Grammar rules

1. Nouns.
Entall Flertall
Singular Plural

Ubestemt Bestemt Ubestemt Bestemt

Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite

Hankjønn en banan bananen bananer bananene

Masculine a banana the banana bananas the bananas

Hunkjønn ei pære pæra pærer pærene

Feminine a pear the pear pears the pears

Intetkjønn et eple eplet epler eplene

Neuter an apple the apple apples the apples

a) We use the definite form of nouns:

i) when there is only one item of the thing in the world.
ii) when the item has been mentioned earlier in the
text/conversation.
iii) when the reader/listener is able to understand which item you
are referring to.
iv) when we talk about something specific.
v) in front of a possessive: Favorittkaken min er sjokoladekake.
vi) in front of a genitive construction with til: Favorittkakene til
Ulrik er gulrotkake og bløtkake.
vii) after mange av, mye av, få av, lite av, noen av, noe av, ingen
av, ikke noe av and numbers + av: Jeg spiste mange av
kakestykkene. Ulrik spiste også mye av kaken. Vi spiste ingen
av bollene. Men Ulrik spiste én av kjeksene.
viii) after the demonstratives den/denne, det/dette and de/disse:
Disse kakene er gode! Dette stedet serverer god mat. Denne
bollen er billigere enn den bollen.
b) The definite endings correspond with the gender of the noun in the
singular. We use -en with masculine nouns, -en or -a with feminine
nouns and -et with neuter nouns. You have to look up the gender of
the noun to be able to use the correct ending in singular. The definite
ending in plural is always -ene.
bananen – bananene.
pæren / pæra – pærene.
eplet – eplene.
1
c) We use the indefinite form of nouns:
i) when the information we are presenting is new.
ii) when the reader/listener is not necessarily able to understand
which item we are referring to.
iii) when we are referring to something in general.
iv) after a possessive: Min favorittkake er sjokoladekake.
v) after a genitive construction with –s: Ulriks favorittkaker er
gulrotkake og bløtkake.
vi) after mange, mye, få, lite, noen, noe, ingen, ikke noe and
numbers: Jeg spiste mange kakestykker. Ulrik spiste også mye
kake. Vi spiste ingen boller, men Ulrik spiste én kjeks.
vii) after hver and hvilken: Ulrik spiser kake hver dag. Hvilken kake
spiser han nå?
viii) after the verb å ha: Jeg har en favorittkake.
d) The indefinite article corresponds with the gender of the noun in the
singular. We use en with masculine nouns, en or ei with feminine
nouns and et with neuter nouns. You have to look up the gender of
the noun to be able to use the correct indefinite article. The indefinite
ending in plural is usually -er (see 1e for the exception).
en banan – bananer.
en pære / ei pære – pærer.
et eple – epler.
e) One-syllable neuter nouns do not get an ending in the indefinite form
plural:
et egg – egg.
f) We leave out the indefinite article:
i) with uncountable nouns: Fisk er _ typisk mat for hjemlandet
mitt.
ii) with occupations, nationalities or other nouns that define a
person + the verbs å være or å bli: Han er _ student. Hun blir _
lærer.
 But if we have an adjective, we have to use the article: Han
er en dårlig student. Hun blir en god lærer.
iii) with means of transportation: Vi tar _ buss til sentrum.
iv) in some frequent verb phrases, often where the verb phrase is
å gå på or å være på: Jeg går på _ norskkurs. De går på _ tur.
De er på _ konsert.
g) To express ownership, we can use genitive constructions:
i) possessor + -s + indefinite noun: lærerens jakke.
ii) definite noun + til + possessor: jakken til læreren.

