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 thats good if not then Ill personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you dont need to buy it. The download link is provided below:

Download BabelFish Translator

There are two types of written Norwegian, Bokml and Nynorsk. This tutorial includes Bokml only. Thanks to Dan for helping with this tutorial!

1. Basic Phrases

God morgenGood Morning

Hallo / God dagHello / Good Day

God kveldGood Evening

God nattGood Night

Ha det braGoodbye

Hei / Ha detHi / Bye

Vr s snill Please

(Tusen) TakkThank you (very much)

Ingen rsak / Vr s godDon't mention it / You're welcome

Ja / NeiYes / No

Herr / Fru / FrkenMister / Misses

Velkommen!Welcome!

Hvordan har du det?How are you?

Hvordan gr det?How it's going?

Bra / DrligGood / Bad

Hva heter du?What's your name?

Jeg heter...My name is... (I am called...)

Hyggelig treffe deg!Pleased to meet you!

Hvor kommer du fra?Where are you from?

Jeg er fra...I'm from...

UnnskyldExcuse me / Sorry

Hvor bor du?Where do you live?

Jeg bor i...I live in...

Jeg vil gjerne ha... / Jeg skulle gjerne hatt...

I would like...

Hvor gammel er du?How old are you?

Jeg er ____ r (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 langsomtSpeak slowly

svensk, dansk, fransk, italiensk, spansk, tysk, hollndsk, rysk, japanskSwedish, Danish, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Russian, Japanese

Hva heter ... p norsk?How do you say ... in Norwegian?

Forstr du?Do you understand?

Jeg forstr [ikke.]I [don't] understand.

Vr s snill gjenta / Vennligst gjentaPlease repeat

Hva er dette?What is this?

Hvor er ... ?Where is ... ?

Hvor mye koster dette?How much does this cost?

Jeg er sultenI'm hungry

Jeg er trstI'm thirsty

Jeg er trettI'm tired

Jeg er sykI'm sick

Jeg tror [ikke] detI [don't] think so

Kom inn / hitCome in / here

Ta plassHave a seat.

Stans! / Stopp! Stop!

Straks!Immediately! / Soon!

Jeg har gtt meg bortI'm lost

Hjelp!Help!

Fare!Danger!

Pass p!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!

Skl!Cheers! (toast)

Lykke til!Good luck!

Jeg elsker deg.I love you.

Jeg savner deg.I miss you.

2. Pronunciation

Norwegian letter(s) English soundd silent at end of word; and in -ld, -nd, -rdig ee

eg ayh silent before consonants, such as in hv-j, gj, hj yuh, as in yeskj, tj sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)sj, skj shsl shlki, ky, kei, ky sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)ski, sky, skei, sky shgi, gy, gei, gy yuhg + other vowels guhsk + other vowels sk-egn, -egl, -gn g is silentng nasalized, as in singer and not finger ah as in cat ay, but with lips rounded 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 ah (as in cat)

h haw r air ay (lips rounded)

i ee s ess aw

j yod t tay

4. Nouns & Cases

Nouns in Norwegian (Bokml) 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 Bokml, 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 vindua window vinduet the window

en baker a baker bakeren the baker et barn a child barnet the childen hage a garden hagen the garden et hus a house huset the house

Demonstrative Adjectives

masculine denne dressen this suitden dressen that suit

neuter dette skjerfet this scarfdet skjerfet that scarf

plural disse skoenethese shoes de skoene

those shoes

Notice that the noun that follows a demonstrative adjective must have the definite article attached to it.

(The feminine form of demonstratives is identical to the masculine; denne and den.)

6. Subject & Object Pronouns

Subject & Object Pronouns jeg I meg medu you (singular) deg youhan he ham himhun she henne herden it (masc.) den itdet it (neut.) det itman one man onevi we oss usdere you (plural) dere youde 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 vre, 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.

vre - to be ha - to haveI am jeg er I was jeg var I have jeg har I had jeg haddeyou are du er you were du var you have du har you had du haddehe is han er he was han var he has han har he had han haddeshe is hun er she was hun var she has hun har she had hun haddeit is den er it was den var it has den har it had den haddeit is det er it was det var it has det har it had det hadde

one is man er one was man var one hasman 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 havedere har you had

dere hadde

they are de er they were de var they havede har they had de hadde

To form the future tense of verbs, just add skal before the infinitive. Jeg skal vre = I will be; hun skal ha = she will have; etc.

8. Useful Words

sometimes noen granger / av og til already allerede

always alltid perhaps kanskjenever aldri both beggeoften ofte some noe(n)usually vanligvis again igjennow n between mellomand og a lot, many mye / mangebut men of course selvflgelig / sklartor eller a little litt

very veldig / svrt not at all ikke i det hele tatt / slettes ikke / overhodet ikkehere her almost nestenthere der really? virkelig?with med it is det ereach other hverandre there is/are det finnes

9. Question Words

Who hvem How hvordanWhat hva How much hvor myeWhy hvorfor How many hvor mangeWhen nr How long hvor lengeWhere hvor Where from hvorfraWhich 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 frste2 to 2nd annen, andre3 tre 3rd tredje4 fire 4th fjerde5 fem 5th femte

