Norwegian Grammar.

1 THE SENTENCE
As in all the other Germanic languages, sentences in Norwegian can be described schematically containing three fields: a prefield, midfield and backfield. The prefield contains only one element. More often than not it is the subject. If the sentence is a question the prefield is empty. The midfield and backfield can be subdivided in three fields each. The word order and content of the subfields is different for the different sentence types.

1.1 WORD ORDER

The basic word order in main clauses in Norwegian is as follows: Prefield Han he har has Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial kanskje maybe Backfield Verb lest read Object denne boka Adverbial i forrige uke.

this book.the in last week

I forrige uke har In last week has Har

han he du

kanskje maybe kanskje maybe

lest read lest read

denne boka. this book.the denne boka? this book.the

Have you

Immediately following the prefield in the midfield is the subfield Finite which contains the tensed main verb and the auxiliary verb. Then there is a position for the subject, if it is not placed in the prefield. The final element in the midfield is an optional adverbial. In the first position in the backfield we find the verb. Next follows the object, and finally an optional additional adverbial.

1.2 THE PREFIELD

In Norwegian almost all sentence elements can be in the prefield. Typically one will find the subject here, but adverbs also frequently occupy this position, and more rarely the object or a particle. Prefield Han He fant found han han han faktisk ballen. ball.the Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial faktisk actually faktisk Backfield Verb Object pengene Adverbial under senga.

money.the under bed.the pengene. pengene under senga. under senga.

Under senga fant Faktisk Pengene Ut out fant fant

kastet han threw he

If an element occurs in the prefield its position in the mid- or backfield remains empty. Apart from the Finite-subfield, all fields can be empty. Prefield Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Backfield Verb Object Adverbial

Vent! wait! Hun she sover. sleeps

The cleft-sentence offers the same freedom of choice with respect to what has to be said first in the sentence, with the exception of the sentence adverbial in (1d), where * indicates ungrammaticality. Note that the subjunction is optional (indicated by the parentheses) when something other than the subject comes first. (1) a. Det var ham som faktisk fant pengene under senga. it was him that actually found monye.the under bed.the It was him that actually found the money under the bed. b. Det var under senga (som) han faktisk fant pengene. c. Det var pengene (som) han faktisk fant under senga. d. * Det var faktisk (som) han fant pengene under senga.

1.3 THE FINITE FIELD

The verb in the finite field is always conjugated (tempus), generally by adding an ending to the stem, e.g. les-er reads. In this way an utterance is anchored in a communicative context, i.e. before, simultaneously, or after it. Without this context it is impossible to ascertain whether an utterance is true or false. The sentence Per leser denne boka Per is reading this book can only be true, if Per is actually reading the book at the time of speech. In contrast to English, the tensed verb is always the second element in the Norwegian main clauses. This means that only one element can precede the tensed verb in the prefield. If there is an auxiliary in the clause, this is placed in the second position of the prefield, and the main verb is placed in the backfield. Prefield Johan John har has Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial faktisk actually Backfield Verb funnet found Object pengene Adverbial under senga.

money.the under bed.the

Han

fant

faktisk

pengene

under senga.

The order of the fields in the finite field is different in main clauses and in other types of sentences. see 1.9-1.12.

1.4 THE SUBJECT

All simple sentences contain two main elements: a subject and a finite verb. The subject is often a pronoun or noun phrase. The subject and the verb constitute the core of the sentence. If there is only a pronoun or a noun phrase together with the verb, this pronoun or noun phrase is generally the subject. If there are more pronouns or noun phrases in the sentence, the subject is the agent. If there is no action in the sentence, the subject often undergoes an experience. (1) a. John kastet ballen bort. John threw ball.the away John threw away the ball. b. Han hrte bilen. he heard car.the He heard the car. The subject can also be an anticipatory element: det it, there that refers to the real subject which follows later on in the clause: (2) a. Det er vanskelig forst. it is difficult to understand b. Det var tre menn i hagen. there were three men in garden.the There were three men in the garden. Normally, the subject occurs either in the prefield or in the subject field of the midfield immediately following the finite field. Prefield Anneli Anneli elsker loves Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Backfield Verb Object Adverbial meg. me meg.

Kanskje elsker Anneli

maybe

loves Anneli

me

When the subject is either a noun phrase or a stressed pronoun, it may occur between the sentence adverbials: (3) a. Guttene hadde jo formodentlig nok ikke lest bkene. boys.the had after-all presumably probably not read books.the The boys had after all presumably most likely not read the books. b. S hadde guttene jo formodentlig nok ikke lest bkene. then had boys.the after-all presumably probably not read books.the Then the boys after all had presumably most likely not read the books. c. S hadde jo guttene formodentlig nok ikke lest bkene. d. S hadde jo formodentlig guttene nok ikke lest bkene. Some pronouns have a separate subject case form: nominative. (4) a. Han elsker henne. he loves her b. Hun elsker ham. she loves him

1.5 SENTENCE ADVERBIALS

Sententialadverbialscontributesomethingtothecontentoftheclause.Theycancombine clauses,highlightpartsofaclause,ordenyorrevealthespeakersattitudetowhatheor sheissaying. (1) a. Han har alts en sjanse. he has thus a chance So he had a chance. b. Du skal fremfor alt komme i tide. you shall in-front-of all come in time.E You must above all be there in time. c. Anna kan ikke bli med p festen Anna can not become with on party.the Anna cannot come along to the party.

d. Hun vant dessverre. she won unfortunately Different kinds of words and phrases can function as sentential adverbials. For example single adverbs: kanskje maybe, participial phrases: rlig talt honestly speaking, preposition phrases: i hvert fall in any case, and subordinate clauses: s vidt jeg vet as far as I know. Sentential adverbials most often appear in the Prefield or in the Midfield, but they may also occur in the Backfield. Prefield x Jens Jens Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Verb har sikkert mtt has surely met Jens Jens Backfield Object Adverbial Anna. Anna

Sannsynligvis har probably has

mtt Anna. met Anna

If there are more than one sentential adverbials in the Midfield, the adverbial combining clauses comes first. Next follow adverbials that express the speakers attitude, and in the final position is the negation. (2) a. Han vil vel sannsynligvis ikke hjelpe. he will well probably not help He will most likely probably not help. b. Anna har n heldigvis ikke kjpt kjolen. Anna has now fortunately not bought dress.the Anna has fortunately not bought the dress. The most common sentence adverbs in written Norwegian are ikke not, ogs also, s so, n now, bare just, only, da then, selv even, sammen together, hvor where, slik such.

1.6 NEGATION
Whenthespeakerwantstodenythatsomethingistrue,anegativeclauseisused,often withnegativeadverbialssuchasikkenot,knapthardly,oraldrinever.

Ifthereareseveralsententialadverbialsintheclause,thenegationalwayscomeinthe finalposition. (1) a. Du kommer jo allikevel aldri i tide. you come after-all anyway never in time.E After all you never arrive in time anyway. b. Han kunne sannsynligvis nok heller ikke n det. he could probably surely either not reach it He probably couldnt reach it either. The negations ikke not and knapt hardly can only occur in the beginning of the clause if the clause modifies another phrase. Aldri never can stand alone in the Prefield. (2) a. Ikke et ye var trt. not an eye was dry b. Ikke under noen omstendigheter vil jeg akseptere denne dommen. not under any circumstances will I accept this sentence.the c. Aldri har jeg sett noe s vakkert. never have I seen anything so beautiful

1.7 THE VERB PHRASE

As in English, the verb in Norwegian generally stands in the beginning of the verb phrase in the backfield. However, if the main verb is tensed, it occupies the finite position in the Midfield, and its position in the Backfield is empty. If there is an auxiliary in the clause, this is placed in the Midfield, and the main verb, which is untensed, stands in the verb position in the Backfield. Prefield Midfield x Finite Subject Adverbial Verb Jens har x mtt Jens has met Jens Jens mter meets Backfield Object Adverbial Anna. Anna Anna. Anna

The object always follows the verb, and after that comes the adverbials. Some verbs are closely connected to adverbial particles and prepositions, such as: opp up and ut out. But they still always appear in the adverbial field: (1) a. N kaster hun ballen ut igjen. now throws she ball.the out again Now she throws the ball out again. b. Hun har skrevet adressen opp i boka. she has written address.the up in book.the She has written down the address in the book. c. Han legger alltid to meter til. he lays always two meters to He always adds two meters. There can be many different kinds of adverbials in the Backfield. As in English, the most important rule for the order of these is that the adverbials of place generally precedes the adverbials of time: (2) a. Du skal legge boka p bordet p mandag. you shall lay book.the on table.the on Monday You must lay the book on the table on Monday. b. * Jeg kommer ikke til Kbenhavn p sndag. I come not to Copenhagen on Sunday Im not coming to Copenhagen on Sunday.

1.8 AUXILIARY VERBS

Auxiliary verbs co-occur with the main verb and provide several ways of expressing time relations in the clause. There are several groups of auxiliaries: modal auxiliaries (mtte must, skulle should, kunne could), tense auxiliaries (ha have, vre be), passive auxiliaries (bli become, vre be), and copula verbs (vre be, bli become).

1.8.1 Modal auxiliaries

Modalauxiliariesexpressthespeakersattitudetowhathe/sheissaying.Modals generallycooccurwiththeinfinitiveformofthemainverb: (1) a. Jeg skal stoppe. I shall stop

I will stop. b. Jeg vil be deg om en tjeneste. I will ask you about a favour Im going to ask you a favour. Modal auxiliaries can express: (i)Somethingthespeakerthinksispossible: (2) a. Jeg er sikker p at han kan vre her. I am sure on that he can be here Im sure that he can be here. b. Han kan vre gtt hjem, men det er ogs mulig at han er p loftet. ha can be gone home but it is also possible that he is on attic.the He may have gone home but it is also possible that he is in the attic. (ii) Something that the speaker thinks is necessary: (3) a. Noen br hjelpe henne. someone should help her b. Hun m ikke g ut i dag. she must not go out today (iii) Capability or volition: (4) a. Anna kan svmme 1000 meter. Anna can swim 1000 meters b. Jeg vil ikke spise flere bananer. I want not eat more bananas I dont want to eat more bananas. Infinitive skulle kunne mtte burde ville Present skal kan m br vil Past skulle kunne mtte burde ville Perfect skullet kunnet mttet villet Meaning shall, will, is said to, necessity (3) can, may, be able to, possibility (2), capability (4) must, have to, necessity (3) should, ougth to, necessity (3) will, want to, volition (4)

The modal auxiliaries are generally positioned initially in the verb phrase. Several modal auxiliaries can co-occur: (5) a. Han m kunne lpe fortere. he must can run faster He must be able to run faster. b. Det burde kunne la seg gjre. it ought can let itself do It should be possible.

