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.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: Spoken Norwegian is far more reduced than the written language. The forms below are common around Oslo and in Eastern Norway; dialects vary a lot.
Rules
- Har du: «Har du sett ham?» often becomes «ha'ru sett'n?» – r and d merge into one sound.
- Jeg: Pronounced «jæ» or «jei» in the east, «eg» in the west and «æ» in Trøndelag and the north.
- Det and de: det is pronounced «de», and de (they) is pronounced «di»: «De e kaldt i dag.»
- Er: Often just «e» or «æ»: «Hvor e'n?» (Hvor er han? – Where is he?)
- Unstressed pronouns: han → «'n», henne → «'a», den → «'n»: «Jeg så'a i går.»
- Ikke: Often just «'ke» after the verb: «Je veit'ke» (Jeg vet ikke – I don't know).
- Dropping sounds: Unstressed endings and consonants vanish: skal → «ska», vil → «vi», gjøre → «gjør».
- Retroflexes: r + t, d, n, l, s merge: «kort», and «Lars» sounds almost like «Lasj».
- Hæ?: Informal «What?». In formal situations: Unnskyld, hva sa du?
- Intonation and irony: «Ja, det var jo kjempelurt» (oh, that was really smart) in a flat or exaggerated tone often means the opposite.
- Jo: A tiny word with a big signal: «Det vet du jo» = you know that (you should).
- Practise listening: Watch NRK TV with Norwegian subtitles, listen to podcasts and notice the patterns.
Typical mistake: Pronouncing the r and the d (or t) separately, as in English «car door». Natives merge them: «kort» and «har du» each have one blended sound, not two.
Examples
- Har du sett ham? – i tale ofte «ha'ru sett'n?»Have you seen him? – in speech often «ha'ru sett'n?»
- Jeg vet ikke. – i tale ofte «je veit'ke»I don't know. – in speech often «je veit'ke»
- Det er kaldt i dag. – i tale «de e kaldt i dag»It's cold today. – in speech «de e kaldt i dag»
- Hvor er han? – i tale «hvor e'n?»Where is he? – in speech «hvor e'n?»
- Skal vi gå? – i tale «ska vi gå?»Shall we go? – in speech «ska vi gå?»
- Jeg så henne i går. – i tale «je så'a i går»I saw her yesterday. – in speech «je så'a i går»
- Ja, det var jo kjempelurt. (ironisk: det var dumt)Oh yes, that was really smart. (ironic: it was stupid)
- Det vet du jo.You know that (you should).