Personal pronouns
Pronouns have one form as the subject and another as the object: jeg – meg, han – ham.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
What is this about?
Pronouns are small words that stand in for a name. Instead of saying «Kari» again and again, we say «she». Personal pronouns point to people or things: I, you, he, she, we, they.
Norwegian pronouns have two forms. You use one when the person does something: «Jeg ser Per» (I see Per). You use the other when something happens to the person: «Per ser meg» (Per sees me). For things you say «den» about en/ei words and «det» about et words: «Bilen? Den er ny.» (The car? It's new.) «Huset? Det er stort.» (The house? It's big.)
This is very close to English: I – me, he – him, we – us. What's new is that «it» has two forms, den and det, depending on the noun's gender. Norwegian also has a separate plural «you» – «dere». And everyone says «du» to everyone, including your boss and your doctor.
Rules
- Subject: jeg (I), du (you), han (he), hun (she), den/det (it), vi (we), dere (you, plural), de (they).
- Object: meg, deg, ham (han), henne, den/det, oss, dere, dem.
- Den refers to en/ei nouns, det to et nouns: Bilen? Den er ny. Huset? Det er stort.
- Det is also a dummy subject: Det regner (It is raining).
- De (capital D) is an old polite form – today everyone is addressed as du.
Examples
- Jeg elsker deg.I love you.
- Hun ringer meg i kveld.She is calling me tonight.
- Vi besøker dem på søndag.We are visiting them on Sunday.
- Det regner i dag.It is raining today.
- Kan du hente meg på stasjonen?Can you pick me up at the station?
- Barna er i barnehagen, og jeg henter dem klokka fire.The children are at kindergarten, and I pick them up at four.
- Jakka er ny. Jeg kjøpte den på salg.The jacket is new. I bought it on sale.
- Legen spurte henne om hun sov godt.The doctor asked her if she slept well.