1.8.2 Other auxiliaries

Inadditiontothemodalauxiliaries,NorwegianliketheotherGermaniclanguageshas auxiliariesthatexpresstimeandthepassive. Timeisexpressedbytheauxiliarieshahaveandvrebewhichdenotethatsomething iscompleted,andvillewouldandskulleshouldwhichdenotethatsomethingwill happeninthefuture. (1) a. Han har kjpt en ny bil. he has bought a new car b. Han er allerede ankommet. he is already arrived He has already arrived. c. Det vil vre et stort problem for oss i fremtiden. it will be a big problem for us in future.the It will be a big problem for us in the future. d. Jeg skal reise til Paris i morgen. I shall travel to Paris tomorrow Im going to Paris tomorrow. A verb in simple present tense may also express future: (2) Jeg reiser til Paris i morgen. I travel to Paris tomorrow Im going to Paris tomorrow. Passive is expressed by the auxiliaries bli become and vre be, followed by the past participle form of the main verb.

(3) a. Han ble kjrt over av en bil i gr. he became driven over by a car yesterday He was hit by a car yesterday. b. Han er plaget av mygg. he is tormented by mosquitoes Infinitive vre ha ville bli Present er har vil blir Past var hadde ville ble Perfect vrt hatt villet blitt Meaning Tense active, passive Tense active Tense active - future Tense passive

As in the other Germanic languages, different auxiliaries can be combined to express different aspects of the actions process: (4) a. Han kan vre blitt sendt hjem av sjefen sin. he can be become sent home by boss.the his He may have been sent home by his boss. b. Hun burde ha kunnet forutse problemet. she ought have could foresee problem.the She should have been able to foresee the problem.

1.9 THE MAIN CLAUSE

Themainclauseisthemostbasickindofutterance.Therearethreetypesofmain clauses: 1.Thepropermainclause,whichhasatensedverbandfunctionsasanassertionora question: (1) a. Forrige uke var jeg i York. last week was I in York Last week I was in York. b. Han har ikke lest boka enn. he has not read book.the yet He has not read the book yet. c. Var du i York i forrige uke?

were you in York in last week Were you in York last week? d. Har han ikke lest boka enn? has he not read book.the yet Hasnt he read the book yet? 2. Theimperativemainclause,whichhasanimperativeverbandfunctionsasademand: (2) a. pn vinduet! open window.the Open the window! b. Vr s snill! be so kind Please! 3. Theexclamativemainclause,whichtypicallyhastheformofanembeddedclause, and expresses a surprise or astonishment: (3) a. For en flott kjole! for a nice dress What a nice dress! b. Din store idiot! your big idiot You big idiot!

1.9.1 Declarative main clauses

Therearetwotypesofdeclarativemainclauses:positive(affirmative)andnegative. Positive: (1) a. Han har kjpt boka. he has bought book.the He has bought the book. b. Han hjelper sin kone. he helps his wife Negative:

(2) a. Han har ikke kjpt boka. he has not bought book.the He has not bought the book. b. Han hjelper aldri sin kone. he helps never his wife He never helps his wife. 1.9.1.1 Affirmative main clauses Asdescribedinsection1.1.and1.3.,affirmativemainclauseshavethetensedverbinthe Finitefieldasthesecondelementoftheclause.Thisverbcanonlybeprecededbyone wordoronephrase.Ifanyotherelementthanthesubjectprecedestheverb,thesubject generallyfollowsimmediatelyaftertheverb.Onlyafewadverbsmayoccurinfrontofthe finiteverbinadditiontothesubject,whichisthennolongerthesecondelementinthe clause: (1) a. Han bare gikk sin vei. he just walked his way He just walked away.

b. Han nrmest kastet seg ut fra balkongen. he closest threw himself out from balcony.the He almost threw himself out from the balcony. In declarative main clauses almost any element can occur in front of the tensed verb in the Finite field: Prefield x Han he fant found han han han faktisk Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Verb faktisk actually faktisk Backfield Object pengene Adverbial under senga.

money.the under bed.the pengene. pengene under senga. under senga.

Under senga fant Faktisk Pengene fant fant

Ut out

kastet han threw he

ballen. ball.the

Inmostcaseswefindthesubjectintheprefield(in6070%ofthecases).Itisalittleless commontofindanadverbialinhere(2030%ofthecases)ortheobject(510%ofthe cases).Evenlesscommonisapredicativecomplementoraparticleinthisposition. Lightpronominalobjects,generallypersonalpronounssuchasmegme,degyou,seg himself/herselft/itself,henneher,hamhim,anddenitcanbeplacedinfrontofthe adverbialintheMidfield,eventhoughtheyshouldbeplacedintheobjectpositioninthe Backfield.ButthisisonlypossibleiftheverbpositionintheBackfieldisempty.Ifthese lightpronounsoccurintheirregularobjectposition,theygetspecificemphaticstress. Prefield Midfield Light pronoun x Han he Han he Han Han he Han he Finite hjelper helps hjelper helps hjelper har has har has henne her Subject field aldri never aldri. never aldri aldri never aldri never henne. hjulpet sin kone. helped his wife hjulpet henne. helped her sin kone. his wife Adverbial Verb Object Adverbial Backfield

Main clauses can be combined with conjunctions such as e.g. og and and men but. If the subject is the same in both clauses, it may be deleted in the second clause: (2) a. Han s henne og han hjalp henne. he saw her and he helped her

b. Han s henne og ____ hjalp henne. he saw her and helped her 1.9.1.2 Negative main clauses Negativemainclauseshavethesamewordorderasaffirmative(positive)mainclauses. ThenegationikkenotispositionedintheadverbialfieldintheMidfieldandisgenerally thelastoftheadverbialsinthisposition.Wordsexpressingsomethingabsolutive,suchas noensinneevernormallycannotoccurinpositiveclauses.Theymustalwayscooccur withthenegationorinaninterrogativeclause: (1) Han har aldri noensinne sett henne. * Han har noensinne sett henne. he has never ever seen her he has ever seen her

1.9.2 Direct questions

LikeEnglish,Norwegianhastwotypesofquestions: 1.Yes/noquestions: (1) Er Peter her? Ja. / Nei. is Peter here yes no 2. Questions that are introduces by a wh-word such as hvem who, hva what, nr when, hvor where, hvordan how, etc. (2) Hvem banker p dra? Anne / Espen / ... who knocks on door.the Anne Espen ... Who is knocking on the door? Anne/Espen/... 1.9.2.1 Yes/no-questions Directquestionsthatcanbeansweredbyyesornoarealwaysintroducedbyafiniteverb. Thewordorderisthesameasformainclauses,onlywithouttheprefield: Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Fant han found he Verb Backfield Object pengene? money.the Adverbial

Skal shall Er is

jeg I hun she

kanskje maybe ikke not

hente fetch kommet come

boka book.the

til deg? to you enn? yet

Whenseveralyes/noquestionsarecoordinatedbytheconjunctionelleror,onecan oftenleavesomethingoutinthesecondquestion.Therearetwotypicalcases: 1.Ifthesecondclauseisanegationofthefirstonethenegationeinotisused: (1) Er han glad eller ei? (= Er han glad eller er han ikke glad?) is he happy or not is he happy or is he not happy 2. If only one constituent distinguishes the second clause from the first one, and the rest of the sentence can be reconstructed from the first sentence: (2) Skal jeg gjre det eller Stina? (=Skal jeg gjre det eller skal Stina gjre det?) shall I do it or Stina (= Should I do it or should Stina do it?) 1.9.2.1 Wh-questions Norwegiandirectwhquestionsarealwaysintroducedbyawhword(hvemwho,hva what,nrwhen,hvorwhere,hvordanhow,etc.)oraphrasethatcontainsawh word(hvilkebkerwhichbooks,hvaforeibokwhichbook,etc.).Thewordorderis thesameasfortopicalisedmainclauses. (1) a. Hva har du kjpt? what have you bought What did you buy? b. Hvilken bok har du kjpt? which book have you bought c. Hva for ei bok har du kjpt? what for a book have you bought What kind of book did you buy?

1.9.3 Imperatives

Animperativemainclausegenerallyexpressesademandoranorder. (1) a. pn dra! open door.the Open the door! b. Ikke vr s dum! not be so stupid Dont be so stupid! The clause starts with the verb in its basic form. The rest of the clause has the same word order as main clauses. However, if the imperative is negated, the negation is generally in the initial position, as in English. The subject or the receiver of the order is normally left out. Verbs ending in a vowel have the same form in infinitive and imperative, e.g. g go, se see, st stand, etc. Verbs ending in a consonant form the imperative by deleting the ending -e from the infinitive, e.g. kjp-e kjpe, sov-e sleep, spis-e eat.

1.10 THE SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

The subordinate clause is a part of a main clause. It can have the function of subject, object, adverbial, predicative, and it can also be the modifier of a noun. (1) a. [ At han var syk ] var penbart. Subject that he was ill was obvious That he was ill was obvious. (1) b. Han visste ikke [ hvem hun hadde bedt]. Object he knew not who she had invited He didnt know who she had invited. (1) c. Han kom fram [ da hun allerede hadde dratt ]. Adverbial he came forward when she already had left He arrived when she had already left. (1) d. Planen min er [ at vi mter henne p stasjonen ]. Predicative plan.the my is that we meet her on station.the My plan is that we meet her at the station. (1) e. Jeg kjpte et hus [ som var rdt ]. Modifier of noun I bought a house that was red

I bought a house that was red. Norwegian subordinate clauses normally have an introducing element (often a subjunction) and a special word order (unlike English). The first position is often empty. The second position (where the finite verb is found in main clauses) is the place for the introducing element, and the finite verb as well as other verbs are positioned in the Verb field. Compare the word order in main clauses to that of subordinate clauses. (2) a. Main clause: Prefield Eva Eva a. Subordinate clause: Midfield Finite Subject Adverbial Verb har ikke lest has not read har lest has read lest read har lest has read lest read har lest has read Backfield Object Adverbial boka mi enn. book.the yet my boka mi book.the my boka mi book.the my boka mi book.the my enn yet enn? yet

Eva hasnt read my book yet. at that b. Main clause: Eva Eva ikke not

that Eva hasnt read my book yet Har Eva ikke has Eva not

Hasnt Eva read my book yet? b. Subordinate clause: om if c. Main clause: Eva Eva ikke not enn yet enn. yet enn yet

if Eva hasnt read my book yet Boka mi har Eva ikke book.the my has Eva not My book, Eva hasnt read yet. (boka mi) som Eva ikke

c. Subordinate clause:

(book-the which Eva not my) (my book) which Eva hasnt read yet

Note that the subject is always in the position after the introducing element. Note also that the finite verb is placed after negation (and other sentence adverbials).