2
 h) We can combine nouns, verbs and adjectives with a noun to make a
compound noun. Compound nouns are written together in one word.
The last noun determines which inflection the compound gets.
Sometimes we add –s or –e after the first element. We use a hyphen
when the first word is an abbreviation.
natt + bord = nattbord.
trening + s + senter = treningssenter.
barn + e + vakt = barnevakt.
tv + bord = tv-bord.
i) Exceptions from the regular noun inflextion.
i. Some masculine nouns do not get an ending in the indefinite
form plural: en sko, en ting, en meter, en liter, en dollar, en
mus, en feil.
ii. Nouns that refer to mass are uncountable. We do not use the
indefinite article with uncountable nouns, and we do not use
these nouns in plural: en mat – maten – mater – matene.
iii. Nouns that end in -el and some that end in -er, get a
contraction in plural. A double consonant becomes a single
one: en gaffel – gaffelen – gafler – gaflene / en søster –
søsteren – søstre – søstrene.
iv. Nouns that end in a stressed –e, get an extra –e in the endings:
en kafé – kaféen – kaféer – kaféene.
Nouns denoting persons that end in -er, are shortened in plural:
en tysker – tyskeren – tyskere – tyskerne.
v. Nouns that end in -m after a short vowel, get an extra -m
before the endings:
en klem – klemmen – klemmer – klemmene.
vi. Some nouns get a vowel change in plural:
en bok – boken – bøker – bøkene.
vii. Barn and bein tend to have the ending -a in the definite form
plural: et barn – barnet – barn – barna.

2. Pronouns.

Subjektsform Objektsform Refleksiv form

Subject form Object form Reflexive form

jeg meg meg

du deg deg

han han/ham seg

3
hun henne seg

den/det den/det seg

vi oss oss

dere dere dere

de dem seg

a) We use subject pronouns when the pronoun is the subject in the

sentence.
b) We use object pronouns when the pronoun is the object in the
sentence or comes after a preposition.
c) We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object in the
sentence refer to the same person. The reflexive pronouns are the
same as the object pronouns in the 1st and 2nd person. In the 3rd
person, the reflexive pronoun is seg.
d) We use the pronoun den to refer back to a masculine/feminine thing.
We use the pronoun det to refer back to a neuter thing. We use the
pronoun de to refer back to plural things (and people).
e) The impersonal pronoun man is used about persons that are not
specified: På skolene kan man kjøpe vafler og is på 17. mai.
f) We use the reciprocal pronoun hverandre when we have a group of at
least two, and there is a mutual relation between the group’s
members: Carlo og Betty elsker hverandre.

3. Possessives.

Entall Flertall
Singular Plural

M F N

(jeg) min mi mitt mine

(du) din di ditt dine

(han) hans

(hun) hennes

(vi) vår vårt våre

(dere) deres

4
(de) deres

a) When the possessive comes before the noun, the noun has to be in
the indefinite form: mitt navn.
b) When the possessive comes after the noun, the noun has to be in the
definite form: navnet mitt.
c) Many of the possessives are not inflected, but the 1st person singular,
2nd person singular and 1st person plural are. You have to find out
the gender and number of the noun and then pick the correct
possessive.
min – mi – mitt – mine.
din – di – ditt – dine.
vår – vårt – våre.

4. Verbs.

Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Presens Presens

perfektum futurum
Infinitive Present tense Preterite
Present perfect Future

å snakke snakker snakket har snakket skal snakke

a) The infinitive verb form is the basic dictionary form of the verb. We
use the infinitive together with another verb in the present or past
tense. The infinitive verb form has an infinitive marker: å. We only
leave out the infinitive marker after a modal verb like skal, kan, må,
vil and bør. The infinitive usually ends in -e. Some verbs end in other
vowels (å bo, å ha, å gå, å dra, å si, å bety).
Jeg liker å lese.
Jeg skal lese.
b) We use the present tense when we i) talk about something that
happens now, ii) express general statements independent of time, iii)
talk about something we do on a regular basis and iv) talk about the
future. The present tense usually ends in -r. Some verbs have special
present tense forms (er, gjør, vet, spør, sier).
Nå leser jeg.
To og to er fire.
Jeg studerer ofte.
Jeg reiser i morgen.
5
 c) We use the preterite when we talk about a completed action that
happened in the past. There is often an adverbial of time in the
sentence that says exactly when the action happened. The preterite
form of strong verbs needs to be memorized. With weak verbs, you
can look at the root of the verbs to decide which ending to add in the
preterite.
i) Verbs that end in two consonants (å jogge) get an -et-ending in
the preterite: jogget. Exception: verbs that end in -ll, -mm and -
nn.
ii) Verbs that end in one consonant (å lese), -ll, -mm and –nn (å
skinne), get a -te-ending in the preterite: leste, skinte1.
iii) Verbs that end in -v, -ei or -g (å lage) get a -de-ending in the
preterite: lagde.
iv) Short verbs where the infinitive ends in another vowel than -e
(å bo), get a -dde-ending in the preterite: bodde.
If you need to look up the conjugation, check out this page.
d) We use the present perfect when we 1) focus on the consequences of
a previous action, but not exactly when it happened, 2) something
began in the past and is still going on and 3) have a definition of time
that includes the present. The present perfect form of strong verbs
needs to be memorized or looked up. With weak verbs, you can look
at the root of the verbs to decide which ending to add in the
preterite.
i) Verbs that end in two consonants (å jogge), get an -et-ending in
the present perfect: har jogget. Exception: verbs that end in -ll,
-mm and -nn.
ii) Verbs that end in one consonant (å lese), -ll, -mm and –nn (å
skinne), get a -t-ending in the present perfect: har lest and har
skint2.
iii) Verbs that end in -v, -ei or -g (å lage), get a -d-ending in the
present perfect: har lagd.
iv) Short verbs where the infinitive ends in another vowel than -e
(å bo), get a -dd-ending in the preterite: har bodd.
 If you need to look up the conjugation, check out this page.
e) To express the future, we either use the present tense + an
expression of time, or skal + a verb in the infinitive without infinitive
marker. The last solution is most common.
Jeg drar i morgen.
Jeg skal dra i morgen.
1
Notice that we lose one of the “double consonants”.
2
Notice that we lose one of the “double consonants”.

