Norwegian Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and
Grammar
Note: Before heading to the tutorial I would Strictly recommend to download any
online dictionary which could easily translate the difficult Norwegian words provided below so that you can understand them easily and learn quickly, if you have one so that’s good if not then I’ll personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you don’t need to buy it. The download link is provided below:Download BabelFish Translator
There are two types of written Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk. This tutorial includes Bokmål only. Thanks to Dan for helping with this tutorial!
1. Basic Phrases God morgen Good Morning
Hallo / God dag Hello / Good Day
God kveld Good Evening God natt Good Night Ha det bra Goodbye Hei / Ha det Hi / Bye Vær så snill Please (Tusen) Takk
Thank you (very much)
Ingen årsak / Vær så god Don't mention it / You're welcome
Ja / Nei Yes / No
Herr / Fru / Frøken Mister / Misses
Velkommen! Welcome! Hvordan har du det?
How are you?
Hvordan går det? How it's going?
Bra / Dårlig Good / Bad Hva heter du?
What's your name? Jeg heter...My name is... (I am called...) Hyggelig å treffe deg!Pleased to meet you! Hvor kommer du fra?
Where are you from?
Jeg er fra... I'm from...
Unnskyld
Excuse me / Sorry Hvor bor du?
I would like... Hvor gammel er du?
How old are you?
Jeg er ____ år (gammel). I am ____ years (old).
Jeg vet [ikke.] I [don't] know. Snakker du norsk?
Do you speak Norwegian?
Jeg snakker engelsk. I speak English.
Snakk langsomt Speak slowly svensk, dansk, fransk, italiensk, spansk, tysk,
holländsk, rysk, japansk
Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Russian, Japanese
Hva heter ... på norsk? How do you say ... in Norwegian?
Forstår du?
Do you understand?
Jeg forstår [ikke.] I [don't] understand.
Vær så snill å gjenta / Vennligst gjenta Please repeat Hva er dette?
What is this? Hvor er ... ?Where is ... ? Hvor mye koster dette?How much does this cost? Jeg er sulten I'm hungry Jeg er tørst I'm thirsty Jeg er trett I'm tired Jeg er syk
I'm sick Jeg tror [ikke] detI [don't] think so Kom inn / hitCome in / here Ta plass Have a seat. Stans! / Stopp! Stop! Straks! Immediately! / Soon! Jeg har gått meg bort
I'm lost Hjelp!Help! Fare!Danger!
Pass på! Watch out!
Vent litt! Wait a minute!
Hvor langt er det? How far is it? Det var synd.
That's too bad! Velbekomme!Have a good meal! Skål!Cheers! (toast) Lykke til!
Good luck!
Jeg elsker deg. I love you.
Jeg savner deg. I miss you. 2. Pronunciation
Norwegian letter(s) English sound
d silent at end of word; and in -ld, -nd, -rd
eg ay
h silent before consonants, such as in hv-j, ghv-j, hj yuh, as in yes
kj, tj sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)
sj, skj sh
sl shl
ki, ky, kei, køy sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German) ski, sky, skei, skøy sh
gi, gy, gei, gøy yuh g + other vowels guh sk + other vowels sk
-egn, -egl, -øgn g is silent
ng nasalized, as in singer and not finger
æ ah as in cat
ø ay, but with lips rounded
å aw as in saw
3. Alphabet
a ahh k kaw u ooh
b bay l el v vay
c say m em w dobbel-veh
d day n en x eks
e ay o ooh y ew (lips rounded)
f ef p pay z set
g gay q koo æ ah (as in cat) h haw r air ø ay (lips rounded)
i ee s ess å aw
j yod t tay
4. Nouns & Cases
Nouns in Norwegian (Bokmål) have two genders, masculine and neuter, which adjectives must agree with when modifying nouns. Technically there is a third gender, feminine (which Nynorsk retains), but since feminine nouns can be written as masculine nouns, I'm including feminine nouns in the masculine category. There are two indefinite articles that correspond with these genders: en for masculine nouns and et for neuter nouns. In the
vocabulary lists, a noun followed by (n) means that it is a neuter noun and it takes the indefinite article et. The majority of nouns in Norwegian are masculine, so they take the indefinite article en.
The only case of nouns that is used in Norwegian is the genitive (showing possession), and it is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. This is comparable to adding -'s in English to show possession. However, if the noun already ends in -s, then you add nothing (unlike English where we add -' or -'s). Olavs hus = Olav's house
5. Articles & Demonstratives
There are two indefinite articles (corresponding to a and an): en and et. En is used with most of the nouns (words denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have to learn which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a separate word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the indefinite article attached to the end of the noun. Note that en words ending in a vowel retain that vowel and add an -n instead of adding -en. And et words ending in -e just add -t. Furthermore, the t of et as an indefinite article is pronounced; however, the t is silent in the definite article -et attached to the noun. (For feminine nouns, the indefinite article is ei and the definite article that is attached to the noun is -a. In theory, this gender does still exist in Bokmål, but in practice, it is rarely used and the feminine nouns are inflected like masculine nouns, i.e. add -en instead of -a for the definite form.)
