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Plural of nouns

Most nouns take -er and -ene, but some have a life of their own.

We teach BokmÄl, the written standard most people in Norway use.

What is this about?

Plural means more than one: one car, two cars. You need it all the time when you talk about things you have, buy or see.

Norwegian nouns have two plural forms. The indefinite plural is for things in general or new things: «biler» (cars). The definite plural is for specific things we know about: «bilene» (the cars). The main rule is -er and -ene: «en bil – biler – bilene». But some words behave differently: short et-words take no ending, «et hus – to hus» (two houses), and some change their vowel, «en mann – menn» (a man – men).

English just adds -s: cars, the cars. Norwegian has one step more, because «the» is an ending here too: «bilene». The irregular words often look familiar: man – men is «mann – menn», foot – feet is «fot – fĂžtter», book – books is «bok – bĂžker».

Rules

  1. Main rule: indefinite plural -er, definite plural -ene.
  2. en bil – bilen – biler – bilene (car) | ei jente – jenta – jenter – jentene (girl) | et hus – huset – hus – husene (house)
  3. Nouns ending in -e only add -r: et eple – epler – eplene (apple).
  4. One-syllable et-nouns take NO ending in the indefinite plural: et hus – to hus, et barn – to barn, et Ă„r – mange Ă„r. Don't say 'husser'.
  5. Nouns in -er (people): en lérer – lérere – lérerne (teacher), en baker – bakere – bakerne.
  6. Nouns in -el and -er often drop an -e: en sykkel – sykler – syklene (bike), en vinter – vintrer.
  7. Vowel change, like English man – men: en mann – menn – mennene, ei bok – bþker – bþkene (book), en bror – brþdre (brother), en fot – fþtter (foot), en natt – netter (night).
  8. Fully irregular: et þye – þyne – þynene (eye), et barn – barn – barna (child), en far – fedre, en mor – mþdre.
  9. Et-nouns can take -a in the definite plural: barna, husa. Barnene is also correct, but barna is most common.
  10. After numbers and mange use the plural: tre biler, mange bĂžker. Adjectives add -e: store biler.

Examples

  • Vi har to barn og tre katter.We have two children and three cats.
  • Barna leker ute.The children are playing outside.
  • Mennene stĂ„r ved bussen.The men are standing by the bus.
  • Jeg har lest alle bĂžkene.I have read all the books.
  • Hun har blĂ„ Ăžyne.She has blue eyes.
  • LĂŠrerne pĂ„ skolen er hyggelige.The teachers at the school are nice.
  • Syklene stĂ„r i garasjen.The bikes are in the garage.

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