1.10.1 Nominal clauses

Nominal clauses have the same functions as noun phrases. Nominal clauses are primarily at-clauses and interrogative clauses. Like noun phrases they occur primarily as subjects, objects, or complements of prepositions. (1) a. [ At Karl kom p festen] var hyggelig. Subject that Karl came on party.the was nice It was nice that Karl came to the party. (1) b. Jeg lurer p [ hvem som kom p festen]. Object I wonder on who that came on party.the I wonder who came to the party. (1) c. Jeg stolte p [ at hun skulle komme p festen]. Prepositional complement I counted on that she should come on party.the I counted on that she would come to the party. 1.10.1.1 At-clauses In at-clauses the introducing element is sometimes missing. (1) Jeg tror [ (at) hun kan det]. I think (that) she knows it I think (that) she knows it. The word order in at-clauses is normally the same as in other subordinate clauses, but it may sometimes also show the same order as in main clauses. (2) a. Han meddelte at hun ikke kan komme. he announced that she not can come He announced that she cant come. (2) b. Hun meddelte at hun kan ikke komme. she announced that she can not come She announced that she cant come. 1.10.1.2 Indirect wh-questions Indirect wh-questions correspond to ordinary main clause questions, where you ask for something with words like who, what, when, where, how, why (in Norwegian hvem, hva, nr, hvor, hvordan, hvorfor). (1) a. Han visste ikke [ hva han skulle gjre]. cf. main Hva skulle han gjre?

clause: he knew not what he should do He didnt know what to do. what should he do What should he do?

(1) b. Jeg lurer p [ nr du er fdt]. cf. main clause: Nr er du fdt? I wonder on when you are born When are you born I wonder when you were born. When were you born? If the questioned element is the subject, som that is obligatorily inserted after the question word. (2) Jeg lurer p hvem som har stjlet sykkelen min. I wonder on who that has stolen bike.the my I wonder who stole my bike. 1.10.1.3 Indirect Yes/no-questions Indirect yes/no-questions correspond to ordinary main clause yes/no-questions. The introducing element is om if, or sometimes hvorvidt whether or i tilfelle in case. (1) Jeg lurer I p [ om du har dusjet]. cf. main clause: Har du dusjet?

wonder on whether you have showered

I wonder whether you have taken a shower.

have you showered Have you taken a shower?

1.10.2 Relative clauses

Relative clauses are typically found inside noun phrases, following a noun, a proper name, or a pronoun. In Norwegian they are normally introduced by som that, but in formal written language a wh-phrase, (like hvilket which and hvis whose) also occur. (1) a. Huset [ som str der borte ] tilhrer biskopen. house.the that stands there away belongs-to bishop.the The house over there belongs to the bishop. (1) b. Mannen [ som str der ] er min bror. man.the who stands there is my brother The man standing over there is my brother. (1) c. Vi snakket med ham som politiet jagde. we talked with him that police.the chased

We talked to the guy that the police chased. If the noun expresses time or location, the relative clause may also be introduced with nr, da when, then, hvor, der where, there, dit there-to. (2) a. sommeren [ da allting hendte] summer.the when everything happened the summer that everything happened (2) b. huset [ der / hvor jeg bor] house.the there / where I live the house where I live Relative clauses with som are also found in the so-called cleft construction. (3) a. Det var Eva [ som frst kom p iden]. it was Eva who first came on idea.the It was Eva who first came up with the idea. (3) b. Det var den iden [ som Eva kom p]. it was that idea that Eva came on That was the idea that Eva came up with. Relative clauses can also be used to modify the whole clause (instead of a noun phrase). In such cases the relative pronoun hvilket which can be used, as well as noe som something which. (4) a. Han spiller piano om morgenen, hvilket irriterer meg. he plays piano in morning.the which irritates me He plays the piano in the morning, which irritates me. (4) b. Naboen har ftt ny bil, noe som gjr meg misunnelig. neighbour.the has got new car something which makes me envious My neighbour has got a new car, and that makes me envious.

1.10.3 Adverbial subordinate clauses

Adverbial subordinate clauses express time, location, condition, cause, intention, comparison, and other similar relations. They function as adverbials, and they are introduced by adverbs or subjunctions like nr/da when, der there, hvis if, fordi because, ettersom because, since, for in order to, enn than, som as. Compare 3.7. (1) a. [ Nr du kommer fram], har du kirken til hyre.

when you come forward have you church.the to right When you get there, you have the church to your right. (1) b. [ Hvis du vil], kan du hjelpe henne. if you want can you help her If you want to, you can help her. (1) c. Vi ble slitne [ ettersom det var veldig varmt]. we became tired as it was very hot We got tired as it was very hot. (1) d. Han er eldre [ enn jeg er]. he is older than I am He is older than I am. (1) e. Han er like gammel [ som jeg er]. he is as old as I am He is as old as I am. Conditional clauses are normally introduced by the subjunction hvis if, but they may also lack it. In such cases they are formed like questions. (2) Har du kjpt de betal d m du n e en. h yo bough m yo it pay it ave u t ust u If you have bought it, you must pay for it. = H de betal d du har kjpt m du vis n e en. yo h bough m yo if it pay it u ave t ust u If you have bought it, you must pay for it.

Adverbial clauses that are placed in the first position of their main clause, are often followed by the word s so in front of the finite verb. The use of s contrasts with English. (3) a. Nr dere kommer, s kan vi begynne spise. when you arrive so can we begin eat When you arrive, we can begin eating. (3) b. Hvis du vil, s kan du bade. if you want so can you bathe If you want to, you may bathe.

1.11 NON-FINITE CLAUSES

Non-finite clauses are clauses without a finite verb. The verb is either an infinitive or a participle. (1) a. Det er hyggelig [ spille bridge]. it is nice to play bridge It is nice to play bridge. (1) b. en [ drlig skrevet ] artikkel a badly written article a badly written article

1.11.1 Infinitival clauses

In infinitival clauses the verb is in the infinitive form. Such clauses are normally introduced by the infinitival marker to. They never contain a subject, but are otherwise very similar to subordinate clauses introduced by at that. (1) a. Vi begynte [ forst hans problem ]. we began to understand his problem We began to understand his problem. (1) b. De lengtet etter [ reise til kysten]. they longed after to travel to coast.the They longed for travelling to the coast. (1) c. [ bli ranet] er en fl opplevelse. to get mugged is a terrible experience To be mugged is a terrible experience. The infinitival marker is sometimes missing, for instance in the beginning of a clause and after negation. (2) a. [ () ] studere latin har jeg alltid drmt om. to study Latin have I always dreamt about I have always dreamt of studying Latin. (2) b. Du trenger ikke () lese boka. you need not to read book.the You dont have to read the book. The infinitival marker is always missing in the so-called object with infinitive construction. (3) Vi hrte jentene [ synge bak lven].

we heard girls.the sing behind barn.the We heard the girls singing behind the barn.

1.11.2 Participial clauses

In participial clauses the verb is either a present or a past participle. These clauses are normally used attributively (in front of a noun). They may contain adverbials, and also other elements that are not allowed in English. (1) a. en [ drlig skrevet ] artikkel a badly written article a badly written article (1) b. en [ for meg svrt opprivende ] hendelse a for me very agonizing event an event that was very agonizing for me

1.12 SPECIAL CONSTRUCTIONS

Keine Daten gefunden!

1.12.1 Topicalisation
Topicalisation is the traditional term for constructions where subjects occur in the first position of the clause. It does however not apply to wh-elements of any kind. Normally, an adverbial or an object is placed in the first position. (1) a. I morgen skal vi g p kino. in morning shall we go on cinema Tomorrow we will go to the cinema. (1) b. Bak bilen fant jeg en btte. behind car.the found I a bucket Behind the car I found a bucket. (1) c. Denne boka har hun ikke lest. this book.the has she not read This book she hasnt read. (1) d. Glad ble hun ikke. happy became she not She did not get happy.

(1) e. At vi kommer vet Karl allerede. that we come knows Karl already Karl already knows that we are coming. Note that the subject occurs directly after the verb when something is topicalised. One reason for topicalising an element is that this element is already known by the hearer and the speaker. Another reason is to emphasize the element.

1.12.2 Existential sentences

If the subject contains new information it may immediately follow the non-finite verb and the word det, there is placed in the subject position or in the first position. (1) a. Det kan ha vrt ei flue i suppa. it may have been a fly in soup.the There may have been a fly in the soup. (1) b. Det hadde oppsttt en krangel mellom brdrene. it had occurred a fight between brothers.the There occurred a fight between the brothers. The word det it behaves as an ordinary subject. For instance it is placed directly after the verb if something is topicalised. (2) a. I suppa kan det ha vrt ei flue. in soup.the may it have been a fly In the soup, there may have been a fly. (2) b. Mellom brdrene hadde det oppsttt en krangel. between brothers.the had it occurred a fight Between the brothers there had occurred a fight.

1.12.3 Passives
A sentence may often have both an active and a passive voice. Both voices express the same event, but the element that is the subject in the active voice is suppressed in the passive voice. It may be missing or it may be expressed in an av-phrase (a by-phrase). (1) a. Active: Mannen pnet vinduet. man.the opened window.the The man opened the window.

