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A2

A2 – Elementary

Shopping, work, the doctor, the past tense and comparing things.

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Grammar on this level

Adjectives: agreement

Adjectives change their ending to match the noun.

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Past tense (preteritum)

Use preteritum for things that happened at a specific time in the past.

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Word order: the verb in second place

In a Norwegian main clause the verb is always the second element. This is the most important rule of Norwegian syntax.

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Modal verbs

Modal verbs express ability, wish, obligation and permission. They are followed by an infinitive without å.

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Present perfect: har + participle

Use the perfect for something that has happened when the exact time is not important, or that matters now.

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Prepositions of time and place

I, på, til and om are small words, but tricky. Learn them together with fixed expressions.

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The four weak verb groups

Weak verbs take an ending in the past: -et, -te, -de or -dde. The consonants before the -e of the infinitive usually tell you the group.

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Strong and irregular verbs

Strong verbs take no ending in the past. They change their vowel instead: drikke – drakk. The most common verbs are strong, so you have to learn them by heart.

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Demonstratives

Denne bilen, det huset der: when you point at something, the noun goes in the definite form.

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Adverbs

Where does ikke go? Why hjem but hjemme? Here are the rules for adverbs.

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Conjunctions and subordinators

Og, men, så join main clauses. At, fordi, når start a subordinate clause – and change the word order.

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Compound words

Norwegian makes new words by gluing old ones together: buss + sjåfør = bussjåfør (bus driver). Once you see the parts, long words get easy – but you have to write them as one word.

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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.

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Genitive and ownership: Pers bil, bilen til Per

Norwegian has several ways to say who owns what: Pers bil, bilen til Per and – in speech – Per sin bil. For things and places it often uses a preposition instead: taket på huset (the roof of the house).

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Indefinite pronouns: noen, ingen, alle, hver

Noen, ingen, alle and mye are words you use when you can't or don't want to say exactly who or what. You hear them all day – in the shop, at work and on the bus.

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S-verbs: synes, trives, finnes, møtes

Some verbs always end in -s, even though they aren't passive. You need them every day: Jeg synes det er kaldt (I think it's cold). Hvordan trives du i Norge? (How do you like Norway?)

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Confusing verb pairs: ligge/legge, sitte/sette, vite/kjenne

Some Norwegian verbs look alike, or split up what is one word in your language. Here you'll see the difference between ligge and legge, vite and kjenne, bli and være – with everyday examples.

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Spelling: double consonants and capital letters

Norwegian is spelled almost the way it sounds, but a few rules are worth knowing. The main ones are about double consonants and when to use a capital letter.

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Time expressions: i går, om en uke, for ... siden

Little words like om, i, for … siden, da and når tell you when something happens. They're easy to mix up, but you use them every single day – at work, at the doctor's and when you make plans with friends.

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Words with audio