6
 f) We use the imperative to express commands. The imperative form is
the same as the root: infinitive minus –e.
å være stille – Vær stille!
Exceptions:
i. When the root ends in double –m, the verb loses one –m in the
imperative: å komme – kom!
ii. When the infinitive does not end in –e, then the imperative is
the same as the infinitive:
å dra – Dra!
g) Each main clause only needs one main verb.
Det blir regner  Det blir regn.

5. Adverbs.
a) Adverbs of place describe where the action happens. They have two
forms depending on whether the action is dynamic or static, i.e.
whether you are going to somewhere (hjem, inn, ut, opp, ned, hit, dit,
bort, fram) or you are somewhere (hjemme, inne, ute, oppe, ned, her,
der, borte, framme). Most of the static adverbs of place get the
ending -e.
Han går hjem. Han er hjemme.
b) Adverbs of degree describe the intensity or degree of an action: Det
regner mye og snør lite i Bergen. Both of these adverbs have
comparatives and superlatives (mye – mer – mest, lite – mindre –
minst).
c) Adverbs of manner describe how something happens. These adverbs
have the same form as adjectives in the neuter singular: Maten
smaker godt. Han løper raskt.

6. Adjectives.
a) The adjective comes before the noun in Norwegian.
Jeg har eget kjøkken.
b) We use the indefinite form of adjectives in front of indefinite nouns
(en rød bil) and after definite nouns + the verbs å være or å bli (bilen
er rød). You have to find out the number and gender of the noun, and
then choose the correct form of the adjective. The main pattern is no
ending in masculine/feminine, -t-ending in neuter and -e-ending in
plural: stor – stort – store.
Exceptions are:

7
 i) Adjectives that end in a double consonant, usually lose one of
the consonants in the neuter singular: grønn – grønt – grønne.
ii) Adjectives that end in -m, get an extra -m in the plural form:
dum – dumt – dumme.
iii) Adjectives that end in -a or -e, are not inflected: rosa – rosa –
rosa, moderne – moderne – moderne.
iv) Adjectives that end in other vowels than -a and -e, get -tt in the
neuter singular. It is optional to add -e in the plural form of blå
and grå: ny – nytt – nye.
v) Adjectives that end in -ig, do not get a -t in the neuter singular:
koselig – koselig – koselige.
vi) Adjectives that end in -isk, do not get a -t in the neuter singular:
praktisk – praktisk – praktiske.
vii) Adjectives that end in consonant + t, do not get a -t in the
neuter singular: svart – svart – svarte.
viii) Adjectives of nationality do not get a -t in the neuter singular:
norsk – norsk – norske.
ix) Adjectives that end in -el, -en and -er, lose the -e and are
contracted in plural. Double consonants become single ones:
gammel – gammelt – gamle.
x) The adjective «small» and «other» have special inflections:
liten – lita – lite – små, annen – anna – annet – andre.
c) When the adjective doesn’t refer to a specific noun, we use the
indefinite, neuter form as a general form.
Det var kaldt.
d) Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the
two objects they modify. The main pattern is –ere-ending + enn in the
comparative and –est-ending in the superlative. The adjective is not
inflected according to the noun’s gender or number in the
comparative or superlative.
varm – varmere enn – varmest.
e) We use the definite form of adjectives in front of definite nouns.
Definite adjectives get an -e-ending. In addition, we add the
adjective’s definite article. The masculine and feminine definite article
is den, the neuter is det and the plural is de.
den store bilen.
den store jakka.
det store huset.
de store husene.
Exceptions are:

8
 i) The adjectives «small» and «other»:
den lille gutten – den lille jenta – det lille huset – de små
husene.
den andre gutten – den andre jenta – det andre huset – de
andre husene.

7. Prepositions.
LOCATION:
a) We use the preposition i when something is inside something else.
Jeg bor i sentrum.
b) We use the preposition på when something is on top of something
else.
Jeg går på tur på fjellet.
c) We use the preposition i with soft things.
Hun sitter i sofaen.
d) We use the preposition på with hard things.
Hun sitter på stolen.
e) We use the preposition i with cities that are on the coast of Norway,
cities in the rest of the world, countries, continents, streets, counties,
orientations and Nord-Norge, Midt-Norge, Øst-Norge, Sør-Norge and
Vest-Norge.
Jeg bor i Bergen.
Hun bor i Frankrike.
f) We use the preposition på with inland cities in Norway, urban
districts, islands, most islands that are countries3 and Østlandet,
Sørlandet and Vestlandet.
Jeg bor på Lillehammer.
Hun bor på Island.
g) When we talk about the rooms of the house, we use i with masculine
and feminine nouns.
Jeg spiser middag i stuen.
h) When we talk about the rooms of the house, we use på with neuter
nouns.
Jeg spiser på kjøkkenet.
i) We use the preposition på with institutions, buildings and stores.
Jeg studerer på universitetet.
j) The preposition hos is used when you are at someone’s house or
office: Jeg skal bo hos en venn når jeg er i Roma.

3
Exceptions: i Japan, i Storbritannia, i Irland.

9
 k) Other prepositions related to location are under, over, bak, foran,
mellom, ved siden av, ved, i nærheten av, til høyre (for), til venstre
(for), på høyre side, på venstre side and utenfor.
MOVEMENT:
l) When you are travelling to or from somewhere, the correct
prepositions are til and fra.
Jeg reiste til Tromsø fra Bergen.
TIME:
m) We use i + a noun in the indefinite form when we talk about the near
past, present and near future.
I går var det søndag.
I dag er det mandag.
I morgen er det tirsdag.
n) We use i + a noun in the indefinite form with periods of time: Jeg ble
født i 1989. Jeg har eksamen i mai. Jeg var på ferie i to uker.
Forelesningen varer i tre timer. De skal bo i Bergen i mange år.
o) We use i + a noun in the definite form when we talk about how often
we do things.
Jeg er med venner i helgen.
Jeg trener to ganger i uken.
p) We use om + a noun in the definite form when we talk about
something that happens repeatedly or at a specific time on a specific
day:
Jeg står opp klokken åtte om morgenen om sommeren.
Jeg sto opp klokken åtte om morgenen i går.
q) We also om + a noun in the indefinite form when we talk about how
long time it takes from now until something is going to happen:
Jeg skal ha eksamen om ni uker.
r) We use på with days of the week:
Jeg skal ha eksamen på mandag.
s) We use for + a noun in the indefinite form + siden when we talk about
how long ago something happened in the past.
Lisa flyttet til Bergen for fem måneder siden.
CAUSE:
t) We use for + an infinitive construction when we answer the question
“why”. The English translation would be “in order to”:
Hvorfor dro du til Tromsø? Jeg dro til Tromsø for å se nordlys.
8. Numbers.
a) We use ordinal numbers with dates and floors. They are listed in
chapter 3.

10
 Jeg er født ellevte november nitten nittifem.
Jeg er født ellevte i ellevte nitten nittifem.
Jeg bor i tredje etasje.
b) We use cardinal numbers with everything else. They are listed in
chapter 2.
Jeg er tjueto år gammel.
c) We use the number ett instead of én when we tell time and in front of
hundreds and thousands.
Klokken er ett.
Kjolen koster ett tusen kroner.
Maten koster ett hundre kroner.
d) There is an og between the hundreds and tens.
Fem hundre og femti kroner.
e) The number “one” varies according to the gender of the noun.
Jeg har bare éi søster.
Jeg har bare én bror.
Jeg har bare ett søsken.