(1) b. Passive: Vinduet ble pnet ( av mannen ). window.the became opened by man.the The window was opened by the man. There are three sorts of passives in Norwegian. Either one of the auxiliaries bli become or vre be is used, or the verb takes on the s-ending. The most common passive is the one with the auxiliary bli become, which has a wide range of uses, and can be used freely in all tenses. (2) a. Bkene blir solgt p auksjon. books.the become sold on auction The books are sold on aution. (2) b. Bkene ble solgt p auksjon. books.the became sold on auction The books were sold on aution. (2) c. Bkene har blitt solgt p auksjon. books.the have become sold on auction The books are being sold on aution. Passives with the auxiliary vre be are less common. The meaning of the vrepassive often depends on the meaning of the main verb. Consider the following example, where the meaning corresponds to that of the example in the perfect above: (3) Bkene er solgt p auksjon. books.the are sold on auction The books have been sold on aution. The s-passive is normally only used in the infinitive or the present tense. (4) a. Bkene selges p auksjon. books.the sell.PASS on auction The books are sold on auction. (4) b. Bkene sendes for selges p auksjon. books.the send.PASS for to sell.PASS on auction The books are sent to be sold on auction.

1.12.4 Middles

Norwegian does not have middles of the sort found in English. Sentences like This book reads easily are translated with an adjectival construction: (1) a. Denne boka er lett lese. this book.the is easy to read This book reads easily. (1) b. Denne boka gr det ( lett ) lese. this book.the goes it ( easy ) to read This book reads easily.

1.12.5 Free word order (Scrambling)

Norwegian, just like English, lacks the kind of free word order often called scrambling, which is typical of German and Dutch.

1.12.6 Weak pronouns, clitics, and object shift

Norwegian possesses a specific construction named object shift, which moves unstressed object pronouns to a position in front of the negation (or other sentence adverbials). This is not possible with ordinary noun phrases, but only with pronouns. (1) a. Jeg s ikke Karl. Ordinary object: no object shift I saw not Karl I didnt see Karl. (1) b. Jeg s ham ikke. Pronominal object: object shift occurs I saw him not I didnt see him. This movement is only found if there is nothing (or only a verb particle) in between the negation (sentence adverbial) and the object. If there is a verb, a preposition or the like in between, the object stays in its normal position. (2) a. Jeg tok den ikke opp. Particle does not intervene: object shift I took it not up I didnt take it up. (2) b. Jeg har ikke sett ham. Verb intervenes: no object shift I have not seen him I havent see him. (2) c. Jeg s ikke p henne. Preposition intervenes: no object shift

I saw not on her I didnt look at her.

1.13 COORDINATION AT THE CLAUSE LEVEL

Norwegian uses og and, eller or, and men but in the same way as English to coordinate main clauses. (1) a. Jeg gr og Lise sykler. I walk and Lise bikes Im walking and Lise is running a bike. (2) b. Ole er sjelden glad, men Kari ler av alt. Ole is seldom happy but Kari laughs of everything Ole is seldom happy but Kari laughs at everything.

2 THE PHRASES
Words belonging to different word classes function syntactically as heads in phrases. A phrase consists of a head (a verb, a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or a preposition) which alone or together with optional modifiers constitute a verb phrase (run, wash the car), a noun phrase (John, Mary's sister from Utah, peace in our time), an adjective phrase (red, like his father), an adverb phrase (always, almost never), or a prepositional phrase (at my door, with Mary). The modifying phrases may occur before and/or after the head word, depending on language and phrasal type. In many respects, the phrases in the Germanic languages have very similar properties. The overall structure of phrases is the same in Norwegian and in English.

2.1 THE VERB PHRASE

The verb phrase has a verb as its head: He bought a book yesterday. This phrase constitutes the last part of the sentence, following the sentential adverbials. In German and Dutch verb phrases the verb is in the final position (a), whereas the verb phrase in Norwegian (b) and the other Germanic languages is verb initial: (1) a. Ich muss morgens im Warenhaus einen Mantel gekaufen. b. Jeg m kjpe ei kpe p kjpesenteret i morgen. I must buy a coat on department.store.the in morning I must buy a coat at the department store tomorrow.

In main clauses, however, the tensed verb (auxiliary or main verb) appears in the finite (second) position ( 1.3) rather than in the verb phrase in all the Germanic languages (except English) (c-d): c. N har han nok gtt p toget. now has he probably gone on train.the He has probably got on the train now. d. N gikk han p toget. now went he on train.the He got on the train now. Norwegian differs from English in being a verb-second language. In Norwegian, the tensed verb (auxiliary or main verb) always appears in the finite (second) position in main clauses. This means that the tensed verb precedes sentence adverbials and negation. Examples (c-d) also illustrate the fact that the tensed verb precedes the subject (han) in topicalised sentences.

2.1.1 The order of elements in the verb phrase

The order of elements in the Norwegian verb phrase is given in the scheme below. If there is an indirect object, this follows next, preceding a position where we find the subject predicative complement, the direct object or the associate subject; see the last example below for a case with both an indirect object and an associate subject. The object predicative complement and the infinitive of the object with infinitive constructions share a position, followed by a field for bound content adverbials (Han bor i Lund he lives in Lund) and prepositional objects (Han ser p henne he is looking at her). Finally there is a field for free content adverbials and postponed phrases. Obj Direct obj, predicative, Associate subj, Infinitive Subj predicative clause ei bok a book Bound adverbials, Prep. objects Free adverbials, Postponed phrases p fdselsdagen at birthday.the

Verb br gi should give male paint se

Ind. obj. ham him

huset house.the ham

rdt red komme

see g go

him

come til byen to town.the snarest immediately av kongen by king.the

overrekkes henne nobelprisen is.given her Nobel Prize.the

Particles(see2.1.4)allowtwodifferentlocations,oneimmediatelybeforetheverband oneimmediatelyafter. Direct object, Obj Associate predicative, Verb Particle subject, Particle Infinitive Subj clause predicative hogge av cut hogge cut hoppe opp jump up hoppe jump ta take off hodet head.the hodet head.the ei katt a cat ei katt a cat fra ham boka from him book.the opp up av off p bordet on table.the p bordet on table.the Free Bound adverbials, adverbials, Postponed Prep. objects phrases med kniv with knife med kniv with knife framfor meg in-front-of me framfor meg in-front-of me snarest immediately

ta take

boka book.the

fra ham from him

snarest immediately

2.1.2 Be and Have

All the Germanic languages make extensive use of verbs corresponding closely to the English be (Norwegian vre) and have (Norwegian ha). Compare English The book is on the table with Norwegian Boka er p bordet. As a main verb, be is also used as a copula (He is sick, Han er syk). As auxiliaries, be and have are used to express voice, tense, and aspect (He was killed, He has read the book, He is reading the book). In Norwegian, have is generally used to express the perfect tense and the pluperfect tense with all kinds of verbs (a-b), but in some dialects, be may be used with intransitive verbs indicating a change of state (c): (1) a. Marie Curie har ftt nobelprisen to ganger. Marie Curie has received Nobel prize.the two times Marie Curie has received the Nobel Prize twice. b. Leiv Eriksson har dratt til Amerika. Leiv Eriksson has gone to America Leiv Eriksson has gone to America. c. Leiv Eriksson er dratt til Amerika. Leiv Eriksson is gone to America Leiv Eriksson has gone to America. Be may also be used with a past participle as a passive auxiliary when the passive expresses the result of an action or a completed transition (d) d. Jomsvikingene var tatt til fange av nordmennene. Jomsvikings.the were taken to capture by Norwegians.the The Jomsvikings were captured by the Norwegians. However, bli become is more common as a passive auxiliary; see 1.12.4. Inaddition,vreisusedasthecopula;whenthepredicativeisanadjectiveorapast participle,itagreeswiththesubjectingenderandnumber: (2) a. Han var syk igr. he was ill yesterday b. De var syke igr. they were ill yesterday

Whereas Norwegian sometimes allows the used of the auxiliary be in forming the perfect tense and the pluperfect tense with intransitive verbs (as in (c) above), English always uses the auxiliary have , irrespectively of whether the verb is transitive or intransitive.

2.1.3 Reflexive verbs

A reflexive pronoun may be the object of a transitive verb, as in He killed himself. In this case, the reflexive pronoun may be replaced by another pronoun or a full noun phrase. However, all the Germanic languages (except English) have reflexive verbs, a combination of an intransitive verb + a reflexive. They have a meaning of their own, and often correspond to one verb in English: consider the Norwegian Jeg vegrer meg for hjelpe ham, where meg is the reflexive, which corresponds to the English I refuse to help him without a reflexive. Some verbs are only used together with a reflexive (oppfre seg behave, innfinne seg appear); others are either intransitive or reflexive (angre (seg) regret). A third group of reflexive verbs can occur with an ordinary object instead of the reflexive, but with a different meaning (a -b): (1) a. Han vendte seg til henne. he turned REFL to her He turned towards her. b. Han vendte bladet. he turned page.the He turned the page. With respect to word order, the reflexive behaves like a pronoun. Thus it must precede a particle or particles (see 2.1.4.): Han slet seg ut he wore himself out. As English does not have reflexive verbs, the intransitive verb + reflexive combination in Norwegian generally corresponds to one verb in English.

2.1.4 Verb particles

Norwegian particle constructions correspond closely in almost all ways to English ones. This is illustrated in (a-c): (1) a. kaste opp (maten) throw up (food.the) throw up the food b. gi opp (kampen)

give up (fight.the) capitulate c. kle p seg (ei kpe) dress on REFL (a coat) put on a coat Just as in English, the position of the particle within the verb phrase depends on the form of the object. If there is a nominal object, the particle may either come before or after it (d-e). However, if the object is a pronoun, the particle must come beforethe object (f-g): d. kaste opp maten e. kaste maten opp throw up food.the up throw up the food f. *kaste opp den g. kaste den opp throw up it up throw it up However, there are many constructions whose meanings are not matched in English and which must be learned like words: h. dele ut nobelprisen share out Nobel Prize.the award the Nobel Prize i. Sknaden gikk igjennom. application.the went through The application got through. Often the combination verb + particle corresponds to a prefixed verb with the same (j-k) or a related (l-m) meaning: j. Sjefen mtte legge ned bedriften. k. Sjefen mtte nedlegge bedriften boss.the had-to lay down down-lay company.the The boss had to shut down the company. l. Han streket under ordet. he lined under word.the He underlined the word.

m. Han understreket ordets betydning. he underlined word.thes meaning He emphasized the meaning of the word. With respect to the position of the particle in relation to nominal and pronominal objects, English and Norwegian are the same.

