Noun gender: en, ei, et
Every Norwegian noun is masculine (en), feminine (ei) or neuter (et). The gender decides the article, the ending and the adjective form, so learn each noun together with en, ei or et.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: learn every noun with its little word: en bil, ei/en bok, et hus. Not sure? Pick en – but the et-words you have to know.
What is this about?
Grammatical gender is a way of sorting nouns into groups. It has little to do with real-life sex: a table isn't male or female. Gender is just a label that tells you how the word behaves.
Norwegian has three genders: masculine with «en» (en bil – a car), feminine with «ei» (ei bok – a book) and neuter with «et» (et hus – a house). The gender decides the article in the indefinite form, the ending in the definite form («bilen», «boka», «huset» – the car, the book, the house) and the form of the adjective: «en stor bil» (a big car) but «et stort hus» (a big house). In Bokmål you may always use «en» instead of «ei»: «en bok – boken».
English nouns have no gender at all – just «a» and «the». So you need to learn the gender together with each word from day one. A good tip: when unsure, say «en». But the et-words, like «et barn» (a child) and «et år» (a year), you have to know by heart.
Rules
- Three genders, three endings: en bil – bilen (the car), ei bok – boka (the book), et hus – huset (the house).
- The feminine is optional in Bokmål: ei bok – boka or en bok – boken. Both are correct. In speech most people use -a: jenta, hytta, boka. In writing, just be consistent.
- If you're unsure, use en. It's always correct for ei-words too: en jente, en hytte.
- But et-words must have et: et hus, et barn – never «en hus». The et-words are the ones to learn by heart.
- Common et-words: et hus, et barn, et år, et land, et språk, et bord, et vindu, et brev, et eple, et kjøleskap, et tog, et fly, et rom, et kontor, et møte.
- People are usually en: en lærer, en venn, en sykepleier. Girls and women are often ei: ei jente, ei kone. Exceptions: et barn (child), et menneske (human being).
- Endings that give en: -sjon (en stasjon), -er for people (en baker), -dom (en sykdom). -ing gives en or ei: en/ei regning.
- Endings that give et: -um (et museum, et akvarium), -eri (et bakeri), -ment (et dokument). Words in -skap are often et: et kjøleskap, et vennskap.
- In compound words the last word decides: et sykehus (et hus), en barnehage (en hage).
- Gender also controls adjectives and possessives: en ny bil – et nytt hus, bilen min – huset mitt.
- Short et-words often get no ending in the plural: et hus – mange hus, et barn – to barn.
Typical mistake: English has no gender, so English speakers say en for everything: «en hus», «en barn». Learn et-words with a short phrase: Vi bor i et hus.
Examples
- Vi har en hund, ei katt og et akvarium.We have a dog, a cat and an aquarium.
- Boka ligger på bordet i stua.The book is on the table in the living room.
- Jeg bor i et lite hus utenfor Trondheim.I live in a small house outside Trondheim.
- Jenta til Sara begynner i barnehagen i august.Sara's daughter starts kindergarten in August.
- Kan du sette melka i kjøleskapet?Can you put the milk in the fridge?
- Hytta vår ligger ved et vann i Valdres.Our cabin is by a lake in Valdres.
- Jeg trenger et nytt bankkort og en ny PIN-kode.I need a new bank card and a new PIN code.
- Hun jobber på et sykehus, og mannen hennes er bussjåfør.She works at a hospital, and her husband is a bus driver.