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.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: the normal pattern is en stor bil – et stort hus – store biler. The words below don't follow it – learn them as little tables.
What is this about?
Most Norwegian adjectives follow one simple pattern: «stor, stort, store» (big). But a few words break the rules, and unfortunately they're exactly the ones we use all the time, like «liten» (small), «gammel» (old), «annen» (other) and «egen» (own). These are the irregular adjectives.
Take «liten»: «en liten gutt» (a small boy), «ei lita jente» (a small girl), «et lite barn» (a small child), but «små barn» (small children) and «den lille gutten» (the little boy). Here the whole word changes, not just the ending. Other words are almost regular but have little quirks: «blå» (blue) takes no -e in the plural («blå biler», blue cars), and words in -ig take no -t: «et viktig møte» (an important meeting). It pays to learn these words as little tables.
English adjectives have no endings at all, so all of this is new. But English has odd words too, like little, less, least, or the difference between a few and a little. Think of the Norwegian irregulars the same way: exceptions you learn once and then use every day. You'll need them when you talk about your kids («de små», the little ones), your flat («et lite kjøkken», a small kitchen) or another day: «Kan vi ta det en annen gang?» (can we do it another time?).
Rules
- liten (small): en liten gutt – ei lita jente – et lite barn – små barn – den lille gutten – de små barna.
- annen (other): en annen dag – et annet sted – andre ganger – den andre bussen.
- egen (own): en egen inngang – et eget rom – egne barn. With possessives: min egen bil, mitt eget hus, sine egne barn.
- blå, grå (blue, grey): no -e in the plural and definite: en blå bil – et blått hus – blå biler – den blå bilen. (Blåe is also allowed, but less common.)
- But ny gets -tt and -e: et nytt hus, nye sko. The same with fri: et fritt land, frie valg.
- -ig and -lig: no -t in the neuter: en viktig dag – et viktig møte – viktige ting. Et hyggelig sted, et vanlig navn.
- -sk: no -t when the word has several syllables or is a nationality: et norsk flagg, et praktisk tips. Short words do get -t: friskt, ferskt brød.
- If the word already ends in consonant + t, nothing is added: et kort møte, et svart skap.
- god and rød keep the d and add -t: godt, rødt (said «got», «røtt»).
- -el, -en, -er lose the e in the plural, and a double consonant becomes single: gammel – gammelt – gamle, sulten – sultent – sultne, vakker – vakkert – vakre, enkel – enkelt – enkle.
- Some never change: bra, gratis, moderne, stille, ekte: et bra tilbud, gratis parkering, moderne leiligheter.
Typical mistake: English adjectives never change, so English speakers forget the forms: «et liten hus» instead of et lite hus, «de liten barna» instead of de små barna.
Examples
- Vi bor i en liten leilighet på Grünerløkka.We live in a small flat in Grünerløkka.
- De små barna sover etter lunsj i barnehagen.The little ones sleep after lunch at kindergarten.
- Kan vi ta det en annen dag? Jeg er syk i dag.Can we do it another day? I'm sick today.
- Endelig har sønnen vår fått sitt eget rom.Our son has finally got his own room.
- Hun kjøpte et blått skjerf og to grå luer.She bought a blue scarf and two grey hats.
- Det var et viktig møte, så jeg kunne ikke gå tidlig.It was an important meeting, so I couldn't leave early.
- Hytta er gammel, men den har et moderne kjøkken.The cabin is old, but it has a modern kitchen.
- Jeg er så sulten! Er det noe godt i kjøleskapet?I'm so hungry! Is there anything good in the fridge?