2.1.5 The object

In Norwegian as in English, the object is an obligatory nominal or sentential complement of certain verbs. It may be a noun phrase, The vikings were Scandinavian seafarers, a pronoun, Many nations feared them, an infinitival clause, Children like to hear fairy tales, or an embedded clause, The Jomsvikings said that they were content to die. Some verbs take two objects, one indirect and one direct object: The king gave her the prize. In this case, the first object (her) expresses the one who gets what is expressed by the second object (the prize). In Norwegian, the object either follows the main verb, or it appears in the first position (a-b): (1) a. Klostrene brygget l i middelalderen. monasteries.the brewed beer in Middle Ages.the The monasteries brewed beer in the Middle Ages. b. Gudene ofret vikingene til ved blot. gods.the sacrificed vikings.the to at blot The vikings made offerings to the gods at the blot. In main clauses, nominal objects follow sentence adverbials, including negation (c), whereas pronominal objects come before such adverbials (d). However, all kinds of objects come before content adverbials such as adverbials of time, place, and manner (e): c. Han holdt ikke kniven i hnda. he held not knife.the in hand.the He didn't hold the knife in his hand. d. Han holdt den ikke i hnda. he held it not in hand.the He didn't hold it in his hand. e. Vikingene ofret gaver til gudene hvert r.

vikings.the sacrificed gifts to gods.the every year The vikings sacrificed gifts to the gods every year. When the object is questioned, it appears in the first position (f): f. Hva syntes jomsvikingene om d? what thought Jomsvikings.the about to die What did the Jomsvikings think about dying? Object pronouns bear the specific oblique case in Norwegian, cf. ham him, henne her (ham is mostly used in writing; in speech most people would use han). The corresponding subject forms are han he, hun she. For den it there is only one form. Topicalised constructions with non-subjeccts in the initial position (such as (b)), are much more common in Norwegian than in English.

2.1.6 Predicative complements

A predicative complement often expresse a quality or attribute of the subject or the object, or it tells us the identity of the subject or the object. It may be a noun phrase (a), an adjective phrase (b), a prepositional phrase (c), or a subordinate clause (d): (1) a. Alfred Nobel var kjemiker. Alfred Nobel was chemist Alfred Nobel was a chemist. b. Marie Curie er svrt bermt. Marie Curie is very famous Marie Curie is very famous. c. De valgte Bush til president. they elected Bush to president They elected Bush as president. d. Ett resultat er at prisene vil stige. one result is that prices.the will raise One result is that the prices will raise. When the predicative complement is an adjective (or a past participle), it agrees with the word it is a complement to (subject or object) in number and gender (ef):

e. Eventyret var nifst. fairy tale.the was scary-sg.neut. The fairy tale was scary. f. Jomsvikingene var fryktlse. Jomsvikings.the were fearless-pl. The Jomsvikings were fearless. The predicative complement of the subject follows all verbs, but precedes content adverbials (g). When combined with particle verbs, the predicative comes between the verb and the particle (h): g. Han hadde vrt syk igr. he had been ill yesterday He had been ill yesterday. h. Den ser fin ut. it looks nice PART It looks nice. English and Norwegian are very similar at this point. However, in English, there is no visible agreement in number and gender between the predicative complement and the subject or the object.

2.1.7 Content adverbials

In general, Norwegian is like English with respect to its use of adverbials in the sentence. Content adverbials modify the event expressed in the sentence with respect to manner, place, time, condition, etc. They may modify the verb (a), an adjective (b), or another adverbial (c): (1) a. Han kjrer alltid forsiktig. he drives always carefully He always drives carefully. b. Hun er svrt tjukk. she is very fat She is very fat. c. Han ryker ganske mye. he smokes quite a lot He smokes quite a lot.

Norwegian has two types of content adverbials, depending on how closely bound the adverbial is to the verb: bound content adverbials (d), and free content adverbials (e). In sentences that include both, the bound content adverbial precedes the free content adverbial, as illustrated in (d), where the underlined elements are bound content adverbials, and imorgen is a free content adverbial: d. Jeg vil snakke med deg om dette imorgen. I want talk with you about this tomorrow I want to talk to you about this tomorrow. e. Han savnet henne allerede. he missed her already He missed her already. However, in contrast to English, free content adverbials may appear to the left of the main verb in Norwegian: f. Han har i noen situasjoner ikke snakket sant. he has in some situations not spoken truly He has in some situations not told the truth. When there are several free content adverbials in the verb phrase, their order depends on the function of the adverbial in the communicative structure of the clause. When the adverbial is a subordinate clause, it is placed after other adverbials (g). In addition, adverbials denoting time or cause usually follow other free adverbials (h). Finally, whereas free adverbials that refer to time, location, or cause usually are found after the bound adverbials, free adverbials denoting manner, duration, and iteration often come before bound adverbials (i): g. Jon arbeidet p kvelden uten at sjefen viste om det. Jon worked at night.the without that boss.the knew about it Jon worked in the evening without his boss knowing it. h. Han hadde vrt her da. he had been here then He had been here then. i. De hadde sett surt p ham. they had looked angrily at him They had looked angrily at him.

2.2 THE NOUN PHRASE

The noun phrase has a noun or a pronoun as its head: the man. In addition, the phrase may include other elements, such as determiners, adjectives, and prepositional phrases: the young man from Paris. The noun phrase prototypically functions as the subject or the object of the clause, or as the object of a preposition. It may also function as a possessor: (1) a. Subject: Vikingene levde p 800- 900- og begynnelsen av 1000-tallet. vikings.the lived on 800 900 and beginning.the of 1000 century.the The vikings lived in the 8th, 9th, and the beginning of the the 10th century.

b. Object: Torkjel dreper mannen. Torkjel kills man.the Thorkell kills the man.

c. Object of preposition: Han klarte ikke lfte kniven med hnda. he managed not to lift knife.the with hand.the He couldnt manage to lift the knife with his hand.

d. Possessor: mannens oppfinnelse man.thes discovery the mans discovery Note that when a pronoun is the head of a noun phrase, its form varies according to whether it is the subject, a possessor, or has some other function: e. Subject: De levde p 800- 900- og begynnelsen av 1000-tallet. they lived on 800 900 and beginning.the of 1000 century.the They lived in the 8th, 9th, and the beginning of the the 10th century.

f. Object: Torkjel dreper ham. Torkjel kills him Thorkell kills him.

g. Object of preposition: Han klarte ikke lfte kniven med den. he managed not to lift knife.the with it He couldnt manage to lift the knife with it.

h. Possessor: hans oppfinnelse his discovery his discovery These different forms are referred to as different cases.

2.2.1 Noun phrase word order

The overall order of elements in the Norwegian noun phrase is the same as in English. There may be elements in front of or after the head noun. Determiners, like den, det, denne, dette, disse, etc. as well as quantifiers and adjectives come before the noun, while prepositional phrases and relative clauses come after it:

Determiner Quantifier Adjective Head disse these to two gamle old.DEF bkene

Postnominal modifier om Troms

books.the about Troms

these two old books about Troms In Norwegian, determiners, quantifiers, and adjectives all agree with the head of the noun phrase in number and gender. In addition, the adjectives also agree in definiteness with the head. The word order of Norwegian noun phrases is usually very much like that of English (despite the definite suffix), but there is one striking difference. Possessive phrases come after a definite noun: Indefinite: possessor precedes head noun: Jons bok, mi bok my book

Johns book

Johns book my book

Definite: possessor follows head noun:

boka

til Jon,

boka

mi

book.the to John Johns book

book.the my my book

2.2.2 Indefinite noun phrases

The indefinite noun phrase lacks any marker of definiteness. Compare the definites the milk and the dog with the indefinites milk and a dog. Here are some examples of Norwegian indefinite noun phrases: (1) a. mange hunder, mye melk many dogs much milk (1) b. noen hunder, noe melk some dogs some milk (1) c. tre hunder, melk three dogs milk As in English, Norwegian indefinite noun phrases may have a nominal head (d), or an indefinite pronoun (e-f) as head: (1) d. Alfred Nobel ville bli forfatter. Alfred Nobel would become author Alfred Nobel wanted to become an author. (1) e. Noen liker mrkt l bedre enn lyst. some like dark beer better than light Some people like dark beer better than light. (1) f. Han har gjort noe dumt. he has done something stupid He has done something stupid. But in addition, Norwegian noun phrases may lack a head (g): (1) g. Gamle ser ofte nobelprisseremonien p TV. old watch often Nobel Prize ceremony.the on TV Old people often watch the Nobel Prize ceremony on TV. All these three types of phrases may have an adjective in front of the head, and a prepositional phrase or a clause following the head: (1) h. Produksjon av l er ofte regulert av streng lovgivning. production of beer is often regulated by strong legislation

The production of beer is often regulated by strict legislations. (1) j. Han har gjort noe veldig dumt. he has done something very stupid He has done something very stupid. (1) i. Noen av Jomsvikingene ble tatt til fange av den norske hren. some of Jomsvikings.the became taken to captive by the Norwegian force.the Some of the Jomsvikings where captured by the Norwegian force. The most striking difference between English and Norwegian indefinite noun phrases is that Norwegian more frequently allows the omission of the indefinite article: (1) k. Norge og Sverige var i union med hverandre til 1905. Norway and Sweden were in union with eachother till 1905 Norway and Sweden were in a union together until 1905.

