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.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
Rules
- Ville + infinitive = wish or likely result (would): Jeg ville gjerne bodd ved sjøen – I'd love to live by the sea. Det ville vært fint – that would be nice.
- Skulle + infinitive = advice and polite wishes: Du skulle prøvd det – you should have tried it. Jeg skulle gjerne hatt en kaffe – I'd like a coffee, please.
- In speech Norwegians often use the participle after ville/skulle (ville vært, skulle hatt) instead of the infinitive (ville være). Both are correct.
- Three types of hvis-clauses (if):
- 1) Real: Hvis det regner, blir vi hjemme. – If it rains, we'll stay home. (present + present)
- 2) Imagined, now: Hvis jeg hadde tid, ville jeg lært spansk. – If I had time, I would learn Spanish.
- 3) Counterfactual, past: Hvis jeg hadde visst det, ville jeg ha kommet. – If I had known, I would have come.
- Without hvis, start with the verb: Hadde jeg visst det, ville jeg ha kommet. – Had I known, I'd have come. Var jeg deg, ville jeg sagt nei. – If I were you, I'd say no.
- Short form: ville ha often disappears: Hadde jeg visst det, hadde jeg kommet.
- Never ville inside the hvis-clause itself – same as English “if I would” being wrong: Hvis jeg hadde penger …
Examples
- Hvis jeg vant i Lotto, ville jeg kjøpt en hytte.If I won the lottery, I'd buy a cabin.
- Hadde jeg visst at du var syk, ville jeg ha ringt.Had I known you were ill, I would have called.
- Det ville vært fint å se deg igjen.It would be nice to see you again.
- Jeg skulle gjerne hatt to billetter til Bergen.I'd like two tickets to Bergen, please.
- Hvis det blir fint vær, griller vi i hagen.If the weather is nice, we'll have a barbecue in the garden.
- Du skulle ha sett ansiktet hans!You should have seen his face!
- Var jeg deg, ville jeg snakket med sjefen.If I were you, I'd talk to the boss.
- Hvis toget ikke hadde vært forsinket, hadde vi rukket flyet.If the train hadn't been late, we'd have made the flight.