal verbs. The stress falls on the particle.
Open →Participles: smilende, stengt, lukket
Norwegian has two participles: the present participle (-ende) and the past participle (stengt, lukket, skrevet). Both can work as adjectives.
Open →Formal writing
Emails, applications and complaints: how to open, connect and close a formal text in Norwegian.
Open →Emphasis and little words: det … som, jo, vel, nok
To highlight something in Norwegian, you can move it to the front or use det er/var … som. Little words like jo, vel and nok tell the listener what you think about what you're saying – spoken Norwegian is full of them.
Open →Fixed prepositions: glad i, redd for, på Lillehammer
Many verbs and adjectives come with a fixed preposition that you need to learn together with the word: glad i, redd for, venter på. Places are tricky too: you say i Oslo, but på Lillehammer.
Open →Nynorsk basics: how to read it
Norwegian has two written forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk. You don't have to write Nynorsk, but you'll meet it on NRK, on signs and in letters from councils in western Norway – and with a few keys it's easy to read.
Open →C1 C1 – Advanced
Advanced word order
What you put first in a sentence decides what the reader notices. Here you learn to move parts of the sentence to create emphasis, contrast and flow.
Open →The passive: nuances and style
Norwegian has two passive forms, and you can often choose an active sentence with man or vi instead. The choice affects both meaning and tone.
Open →Conditionals with inversion
Hadde jeg visst det, ville jeg ha sagt nei – had I known, I'd have said no. Here you learn to express conditions without hvis and to talk about what could have happened.
Open →Nominal style and plain language
Bureaucratic Norwegian is full of heavy nouns and passives. Here you learn to recognise nominal style and rewrite it into clear, modern Norwegian.
Open →Modal particles: jo, vel, nok, da …
Small words like jo, vel and nok don't change what you say, but how it comes across. They make spoken Norwegian sound natural.
Open →Present participles and participle phrases
The -ende form (gående, sittende) is more limited in Norwegian than in many other languages. Here you learn where it is used – and where it isn't.
Open →Cohesion and reference in texts
A text holds together when words point clearly back to what you've already said. Here you learn sin/hans, dette, førstnevnte and henholdsvis.
Open →The subjunctive and old fixed expressions
Norwegian has almost lost the subjunctive, but it lives on in expressions like Leve kongen! and koste hva det koste vil. Here you learn to recognise and use them correctly.
Open →Common idioms
Idioms make language come alive. Here you learn eight expressions Norwegians use a lot, what they mean and when they fit.
Open →Collocations: words that belong together
Norwegians «take» a decision and «put» a question. The right verb + noun makes you sound natural.
Open →Synonyms and shades of meaning
Si or fortelle? Mene, synes or tro? At C1 level you choose the word that says exactly what you mean.
Open →Register and style
The same message can be informal, neutral or formal. Here you learn to adapt your language to the situation and the reader.
Open →Advanced word formation
If you know endings like -sjon, -isere, -itet and -isme and how compounds work, you can understand thousands of new words.
Open →False friends
Some Norwegian words look like English words but mean something else. Here are the most common traps.
Open →Advanced phrasal verbs
Gå ut fra, stå for, komme an på: a small particle can change the meaning of a verb completely. The particle is often stressed.
Open →Advanced fixed prepositions
Ansvar for, mangel på, tvil om: many words require a specific preposition. Here you learn the key ones at C1 level.
Open →The argumentative essay (drøftende tekst)
An argumentative essay looks at an issue from several sides before you reach a conclusion. Clear structure and nuanced wording are the key.
Open →Complex sentences
At C1 you build long sentences with several subordinate clauses – without losing control of the word order.
Open →Language for meetings and negotiations
Norwegian meetings are often informal and consensus-driven. Here you learn to take the floor, disagree diplomatically and reach a decision.
Open →News language
Headlines from NRK and Aftenposten are short and compressed. Once you know the patterns and key words, you read the news much faster.
Open →Spoken reductions: how Norwegians really talk
In fast speech, words merge and endings disappear. You should write standard Bokmål, but you need to understand how people actually speak.
Open →Irony and understatement
Norwegians rarely exaggerate. Praise is often cautious, criticism often indirect, and irony comes with a straight face. Here you learn to read between the lines.
Open →The Bergen test (Bergenstesten)
Bergenstesten – officially «Test i norsk – høyere nivå» (Test in Norwegian – advanced level) – is the exam for documenting advanced Norwegian. Here's an overview and some solid advice. Always check the latest information from Folkeuniversitetet.
Open →Academic Norwegian
Reports, bachelor's and master's theses require precise, cautious and objective language. Here you learn to cite sources and tie your text together.
Open →