Articles
En words (masculine) Et words (neuter)
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite en fisk a fish fisken the fish et
vindu a
window vinduet the window en baker a baker bakeren the baker et barn a child barnet the child en hage a garden hagen the garden et hus a house huset the house
Demonstrative Adjectives
masculine denne dressen this suit den dressen that suit
neuter dette skjerfet this scarf det skjerfet that scarf
plural disse skoene these shoes de skoenethose shoes
Notice that the noun that follows a demonstrative adjective must have the definite article attached to it.
6. Subject & Object Pronouns
Subject & Object Pronouns
jeg I meg me
du you (singular) deg you
han he ham him
hun she henne her
den it (masc.) den it
det it (neut.) det it
man one man one
vi we oss us
dere you (plural) dere you
de they dem them
7. To Be & to Have
The present and past tenses of verbs in Norwegian are very simple to conjugate. All the forms are the same for each personal pronoun. The infinitive of the verb to be in
Norwegian is være, and the conjugated present tense form is er and the past tense is var. The infinitive of the verb to have is ha, and the conjugated present tense form is har and the past tense is hadde.
være - to be ha - to have
I am jeg er I was jeg var I have jeg har I had jeg hadde you are du er you were du var you have du har you had du hadde he is han er he was han var he has han har he had han hadde she is hun er she was hun var she has hun har she had hun hadde it is den er it was den var it has den har it had den hadde it is det er it was det var it has det har it had det hadde one is man er one was man
var one has
man
har one had man hadde we are vi er we were vi var we have vi har we had vi hadde you are dere er you were dere var you have dere har you haddere hadde they are de er they were de var they have de har they
had de hadde
To form the future tense of verbs, just add skal before the infinitive. Jeg skal være = I will be; hun skal ha = she will have; etc.
8. Useful Words
sometimes noen granger / av og
til already allerede
always alltid perhaps kanskje
never aldri both begge
often ofte some noe(n)
usually vanligvis again igjen
now nå between mellom
and og a lot, many mye / mange
but men of course selvfølgelig / såklart
or eller a little litt
very veldig / svært not at all ikke i det hele tatt / slettes ikke / overhodet ikke
here her almost nesten
there der really? virkelig?
with med it is det er
each other hverandre there is/are det finnes 9. Question Words
Who hvem How hvordan
What hva How much hvor mye
Why hvorfor How many hvor mange
When når How long hvor lenge
Where hvor Where from hvorfra
Which hvilken, hvilket, hvilke What kind of hva slags
Hvilken is used with masculine nouns, hvilket is used with neuter nouns, and hvilke is used with plural nouns.
10. Cardinal & Ordinal Numbers
0 null
1 en, ett 1st første
2 to 2nd annen, andre
3 tre 3rd tredje
4 fire 4th fjerde
6 seks 6th sjette 7 sju 7th sjuende 8 åtte 8th åttende 9 ni 9th niende 10 ti 10th tiende 11 elleve 11th ellevte 12 tolv 12th tolvte 13 tretten 13th trettende 14 fjorten 14th fjortende 15 femten 15th femtende 16 seksten 16th sekstende 17 sytten 17th syttende 18 atten 18th attende 19 nitten 19th nittende 20 tjue 20th tjuende
21 tjueen, tjueett 21st tjueførste
22 tjueto 22nd tjueandre 30 tretti 30th trettiende 40 førti 40th førtiende 50 femti 50th femtiende 60 seksti 60th sekstiende 70 sytti 70th syttiende 80 åtti 80th åttiende 90 nitti 90th nittiende 100 hundre 100th hundrede 1,000 tusen 1,000th tusende million million billion milliard trillion billion
"Sju" can also be written "syv" (slightly more formal), and "sjuende" as "syvende" Similarly "tjue" can be "tyve", but this does seem less common and more formal.
11. Days of the Week
Monday mandag this morning i dag morges
Tuesday tirsdag tomorrow morning i morgen tidlig Wednesday onsdag tomorrow afternoon i morgen formiddag
Thursday torsdag tomorrow night i morgen kveld Friday fredag day after tomorrow i overmorgen
Saturday lørdag tonight i kveld
Sunday søndag last night i går kveld
day dag yesterday i går
morning morgen day before yesterday i forgårs
afternoon ettermiddag week uke
evening kveld next week nest uke
night natt weekend helg
today i dag daily daglig
tomorrow i morgen weekly ukentlig
12. Months of the Year
January januar February februar March mars April april May mai June juni July juli August august September september October oktober November november December desember month måned
last month forrige måned monthly månedlig
year år (n)
this year i år last year i fjor yearly årlig 13. Seasons
Winter vinter in (the) winter om vinteren Spring vår in (the) spring om våren Summer sommer in (the) summer om sommeren
Fall høst in (the) fall om høsten 14. Directions
North nord Northeast nordøst South syd Northwest nordvest East øst Southeast sydøst West vest Southwest sydvest
to the right til høyre to the left til venstre straight
ahead
rett fram / frem
Frem is slightly more formal than fram.