(1) l. Nobel var kjemiker og oppfinner. Nobel was chemist and inventor Nobel was a chemist and an inventor. 2.2.2.1 Indefinite noun phrases with a nominal head An indefinite noun phrase may or may not include a quantifier such as en, to, ingen, alle: (1) a. en medalje, to isbjrner a medal two polarbears

(1) b. ingen kake, alle hus no cake all houses The Norwegian indefinite article comes in three different genders: en, ei, et (masculine, feminine, and neuter, respectively: sometimes the masculine can be substituted for the feminine, and some writers do not use the feminine form at all). This indefinite article is only used in the singular. It behaves very much like a quantifier, and it does not co-occur with other quantifiers: (1) c. en gutt, ei kake, et hus a boy a cake a house

(1) d. * ei ingen kake, * et alle hus a no cake a all houses The number one is written like this: n (masculine), ei (feminine), ett (neuter). Note that the feminine form is written the same as the indefinite article, but it is pronounced with more stress. (1) e. n gutt, ei kake, ett hus one boy one cake one house Note that whereas the indefinite article is more or less always included in English indefinite noun phrases, it is frequently left out in Norwegian (cf. 2.2.5 Bare Noun Phrases): Jenta hadde kjole p seg. vs. The girl had a dress on. Mora mi er lege. vs. My mother is a doctor. In Norwegian, there is also a three-way gender distinction on nouns, which is also expressed on the articles. English does not have such a gender distinction. 2.2.2.2 Indefinite noun phrases with a pronominal head Indefinite pronouns (noe, noen)may be the head of indefinite noun phrases. These pronouns may stand on their own, or have an adjective following them: (1) a. Har det hendt noe? Has it happened anything Has anything happened?

(1) b. Noe merkelig hendte i gr. Something strange happened yesterday Something strange happened yesterday. Noe is singular and neuter, while noen can be plural or masculine/feminine or both. In either form, it can be used both in positive and negative contexts, and thus corresponds both to English some and any. (1) c. Har noen. Ja, jeg har noen. / Nei, jeg har ikke (ssken is plural) Have you any siblings yes I have some no I have not any Do you have any sisters or Yes, I have No, I dont have any. brothers? some. du noen ssken?

(1) d. Er det noen bank her? Jeg ser ikke noen. (bank is masculine) Is it any bank here I see not any Is there a bank here? I cant see one.

(1) e. Vi har kjpt noe kjtt. / Vi har ikke kjpt noe kjtt. (kjtt is neuter) we have bought some meat we have not bought any meat We have bought some meat. We have not bought any meat. 2.2.2.3 Headless indefinite noun phrases A headless indefinite noun phrase looks like an ordinary headed indefinite noun phrase that lacks the head (pro)noun. In these phrases, some other element, like an adjective (gamle) or a quantifier (femti) is the most important part of the phrase: (1) a. Unge leser ikke vikingesagaer lenger. young read not Viking.sagas longer Young people dont read the Viking sagas anymore.

(1) b. Han fylte femti i gr. he turned fifty yesterday He turned fifty yesterday. Such headless indefinite noun phrases are rare but are still much more common in Norwegian than in English. This is especially true of those noun phrases where an adjective is the most important element.

2.2.3 Definite noun phrases

The definite noun phrase is generally headed by a noun with the definite ending, and it may also contain an adjective inflected for definiteness. These noun phrases express definite meaning (so do names and pronouns, just like in English). A definite noun phrase with an adjective has a definite article like in English, but also has a definite suffix on the noun. Definite noun phrases with no adjectives usually do not have any article, just the definite suffix: (1) a. Isbjrnen var vennlig. Den lille isbjrnen var vennlig. polarbear.the was friendly the little polarbear was friendly The polarbear was friendly. The little polarbear was friendly.

(1) b. Vi l p stranda. Vi l p den hvite stranda. we lay on beach.the we lay on the white beach.the We lay on the beach. We lay on the white beach.

(1) c. Vi har kjpt huset. Vi har kjpt det rde huset. we have bought house.the we have bought the red house.the We have bought the house. We have bought the red house. The main difference between English and Norwegian concerning definite noun phrases is that whereas English expresses definiteness with a prenominal definite article, Norwegian expresses definiteness with a definiteness suffix attached to the noun. However, when the definite suffix appears in addition to a separate determiner, the suffix may appear to be redundant. 2.2.3.1 Definite noun phrases with a definite nominal head A definite noun may stand alone in a definite noun phrase, or it may have elements in front of it or after it. Before the noun, there may be definite determiners, quantifiers, and adjectives, while after the noun we may find prepositional phrases or clauses: (1) a. denne kniven, alle landene, vinneren av prisen this knife.the all countries.the winner.the of prize.the this knife all the countries the winner of the prize

(1) b. den smarte mannen som oppdaget rntgenstrler the smart man.the who discovered X-rays the smart man who discovered X-rays In Norwegian, adjectives are inflected for definiteness in front of definite nouns (this inflection only consists of an -e suffix, in most cases). In such phrases, a free definite article is included in front of the adjective in addition to the definiteness ending on the noun: (2) a. den lille sykkelen, den gode boka, det hye treet the little bicycle.the the good book.the the high tree.the the little bicycle the good book the high tree (1) b. de hvite hestene the white horses.the the white horses

This is sometimes called Double Definiteness. In contrast to what we find in English, adjectives are inflected for definiteness in Norwegian. When there is an adjective in the Norwegian definite noun phrase, a prenominal article needs to be included. However, the definite suffix still cannot be left out. 2.2.3.2 Definite noun phrases with a proper name as its head A proper name may function as a noun phrase by itself, but it may also have elements in front of it, such as definite determiners or adjectives: (1) a. Torkjel dreper mannen. Torkjel kills man.the Torkjel kills the man.

(1) b. min Maria, denne uskyldige Maria my Maria this innocent Maria my Maria this innocent Maria Notice that the name does not get a definite suffix. Prepositional phrases and clauses may follow the proper name in a definite noun phrase: (1) c. Lorenz som la grunnlaget for etologi. Lorenz who laid foundation.the for ethology Lorenz who laid down the foundation of ethology 2.2.3.3 Definite noun phrases with a definite pronoun as its head A definite pronoun may function as a noun phrase by itself, but other elements, such as quantifiers and adjectives may come before or after it. These definite pronouns may be followed by prepositional phrases and clauses. (1) a. Har du sett denne? have you seen this Have you seen this?

(1) b. Alle vi tre er like tapre som Jomsvikingene. all we three are as brave as Jomsvikings.the All three of us are as brave as the Jomsvikings.

(1) c. Han som tok prisen br f ren. he who took prize.the should get honour.the He who received the prize should be honoured.

(1) d. Vi fra Troms drikker ofte mack-l. we from Troms drink often Mack- beer We who are from Troms often drink Mack beer. In Norwegian the so-called proximal demonstratives (det/den that, de those) are identical in form to the preadjectival definite article, and are also identical in form to pronouns. Thus, when a noun phrase consists only of a word like den, it could be understood to mean it (pronoun) or that (demonstrative). When it is followed by an adjective as in den frste, it is more natural to gloss it in English as the (here, the first), but in English this often requires that one be inserted: den grnne the green one. Note also that Norwegian uses the definite pronoun den to refer to humans, in examples like the following: (1) e. Den som kommer frst i ml, fr en fin premie. that who comes first in goal gets a nice prize He who wins, gets a nice prize. 2.2.3.4 Definite noun phrases with no definite noun or pronoun as its head There are two types of definite noun phrases in Norwegian where the definiteness is not indicated on the head noun. First, in definite noun phrases introduced by a possessor, nouns are not inflected for definiteness (cf. 2.2.4): (1) a. min bil, di bok, vrt hus, deres biler my car your book our house their cars Secondly, there are definite noun phrases which lack the head (cf. 2.2.2.3): (1) b. Han fylte femti i gr. he turned fifty yesterday He turned fifty yesterday.

2.2.4 Noun phrases with possessors

A noun phrase with a possessor is definite (cf. 2.2.3.2 and 2.2.3.4). As in English, possessive noun phrases may either contain a noun phrase ending in s in front of the head noun (Jons bil Johns car), or a possessive pronoun (min bil my

car). In both cases, the possessor marks the definiteness, and it is followed by an indefinite noun. However, in Norwegian, the possessive pronoun frequently follows the head noun in possessive noun phrases. In such phrases, the head noun is in the definite form (bilen min my car). The most commonly used possessive construction in Norwegian is the one with the possessive pronoun following a definite head noun. This construction is not possible in English. Note that Norwegian makes extensive use of reflexive possessives, sin/si/sitt/sine.

2.2.5 Bare noun phrases

A bare noun phrase has a nominal head without a definite or indefinite article, and it also lacks other quantifying modifiers. Such noun phrases may have a number of different functions in Norwegian: predicative, object, complement to a preposition, or subject: (1) a. Predicative: Han er kjemiker. he is chemist He is a chemist.

(1) b. Object: Min snn spiller tennis. my son plays tennis My son plays tennis.

(1) c. Complement to a preposition: De hrte p radio. they listened to radio They listened to the radio.

(1) d. Subject: Grammatikk er vanskelig. grammar is difficult Grammar is difficult. Bare noun phrases are much more common in Norwegian than in English.

2.2.6 Postnominal modifiers

Postnominal modifiers are elements following the head noun. These elements may be prepositional phrases, clauses, adjective phrases, participial phrases, or noun phrases: (1) a. en kasse med frukt a box with fruit a box of fruit

(1) b. den bilen du ser der the car you see there the car you see there

(1) c. en kasse full av klr a box full of clothes A box full of clothes

(1) d. en kasse fylt med klr a box filled with clothes A box filled with clothes

(1) e. Norges kronprins Haakon Magnus Norways crown-prince Haakon Magnus Norways crown prince, Haakon Magnus

2.3 ADJECTIVAL PHRASES

The adjectival phrase is a phrase with an adjective as its head. When there are no modifiers, the head constitutes the whole phrase, as in (a). When the adjectival phrase contains a modifier, this is usually a degree element (b), some other type of adverbial (c), a prepositional complement (d), or an object (e): (1) a. Vikingenes langhus var store. vikings.thes long-houses were big The vikings long-houses were big. (1) b. Eventyr er veldig spennende.

fairy tales are very exciting Fairy tales are very exciting. (1) c. Hun var overraskende hy. she was surprisingly tall She was surprisingly tall. (1) d. Jomsvikingene var ikke redde for dden. Jomsvikings.the were not afraid for death The Jomsvikings were not afraid of dying. (1) e. Han er ikke verd noe. he is not worth anything He is not worth anything. Adjectival phrases are often used in comparative constructions, in which case the basis for the comparison usually must be expressed in the complement of the adjective (f-h): (1) f. Eirik var like rask som Christopher. Eirik was like fast as Christopher Eirik was as fast as Christopher. (1) g. Eirik var raskere enn Christopher. Eirik was faster than Christopher Erik was faster than Christopher. (1) h. Eirik var raskest av europerne. Eirik was fastest of Europeans.the Eirik was the fastest of the Europeans. Most adjective phrases can be used as premodifiers of nouns (attributes) or as complements of verbs (predicatives) (i-j). In these functions there is concord between the adjective and the noun it modifies in number (SG, PL) and gender (M for masculine gender): (1) i. Alfred Nobel var en svrt geners mann. Alfred Nobel was a very generous.M.SG man Alfred Nobel was a very generous man. (1) j. De var svrt generse. they were very generous.PL They were very generous.