6 seks 6th sjette7 sju 7th sjuende8 tte 8th ttende9 ni 9th niende10 ti 10th tiende11 elleve 11th ellevte12 tolv 12th tolvte13 tretten 13th trettende14 fjorten 14th fjortende15 femten 15th femtende16 seksten 16th sekstende17 sytten 17th syttende18 atten 18th attende19 nitten 19th nittende20 tjue 20th tjuende21 tjueen, tjueett 21st tjuefrste22 tjueto 22nd tjueandre30 tretti 30th trettiende40 frti 40th frtiende50 femti 50th femtiende60 seksti 60th sekstiende70 sytti 70th syttiende80 tti 80th ttiende90 nitti 90th nittiende100 hundre 100th hundrede1,000 tusen 1,000th tusendemillion 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 morgesTuesday tirsdag tomorrow morning i morgen tidligWednesday onsdag tomorrow afternoon i morgen formiddag

Thursday torsdag tomorrow night i morgen kveldFriday fredag day after tomorrow i overmorgenSaturday lrdag tonight i kveldSunday sndag last night i gr kveldday dag yesterday i grmorning morgen day before yesterday i forgrsafternoon ettermiddag week ukeevening kveld next week nest ukenight natt weekend helgtoday i dag daily dagligtomorrow i morgen weekly ukentlig

12. Months of the Year

January januarFebruary februarMarch marsApril aprilMay maiJune juniJuly juliAugust augustSeptember septemberOctober oktoberNovember novemberDecember desembermonth mnedlast month forrige mnedmonthly mnedligyear r (n)this year i rlast year i fjoryearly rlig

13. Seasons

Winter vinter in (the) winter om vinterenSpring vr in (the) spring om vrenSummer sommer in (the) summer om sommeren

Fall hst in (the) fall om hsten

14. Directions

North nord Northeast nordstSouth syd Northwest nordvestEast st Southeast sydstWest vest Southwest sydvest

to the right til hyreto the left til venstrestraight ahead

rett fram / frem

Frem is slightly more formal than fram.

15. Colors

orange oransjepink rosapurple lillablue bl, bltt, blyellow gul, gult, gulered rd, rdt, rdeblack svart, svart, svartebrown brun, brunt, brunegray gr, grtt, grwhite hvit, hvitt, hvitegreen grnn, grnt, grnne

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 grnn kjole - a green dress; et bltt hus - a blue house; svarte sokker - black socks

16. Time

What time is it? Hva er klokken? now n

It is 2. Klokken er to. early tidlig6:20 tjue over seks earlier tidligerehalf past 3 halv fire soon snartquarter past 4 kvart over fire late sentquarter to 5 kvart p fem later senere10 past 11 ti over elleve in 10 minutes om ti minutter20 to 7 tjue p sju in 15 minutes om et kvarternoon middag in a half hour om en halvtimemidnight midnatt in an hour om en timein the morning om morgenen right now akkurat nin the evening om kvelden at once med en gangIt's exactly... Den er nyaktig... immediately straksAbout/around 8. omtrent tte At 8. klokken tte

17. Weather

How's the weather? Hvordan er vret? What temperature is it? Hvor mange grader er det?It's cold Det er kaldt It's foggy Det er tkeIt's warm Det er varmt The fog is lifting Tken letnerIt's beautiful Det er pent It's snowing Det snrIt's bad Det er drlig It's raining Det regnerIt's clearing Det lysner It's going to storm Det bli stormIt's icy Det er isete There's thunder Det tordnerIt's windy Det blser There's lightning Det lynerIt's cloudy Det er overskyet It's freezing (cold as ice) Det er iskaldtIt's humid/muggy Det er fuktig It's hailing Det hagler

18. Family

Parents foreldre Niece nieseMother mor Nephew nevFather far Uncle onkelSon snn Aunt tanteDaughter datter Boy guttBrother bror Girl jente, pikeSister sster Child / Baby barnGrandfather bestefar Adult voksenGrandmother bestemor Man mannGrandson barnebarn Woman kvinne

Granddaughter barnebarn Friend (male) vennCousin (male) fetter Friend female) venninneCousin (female) kusine

Some family words have irregular indefinite plurals: mdre (mothers), fedre (fathers), snner (sons), dtre (daughters), brdre (brothers), and sstre (sisters)

19. To Know People & Facts

kjenne - to know people

vite - to know facts

present kjenner vetpast kjente visstefuture 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 Pluralen fisk fisker some fish fiskene the fishes

en hage hager some gardens hagenethe gardens

en baker bakere some bakers bakerne the bakers

et vindu vinduer some windows vinduenethe windows

et hus hus some houses husene the houses

et barn barn some children barnathe children

Irregular plural nouns in Norwegian:

Singular Irregular Indefinite Plural Singular = Indefinite Pluraland ender duck(s) angrep (n) attack(s)bok bker book(s) besok (n) visit(s)

bonde bnder peasant(s) eventyr (n) tale(s), story(ies)fot ftter foot(feet) feil error(s), mistake(s)hnd hender hand(s) forhold circumstance(s)

hndkle hndklr hand towel(s) hve (n) opportunity(ies)

kne (n) knr 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 rtter root(s) ting thing(s)sted (n) steder place(s) vpen weapon(s)stang stenger bar(s) strand strender beach(es) tang tenger pincher(s) tann tenner tooth(teeth) tre trr tree(s) t tr toe(s) ye yne eye(s)

Norwegian Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and GrammarNote: 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 thats good if not then Ill personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you dont need to buy it. The download link is provided below: