Habits: pleier å, alltid, ofte, aldri
When you talk about your habits, you need pleier å and words like alltid, ofte and aldri. Here you learn to talk about habits now and in the past, and where the frequency words go in the sentence.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: pleier å + infinitive means you usually do something: Jeg pleier å sykle til jobben (I usually cycle to work). For the past, say pleide å (used to). Words like alltid and aldri go after the verb in main clauses.
What is this about?
A habit is something you do regularly without thinking much about it: coffee every morning, a walk after dinner, shopping on Saturdays. When you talk about habits, you also need words for how often: always, often, sometimes, never.
Norwegian has a special verb for habits: pleie. «Jeg pleier å sykle til jobben» (I usually cycle to work). In the past it's pleide: «Vi pleide å bo i Drammen» (we used to live in Drammen). Frequency words come after the verb in a main clause: «Jeg spiser alltid frokost» (I always have breakfast), «Hun kommer sjelden for sent» (she's rarely late). In a subordinate clause they jump in front of it: «fordi jeg alltid sykler» (because I always cycle).
English shows habits with an adverb (usually) or with used to, while Norwegian uses a verb, pleier å, for both. Don't translate used to as «brukte å»; that only means used, as in «Jeg brukte bilen» (I used the car). And mind the word order: English says I always eat, Norwegian says «Jeg spiser alltid». You'll talk about habits all the time: in small talk («Hva pleier du å gjøre i helgene?», what do you usually do at weekends?), at the doctor's («Hvor ofte trener du?», how often do you exercise?) and in job interviews.
Rules
- Forms: pleie, pleier, pleide, har pleid. After pleier always comes å: pleier å spise, pleide å bo.
- Present: pleier å for habits today: Vi pleier å spise middag klokka fem (we usually have dinner at five). Hva pleier du å gjøre i helgene?
- Past: pleide å for habits that are over: Jeg pleide å røyke, men nå har jeg sluttet (I used to smoke, but I've quit). Da vi bodde i Bodø, pleide vi å gå på ski hver helg.
- Negative: ikke comes after pleier: Jeg pleier ikke å drikke kaffe om kvelden (I don't usually drink coffee in the evening).
- From always to never: alltid (always), nesten alltid (almost always), vanligvis (usually), ofte (often), av og til (sometimes), sjelden (rarely), nesten aldri (hardly ever), aldri (never).
- Main clause: the frequency word goes after the conjugated verb: Jeg spiser alltid frokost (I always have breakfast). Hun kommer sjelden for sent.
- Two verbs: after the first verb: Jeg har aldri vært i Lofoten (I've never been to Lofoten). Vi kan ofte jobbe hjemmefra.
- Inversion: verb, subject, then the frequency word: Om sommeren bader vi ofte i sjøen (in summer we often swim in the sea). Hvorfor kommer du alltid for sent?
- Subordinate clause: before the verb: ... fordi jeg alltid sykler (because I always cycle). ... at hun sjelden ringer. Hvis du ofte jobber sent, ...
- At the start: av og til, vanligvis and ofte can come first, and then the verb follows straight away: Av og til tar jeg bussen. Vanligvis står jeg opp klokka sju.
- Fixed phrases: hver dag (every day), en gang i uka (once a week) and to ganger i måneden usually go at the end: Jeg trener tre ganger i uka. Vi handler på Rema hver lørdag.
Typical mistake: translating «I used to» as «Jeg brukte å». Brukte only means «used» (Jeg brukte bilen). For old habits say pleide å: Jeg pleide å bo i Leeds. And «I usually» is Jeg pleier å.
Examples
- Jeg pleier å sykle til jobben når det ikke regner.I usually cycle to work when it isn't raining.
- Hva pleier dere å gjøre på 17. mai?What do you usually do on 17 May?
- Da jeg bodde i Gdańsk, pleide jeg å bade i sjøen hver morgen.When I lived in Gdańsk, I used to swim in the sea every morning.
- Hun drikker nesten aldri kaffe etter klokka tre.She hardly ever drinks coffee after three o'clock.
- Vi spiser av og til middag hos svigermor på søndager.We sometimes have dinner at my mother-in-law's on Sundays.
- Bussen kommer sjelden presis om vinteren.The bus is rarely on time in winter.
- Han sier at han alltid tar trappa på jobben.He says that he always takes the stairs at work.
- Om fredagen handler vi vanligvis på Kiwi etter jobb.On Fridays we usually do our shopping at Kiwi after work.