The adjective may also function as an adverbial (k): (1) k. Vikingene seilte langsomt langs kysten. vikings.the sailed slowly along coast.the The vikings sailed slowly along the coast. In Norwegian, the adjectives agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and definiteness. English does not show such agreement.

2.3.1 Adjectival phrase word order

In addition to the adjectival head, a Norwegian adjectival phrase may contain different kinds of modifiers. The order of the head and the modifiers depends on the syntactic use of the adjectival phrase; there is one scheme for adjectival phrases that function as a predicative or an adverbial, and another scheme for adjectival phrases that function as an adjective attribute. 2.3.1.1 Adjectival phrases functioning as predicatives or as adverbials The adjectival phrase can have modifiers both before and after the adjective. The following scheme summarises the possible word orders for adjectival phrases used predicatively or as adverbials: (1) Obj. Adverbial Adverbial Adjective (head) Object a. hvor how b. juridisk legally c. meg n me d. now absolutt tung heavy holdbar Adverbial

absolutely tenable mer more helt totally fremmed strange overlegen superior uegnet unsuitable sin motstander his opponent for langturer for long-distance-trips enn fr than before

e.

Immediately in front of the adjective we find adverbials of degree, Hvor tung er den? How heavy is it?(a) and manner (Han var skremmende energisk He was frighteningly energetic). Various kinds of free adverbials may be placed in front of these (b), as in Avtalen virker juridisk absolutt holdbar The agreement seems legally absolutely tenable. Example (c) shows that there is an object position in front of the two adverbial positions, Hun er meg n mer fremmed enn fr She seems more strange to me now than before. An object may also be placed immediately after the adjective (d), Han var helt overlegen sin motstander He was totally superior to his opponent. Finally, example (e) shows that there is an adverbial position to the right of the postadjectival object position, Bilen er uegnet for langturer The car is not suitable for long distance trips. 2.3.1.2 Adjectival phrases functioning as prenominal attributes When used attributively, the Norwegian adjective phrase must end with the head, that is, in this use there are no postadjectival positions. In addition, the adjective cannot have an object in front of it. The following scheme summarises the possible word orders for adjectival phrases used predicatively or as adverbials: (1) Adverbial Adverbial Adjective (head) a. veldig very b. juridisk legally absolutt rik rich holdbar

absolutely tenable smart clever

c. for alderen svrt for age.the very

Adverbials of degree and manner are placed immediately in front of the adjective (a), en veldig rik mann a very rich man. Free adverbials, including negation and other sentence adverbials, are placed to the left of this adverbial position (b), en juridisk absolutt holdbar avtale a legally absolutely tenable agreement. Phrases that can occur in the final adverbial position when the adjectival phrase is used predicatively, may sometimes be placed in front of the adjective when the adjectival phrase is attributively used (c) en for alderen svrt smart jente a girl who is very clever for her age. Adjectival phrases such as the one illustrated in (c) are not possible in English.

2.3.2 Comparison

When a comparison is expressed, the standard against which the comparison is made is usually added as a postmodifying phrase. 2.3.2.1 Equal comparisons For an equal comparison, that is when we for example compare two persons of the same height, Norwegian uses like Adjective som as Adjective as (a), or ikke Adjective-ere enn not Adjective-er than (b): (1) a. Jomsvikingen var like tapper som sin far. Jomsviking.the was as brave as his father The Jomsviking was as brave as his father. (1) b. Nordmennene var ikke taprere enn jomsvikingene. Norwegians.the were not braver than Jomsvikings.the The Norwegians were not braver than the Jomsvikings. 2.3.2.2 Unequal comparisons When the things compared are different, the comparative form of the adjective is used. The postmodifying phrase indicating the standard against which the comparison is made, is introduced by enn than (a): (1) Isbjrner er farligere enn vaskebjrner. polar bears are dangerous-COMP than raccoons Polar bears are more dangerous than raccoons. 2.3.2.3 Comparative and superlative When comparing only two objects, we can use either the comparative form (a), or the superlative form (b), whereas when more than two objects are compared, we have to use the superlative form. The objects that are compared are introduced in a postmodifying prepositional phrase beginning with av of, or blant among: (1) a. Eva er den kortere av de to jentene. Eva is the shorter of the two girls.the Eva is the shorter of the two girls. (1) b. Lisa er den korteste blant dem. Lisa is the shortest among them Lisa is the shortest among them. The standard with which the comparison is made is indicated by a prepositional phrase with i in (c):

(1) c. Anna er den eldste jenta i klassen. Anna is the oldest girl.the in class.the Anna is the oldest girl in her class. 2.3.2.4 Comparison with a definite norm Sometimes a comparison is made between an object and a definite standard or norm understood in the context. In such cases, Norwegian often uses som s than that to refer to the standard: (1) a. Jon m vre to meter lang. Nei han er lengre enn som s. Jon must be two meters tall No he is taller than as so Jon must be two meters tall. No, he is taller than that. English does not have an expressions corresponding to som s in Norwegian. In English we have to use a referential pronoun that, as illustrated in (a) above. This is also possible in Norwegian, in which case we use the referential pronoun det it: (1) b. Jon m vre to meter lang. Nei han er lengre enn det. Jon must be two meters tall No he is taller than it Jon must be two meters tall. No, he is taller than that. 2.3.2.5 Sufficiency and excess The words nok enough and altfor too are used to indicate sufficiency and excess. The norm to which these words refer can be indicated by an infinitive clause introduced by til to, (a-c). As illustrated in (b), nok may also occur after the adjective: (1) a. Han er nok rik til reise. b. Han er rik nok til reise he is rich enough rich to to travel He is rich enough to go travelling. (1) c. Han er altfor rik til reise. he is too rich to to travel He is too rich to go travelling. As in Norwegian, too always has to be placed in front of the adjective in English. In contrast to Norwegian, however, enough always has to follow the adjective in English.

2.4 ADVERB PHRASES

The adverb phrase is a phrase with an adverb as its head. Very often there is no other element in the phrase (a). When a modifier appears, it is usually an adverb of degree or manner (b): (1) a. Han var alltid tapper. he was always brave He was always brave (1) b. Hun sprang veldig fort. she ran very fast She ran very fast Some adverbs may also take prepositional or clausal complements: (1) c. De bodde langt borte fra alle. they lived far away from everyone They lived far away from everyone The adverb phrase usually functions as an adverbial, modifying verbs (b), adjectives, participles, and adverbs (a), but occasionally also a noun (d): (1) d. Maten her er veldig god. food.the here is very good The food here is very good

2.4.1 Adverb phrase word order

When modifiers are included in addition to the adverb head, the structure of the modifiers generally determines their position. In front of the adverb head we find modifying participal phrases (utskt in (a)), adjective phrases (langt in (b)), and adverb phrases (mye in (c)). After the adverb head, we find prepositional phrases (i skogen in (b)), comparative phrases (enn tidligere in (c)), and modifiers with clauses or infinitival phrases (som han gjr in (d)): (1) Premodifier Adverb head Postmodifier a. utskt vakkert exquisitely beautiful b. langt borte i skogen far away in forest.the far away in the forest c. mye mere enn tidligere much more than before d. akkurat snn som han gjr exactly so as he does

exactly like he is doing

2.4.2 Syntactic function

The adverb phrase prototypically functions as an adverbial: (1) a. Han har bodd utenlands i flere r. he has lived abroad in several years He has lived abroad for several years (1) b. N har han sannsynligvis kommet hjem. now has he probably come home Now he has probably come home It may also appear as an attribute: (1) c. Klimaet der var ganske tft. climate.the there was quite rough The climate there was quite rough (1) d. Dette landet langt over Atlanteren likte han godt. this land.the far over Atlantic.the liked he well This land way over the Atlantic pleased him

2.5 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

The prepositional phrase is a phrase with a preposition as its head. It prototypically consists of the preposition and its complement. In Norwegian, the preposition usually takes a noun phrase as its complement (a), but it may also take a subordinate clause (b), or an infinitival (c): (1) a. i langskip in longships (1) b. beslutningen om at pengene skulle gis til prominente personer decision.the about that money.the should be-given to prominent persons the decision that the money should be given to prominent persons (1) c. beslutningen om gi pengene til prominente personer decision.the about to give money.the to prominent persons the decision to give the money to prominent persons

Norwegian allows preposition stranding of all kinds of noun phrase complements. This means that the preposition may appear at the end of the clause, lacking a complement. Usually the complement is found as the first element of the clause: (2) Hva fikk Albert Einstein nobelprisen for? what got Albert Einstein Nobel Prize.the for What did Albert Einstein get the Nobel Prize for?

2.5.1 Prepositional phrase word order

As in all the Germanic languages, the Norwegian preposition precedes its complement: (1) p tnner in barrels Occasionally, the preposition follows its complement. Certain prepositions are optionally placed behind their complement when they have a particular meaning or in lexicalised constructions: (2) a. oss kvinner imellom us women between as one woman to another (1) b. ret rundt year.the round all year round In addition to the preposition and its complement, a prepositional phrase may sometimes contain a modifier. This modifier is placed in front of the preposition: (3) midt framfor meg middle in-front-of me right in front of me

2.5.2 Complement types

The complement of a preposition is usually a noun phrase i stolen in the chair, bak meg behind me, med hvilken penn with which pen. Norwegian prepositions also take subordinate clauses as their complements: (1) a. Det var et tegn p at jomsvikingene ikke ville gi seg. that was a sign on that Jomsvikings.the not would give REFL That was a sign that the Jomsvikings would not give in.

