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Word formation: prefixes and suffixes

Many long Norwegian words are built from small, familiar parts. Learn the most common prefixes and suffixes, and you can guess the meaning of words you've never seen before.

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

In short: break long words into pieces. The prefix changes the meaning, the suffix tells you what kind of word it is, and the last part of a compound decides its gender.

Rules

  1. u- means 'not': lykkelig (happy) – ulykkelig, mulig (possible) – umulig, vennlig (friendly) – uvennlig. On nouns u- often means something bad: uvér (storm), ulykke (accident).
  2. mis- means 'wrong': forstĂ„ – misforstĂ„ (misunderstand), fornĂžyd – misfornĂžyd (dissatisfied), bruke – misbruke (misuse).
  3. for- has several meanings. With seg it often means something goes wrong: forsove seg (oversleep), forspise seg (overeat), forkjĂžle seg (catch a cold).
  4. -het makes nouns from adjectives, like '-ness' or '-ity': fri – frihet (freedom), sikker – sikkerhet (safety), ny – nyhet (news). Always en-words.
  5. -else makes nouns from verbs: fĂžle – fĂžlelse (feeling), oppleve – opplevelse (experience), forstĂ„ – forstĂ„else (understanding).
  6. -ing is the action itself: parkere – parkering, trene – trening (training), utdanne – utdanning (education).
  7. -skap is like '-ship': venn – vennskap (friendship), ekte – ekteskap (marriage). Often et-words: et vennskap.
  8. -lig makes adjectives, like '-ly': dag – daglig (daily), fare – farlig (dangerous), hygge – hyggelig (nice).
  9. -som means someone has a lot of something: morsom (funny, from moro), arbeidsom (hard-working), sparsom (thrifty).
  10. -bar is like '-able': drikke – drikkbar (drinkable), bruke – brukbar (usable), lese – lesbar (readable). But: spiselig (edible), not 'spisbar'.
  11. In compounds the last part decides word class and gender: et barn + en hage = en barnehage (kindergarten). Often an -s- or -e- sits in the middle: arbeidsplass, sykehus.

Typical mistake: taking the gender from the first part – 'et barnehage' because of et barn. The last part counts: en barnehage.

Examples

  • Det var umulig Ă„ finne parkering i sentrum av Bergen.It was impossible to find parking in the centre of Bergen.
  • Jeg forsov meg og kom en halvtime for sent pĂ„ jobb.I overslept and was half an hour late for work.
  • Turen til Lofoten var en opplevelse vi aldri glemmer.The trip to Lofoten was an experience we'll never forget.
  • Mange pĂ„ lageret er misfornĂžyde med den nye turnusen.Many people at the warehouse are unhappy with the new shift schedule.
  • Vennskapet vĂ„rt begynte pĂ„ norskkurset i Drammen.Our friendship began at the Norwegian course in Drammen.
  • Er vannet i bekken drikkbart, eller mĂ„ vi koke det?Is the water in the stream drinkable, or do we have to boil it?
  • PĂ„ byggeplassen kommer sikkerheten alltid fĂžrst.On the building site, safety always comes first.
  • Det var et forferdelig uvĂŠr pĂ„ Hardangervidda i gĂ„r.There was a terrible storm on Hardangervidda yesterday.

Practise with a test (B1) Translate into Norwegian

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