9. Subjects.
a) All Norwegian sentences must have a subject. It’s easy to forget the
subject when the word order is inverted.
Navnet mitt staver jeg K R I S T I N E.
I går var det regn.

10.Quantifiers.
a) We use mange with countable nouns and mye with uncountable
nouns, and verbs. We use få with countable nouns and lite with
uncountable nouns, and verbs.
Vi så mange fjell/Vi så få fjell.
Vi drakk mye vann/Vi drakk lite vann.

11.Capital letters.
a) We use capital letters with names of people and places. We don’t use
capital letters in titles, with the days of the week, the months,
nationalities or languages.

12.Det-sentences
a) When there is no logical subject in the sentence, we use det as a
formal subject.

11
 Det blåser mye i dag.
b) We do not like starting sentences with a noun in the indefinite form
(new information) in Norwegian. Therefore, it is very common to
place new information at the end of the sentence, and start the
sentence with the formal subject det. The “real subject” comes after
the verb.
En katt sitter på bordet  Det sitter en katt på bordet.
På bordet sitter en katt  På bordet sitter det en katt.

13. Short answers.

a) Short answers are answers with ja/nei + det + verb…. If the question
contains the verb å være, the answer does the same. If the question
contains the verb å ha, the answer does the same. If the question
contains a modal verb, the answer does the same. If the question
contains another verb, the answer contains the verb å gjøre:
Er det et hotell der? Ja, det er det.
Har du billett? Ja, det har jeg.
Kan du hjelpe meg? Ja, det kan jeg.
Liker du fisk? Ja, det gjør jeg.

14.Word order
a) Main clauses.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Deklarativ Jeg bor ikke i Japan nå.

Declarative Nå studerer jeg på UiB.

i. The main verb is always in the second position in main clauses,

even when an adverbial or object comes first. Remember that
adverbials and objects can consist of more than one word.
Conjunctions like og, men, eller, så and for are not counted as
part of the main clause.
Jeg studerer på UiB nå.
Nå studerer jeg på UiB.
ii. Sentence adverbials like ikke, også and vanligvis are placed
after the main verb in standard sentences, and after the subject
in inverted sentences.
Jeg bor ikke i Japan nå.
Nå bor jeg ikke i Japan.

12
 iii. Adverbials of place, time and way are usually at the end of the
sentence. If you move them to the front, you have to
remember the V2-rule. The end and front are the only possible
placements of these adverbials.
Jeg spiser fisk til middag.
Til middag spiser jeg fisk.
iv. Adverbials of place come before adverbials of time.
Jeg bor nå i Bergen. Jeg bor i Bergen nå.

b) Subordinate clauses.

Helsetning Subjunksjo Subjek SADV Resten av leddsetningen

n t L
Main clause The rest of the subordinate
Subjunctio Subjec SADV clause
n t L

Ulrik sier at han elsker å feire jul med familien.

I fjor fikk Felipe en som han alltid spiller på.

gitar

i. The main difference between a main clause and a subordinate

clause, is that in a subordinate clause, sentence adverbials like
ikke, også and alltid are placed before the main verb. See the
second example above.

c) Subordinate clauses can be in the first position of main clauses. We

use a comma to separate the subordinate clause and the main clause.
Remember that the V2-rule still applies in the main clause.

Subjunksjo Subjek SADV Resten av leddsetningen Helsetning

n t L
The rest of the Main clause
Subjunctio Subjec SADV subordinate clause
n t L

Når det snør, får Eri julestemning.

Fordi hun ikke spiser kjøtt, spiser Stephanie nøttestek i

julen.

d) Questions with interrogatives (question words).

13
 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Spørsmål Hva heter du?

med
Hvordan staver du det?
spørreord
Hvor bor du nå?
Question
with Hvilke snakker du?
interrogative språk

e) Yes/no-questions.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Ja-/nei- Liker du å bo i Norge?

spørsmål
Kommer du også fra Tyskland?
Yes-no
Heter du Eri?
question

14