15. Colors
orange oransje
pink rosa
purple lilla
blue blå, blått, blå yellow gul, gult, gule red rød, rødt, røde black svart, svart, svarte brown brun, brunt, brune gray grå, grått, grå white hvit, hvitt, hvite green grønn, grønt, grønne
The first three colors do not change according to gender or number to agree with the noun they modify. The rest of the colors must agree, however, and they are listed in masculine, neuter and plural forms: en grønn kjole - a green dress; et blått hus - a blue house; svarte
sokker - black socks
16. Time
It is 2. Klokken er to. early tidlig
6:20 tjue over seks earlier tidligere
half past 3 halv fire soon snart
quarter past 4 kvart over fire late sent quarter to 5 kvart på fem later senere
10 past 11 ti over elleve in 10 minutes om ti minutter 20 to 7 tjue på sju in 15 minutes om et kvarter
noon middag in a half hour om en halvtime
midnight midnatt in an hour om en time
in the morning om morgenen right now akkurat nå in the evening om kvelden at once med en gang It's exactly... Den er nøyaktig... immediately straks About/around 8. omtrent åtte At 8. klokken åtte 17. Weather
How's the weather? Hvordan er været? What temperature is it? Hvor mange grader er det?
It's cold Det er kaldt It's foggy Det er tåke
It's warm Det er varmt The fog is lifting Tåken letner It's beautiful Det er pent It's snowing Det snør
It's bad Det er dårlig It's raining Det regner
It's clearing Det lysner It's going to storm Det bli storm It's icy Det er isete There's thunder Det tordner It's windy Det blåser There's lightning Det lyner It's cloudy Det er overskyet It's freezing (cold as ice) Det er iskaldt It's humid/muggy Det er fuktig It's hailing Det hagler
18. Family
Parents foreldre Niece niese
Mother mor Nephew nevø
Father far Uncle onkel
Son sønn Aunt tante
Daughter datter Boy gutt
Brother bror Girl jente, pike
Sister søster Child / Baby barn Grandfather bestefar Adult voksen
Grandmother bestemor Man mann
Granddaughter barnebarn Friend (male) venn Cousin (male) fetter Friend female) venninne Cousin (female) kusine
Some family words have irregular indefinite plurals: mødre (mothers), fedre (fathers), sønner (sons), døtre (daughters), brødre (brothers), and søstre (sisters)
19. To Know People & Facts
kjenne - to know
people vite - to know facts
present kjenner vet
past kjente visste
future skal kjenne skal vite
20. Formation of Plural Nouns
Masculine nouns generally add -er or -r to the indefinite singular noun to form the indefinite plural, and -ene or -ne to form the definite plural. The names of jobs ending in -er only add -e and -ne in these cases. Neuter nouns that are more than one syllable form plural nouns the same way as masculine nouns. Neuter nouns that are only one syllable, however, add nothing to form the indefinite plural and either -ene or -a to form the definite
plural.
Singular Indefinite Plural Definite Plural
en fisk fisker some fish fiskene the fishes
en hage hager some gardens hagene the gardens
en baker bakere some
bakers bakerne the bakers
et vindu vinduer some windows vinduene the windows
et hus hus some houses husene the houses
et barn barn some
children barna
the children
Irregular plural nouns in Norwegian:
Singular Irregular Indefinite Plural Singular = Indefinite Plural
and ender duck(s) angrep (n) attack(s)
bonde bønder peasant(s) eventyr (n) tale(s), story(ies) fot føtter foot(feet) feil error(s), mistake(s)
hånd hender hand(s) forhold circumstance(s)
håndkle håndklær hand towel(s) høve (n) opportunity(ies)
kne (n) knær knee(s) kreps crawfish(es)
kraft krefter strength mus mouse(s)
ku kyr cow(s) mygg mosquito(es)
natt netter night(s) sild herring(s)
mann menn man(men) sko shoe(s)
rand render edge(s) spiker nail(s)
rot røtter root(s) ting thing(s)
sted (n) steder place(s) våpen weapon(s)
stang stenger bar(s)
strand strender beach(es)
tang tenger pincher(s)
tann tenner tooth(teeth)
tre trær tree(s)
tå tær toe(s)