Hjem or hjemme? Direction and place
Many Norwegian place words have two forms: one for movement and one for location. You go hjem (home), but you are hjemme (at home). You go ut (out), but you are ute (outside). Here are all the pairs and a simple trick for picking the right one.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: movement = short form (hjem, ut, inn), location = form with -e (hjemme, ute, inne). Jeg går ut. Nå er jeg ute (I go out, now I'm outside).
What is this about?
Some place words change depending on whether you're moving or staying put. Going home is movement; being at home is a place. Many languages show this difference, some with a separate word, some with a preposition, and some don't bother at all.
Norwegian has pairs of words for it: a short form for movement and a form with -e for location. «Jeg går hjem» (I'm going home), but «Jeg er hjemme» (I'm at home). «Hunden vil ut» (the dog wants to go out), but «Vi sitter ute» (we're sitting outside). The same goes for inn/inne, opp/oppe, ned/nede, bort/borte and fram/framme. A quick trick: ask «Hvor skal du?» (where are you going?) or «Hvor er du?» (where are you?).
English uses home for both, so «Jeg er hjem» is a classic mistake. Ute is close to outside and inne to inside, which helps a little, but out and up never change in English. Learn the pairs together and let the verb guide you: gå, kjøre and komme take the short form, while være, bo and sitte take the -e form. You'll use these all the time: on the phone («Jeg er hjemme nå», I'm home now), with the kids («Kom inn, det er kaldt ute!», come in, it's cold outside!) and in the car on the way to the cabin («Er vi snart framme?», are we nearly there?).
Rules
- The trick: ask Hvor skal du? (where are you going?) → hjem, ut, opp. Ask Hvor er du? (where are you?) → hjemme, ute, oppe.
- The pairs: hjem/hjemme (home), inn/inne (in), ut/ute (out), opp/oppe (up), ned/nede (down), bort/borte (away), fram/framme (ahead/there).
- Hjem/hjemme: Jeg kommer hjem klokka fem (I get home at five). Er Ola hjemme? (Is Ola at home?)
- Inn/inne: Kom inn! (Come in!) Det regner, så barna leker inne (so the kids are playing indoors).
- Ut/ute: Hunden vil ut (the dog wants to go out). Det er varmt, så vi sitter ute (so we're sitting outside).
- Opp/oppe: Hun gikk opp på loftet (she went up to the attic). Er du fortsatt oppe? (Are you still up?)
- Ned/nede: Vi går ned til sjøen (we're going down to the sea). Vaskerommet er nede i kjelleren (the laundry room is down in the basement).
- Bort/borte: Gå bort til kassa (go over to the till). Nøklene mine er borte! (My keys are gone!) Der borte = over there.
- Fram/framme: Gå rett fram (go straight ahead). Er vi snart framme? (Are we nearly there?) You can also write frem/fremme.
- The verb helps: gå, kjøre, komme, reise, flytte + short form. Være, bo, sitte, ligge, bli + long form: Han ble hjemme i dag (he stayed at home today).
- Hjem til / hjemme hos: Kom hjem til meg i kveld! (Come over to my place tonight!) Vi var hjemme hos Kari i går (we were at Kari's yesterday).
Typical mistake: «I'm home!» is not «Jeg er hjem». English uses home for both, Norwegian doesn't: Jeg er hjemme! But: Jeg kommer hjem.
Examples
- Når kommer du hjem i dag?When are you coming home today?
- Jeg er hjemme hele helgen.I'm at home all weekend.
- Det regner, så barna leker inne.It's raining, so the kids are playing indoors.
- Kan du gå ut med hunden?Can you take the dog out?
- Pappa er ute og måker snø.Dad is outside shovelling snow.
- Soverommene er oppe, og kjøkkenet er nede.The bedrooms are upstairs, and the kitchen is downstairs.
- Kan du bære kassene ned i kjelleren?Can you carry the boxes down to the basement?
- Er vi snart framme?Are we nearly there?