In addition, the complement of a preposition may be an infinitival phrase (b), a prepositional phrase (c), or an adverb phrase (d): (2) a. Han bestemte seg for gi pengene til prominente personer. he decided REFL for to give money.the to prominent persons He decided to give the money to prominent persons. (2) b. Denne avisen er fra fr krigen. this newspaper is from before war.the This newspaper is from before the war. (2) c. Siden nr begynte du drikke l? since when began you to drink beer Since when did you start drinking beer?

2.5.3 Case assignment

In Norwegian, only pronouns show case, and they appear in the non-nominative form when following a preposition fra meg from me, til deg for you,av ham by him, hos henne at her place, framfor oss in front of us, over dem over them. Norwegian used to have a more complex case system, and we can see traces of that in some more or less lexicalised prepositional phrases. Most of these phrases consist of the preposition til to + genitive of a bare noun phrase til skogs to the forest, til sjs at sea. There are also a few expressions where the bare noun phrase has the ending -e: (1) a. komme til rette come to right.E be found, turn up (1) b. g mann av huse go man of house.E turn out to a man Pronouns show the non-nominative case after prepositions in English, just as it does in Norwegian. The other traces of the case system found in some lexicalised expressions in Norwegian are not found in English.

2.5.4 Preposition stranding

Norwegian prepositions may be stranded, which means that the preposition is not immediately to the left of its complement. Usually, the complement is in the first position:

(1) a. Bygg kan man brygge l av. barley can one brew beer of Beer can be brewed on barley. The preposition may also be stranded when the complement is clefted (b), or in a relative clause (c): (1) b. Det var Einstein de ga prisen til. it was Einstein they gave prize.the to It was Einstein they gave the prize to. (1) c. Marie Curie som prisen i fysikk gikk til dde av leukemi. Marie Curie who prize.the in physics went to died of leukemia Marie Curie, who was awarded the prize in physics, died of leukemia. A particular case of preposition stranding is found in certain passive clauses, where the subject in the passive clause corresponds to the complement of the preposition in the corresponding active clause (d) (cf the active clause Du m flytte p bilen din You need to move your car): (1) d. Bilen din m flyttes p. car.the your must be-moved on Your car needs to be moved.

2.5.2 Function
Norwegian prepositional phrases function as adverbials (a), attributes (b), and predicative complements (c): (1) a. let lagres i tnner. beer.the be-stored in barrels The beer is stored in barrels. (1) b. Ryktet om deres heltemot var ikke overdrevent. rumour.the about their bravery was not exaggerated The rumour of their bravery was not exaggerated. (1) c. Komiten utnevnte henne til prisvinner. committee.the appointed her to laureate The committee appointed her a laureate. In addition, prepositional phrases may be complements of prepositions (d) and appositions (e):

(1) d. Han blir her til i neste uke. he stays here until i next week He stays here until next week. (1) e. Med skjorten oppkneppet gikk han inn i rommet. with shirt.the up-button-ed went he in in room.the With his shirt unbuttoned he went into the room.

2.6 SUBJUNCTION PHRASES

Whereas subjunctions prototypically introduce embedded clauses (3.8.2), it is also possible to find them in front of constructions that lack a subject and a predicate (a). Usually such constructions can be seen as reduced or truncated clauses. There are three main types: comparative subjunction phrases (a), predicative subjunction phrases (b), and concessive subjunction phrases (c). The Norwegian comparative subjunction phrase consists of a comparative subjunction (enn than or som as) followed by a noun phrase or some other phrase that may function as a primary part of a clause: (1) a. Jomsvikingene var taprere enn nordmennene. Jomsvikings.the were braver than Norwegians.the The Jomsvikings were braver than the Norwegians. The predicative subjunction phrase consists of som as followed by a noun phrase, an adjective, or a participal phrase: (1) b. N er sommeren som varmest. now is summer.the as warmest Now the summer is as warm as it gets. The Norwegian concessive subjunction phrase consists of a concessive subjunction and a complement. The most common subjunction in Norwegian is selv om even though: (1) c. Han var alltid snill selv om han var streng. he was always kind although he was strict He was always kind although he was strict.

2.7 AGREEMENT PHENOMENA AT THE PHRASE LEVEL

In Norwegian, there is phrase internal agreement (concord) within noun phrases: determiners, quantifiers, and adjectives/past participles agree with the head of the noun phrase in number and gender. In addition, the adjective has different forms for definite and indefinite noun phrases: Masculine/Feminine gender singular: (1) a. en rd bil, den rde bilen, all suppa a red car the red car.the all soup.the a red car the red car all the soup Masculine/Feminine gender plural: (1) b. rde biler, red cars red cars de rde bilene, the red cars.the the red cars alle suppene all soups.the all the soups

Neuter gender singular: (1) c. et rdt hus, a red house a red house det rde huset, the red house.the the red house alt let all beer.the all the beer

Neuter gender plural: (1) d. rde hus, de rde husene, red houses the red houses.the red houses the red houses alle lene all beers.the all the beers

3.0 INTRODUCTION WORD CLASSES

The words in a language like Norwegian are classified into different groups with something in common. The classification may treat their inflection, their meaning, or their function, e.g. which clausal element they constitute. Nouns are words that refer to persons, animals, or concrete or abstract things, for example Maria, gutt boy, hund dog, hus house, or lgn lie. Adjectives are words that denote characteristics, for example rd red, norsk Norwegian, lang long, gift married, adelig noble. Pronouns are words that replace nouns, for example jeg I, du you, hun she, dere you, or words that specify which noun is referred to, for example denne this, den der that, alle all, noe some, visse certain.

Verbs are words that denote what happens, for example springe run, gi give, underske inspect, kunne can/know, ville want, puste breathe. Prepositions are small, short words directly in front of a noun. They indicate position, point of time, etc., for example p (stolen) on (the chair), i (huset) in (the house). They may also occur before nouns with definitions, for example under under (den nye stolen the new chair), over over (Hennings gamle hus Hennings old house). Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. They represent space, time, manner, quantity, etc., for example her here, dit there, n now, ofte often, sikkert certainly, ganske fairly, kanskje maybe. Numerals are words that state number or order, for example : ett one, tre three, syttiseks seventy-six, tredje third, sjuende seventh. Subjunctions are words that introduce a subordinate clause, for example at that, som who/which, ettersom since, om if, til tross for at despite. Conjunctions are words that conjoin words, phrases, or clauses of the same kind: Henning og Lise Henning and Lise, synge eller spille sing or play, Lasse spiser men Lise sover Lasse is eating but Lise is sleeping.

3.1 NOUNS GENERAL

A typical noun is a word that refer to a person or a thing, which can be preceded by an indefinite article: en stol a chair, ei seng a bed, et eple an apple; which can be inflected in plural: stoler chairs, senger beds, epler apples; and which can have a definiteness ending: stol-en the chair, seng-a the bed, epl-et the apple. In Norwegian, nouns also are classified in different genders: the word stol is masculine, seng is feminine, and eple is neuter. Though, certain words constitute exceptions, mass nouns like melk milk and vann water normally lack the possibility to follow the indefinite article en/ei/et a or to take plural ending. The proper nouns are the ones that diverge the most; in principle, they lack all these characteristics. See article 3.1.4. Nouns represent the main word of the nominal phrase; it is possible to enlarge them with attributes before or after: (1) e gamm m Polen, m de ti fra hus der borte, nye bidraget konferansen n el ann itt t l f Poland hous o th ne contribution.t conference.t an old man my there, to rom , e ver e w he he (= the new contribution to the conference)

3.1.1 Form
Norwegian nouns are built up around a root. Some of these nouns contains only one root, while others have a certain ending: -e, -en, -el or -er. (1) stol gat-e chair street vp-en weapon nkk-el key sst-er sister

The different types are inflected in different ways in the plural. See 3.1.3.1. Norwegian nouns can also contain a root with a special ending, which has its own meaning. Here are some frequent endings of this type: (2) a. fisk-er: fisherman somebody whos fishing fisk-eri: fishing the industry of fishing fisk-ing: fishing the activity of fishing b. frekk-het: impudence something impudent frekk-as: bold, impudent person someone who is being impudent The endings above make the words into nouns. They also decide how the words are inflected. Sometimes also prefixes may be used. The most common prefix is the negating u-. Other common prefixes aremis-, van-, be-, and for-/fore-. (3) u-flaks u-vr for-svare be-tale mis-tolke van-re bad luck bad weather defend pay misinterpret disgrace, dishonour Norwegian nouns may also contain two roots. In these cases we are talking about compounds. In Norwegian, compounds are very common. Note that in contrast to English compounds are generally written as one word in Norwegian. Some examples are given below: (4) hus-bt bt-hus skrive-bord rd-vin house boat boat house writing desk red wine (4) gate-adresse koke-bok seilings-ulykke forsvars-minister street address cook book sailing accident minister of defence

3.1.2 Gender
Norwegian nouns have three different genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. A masculine noun gets the indefinite article en, a feminine noun gets ei, and a neuter noun gets et.

(1) Masc.: viking viking (1) Fem.: ku cow

en viking a viking

ei ku a cow

(1) Neut.: hus et hus house a house The definite article is an ending on the noun in Norwegian. A masculine noun gets the ending -en/-n, a feminine noun gets -a, and a neuter noun gets the -et/-t. (2) Masc.: viking-en viking.the the viking (2) Fem.: ku-a cow.the the cow drag-en dragon.the the dragon

seng-a bed.the the bed

(2) Neut.: hus-et eple-t house.the apple.the the house the apple Nouns that denote human beings and animals are normally masculine when referring to males, and feminine when referring to females: (3) Masc.: mann man (3) Fem.: kvinne woman (3) Masc.: hest horse 3.1.2.1 Concord All the three genders have different indefinite and definite article. Adjectives and pronouns within a noun phrase also show gender differences. Note that they have the same form in the masculine and the feminine genders. Masculine: (1) a. Indefinite article: en stol a chair Feminine: ei ku a cow Neuter: et eple an apple en mann a man ei kvinne a woman en hest a horse

b. Definite article: stol-en ku-a chair.the cow.the the chair the cow c. Indef. article + adj.: en brun stol a brown chair d. Pronoun: denne stol-en this chair.the this chair e. Pronoun: noen stol some chair

eple-t apple.the the apple et brun-t eple a brown.NEUT apple

ei brun ku a brown cow

denne ku-a this cow.the thie cow

dette eple-t this apple.the this apple

noen ku some cow

noe eple some apple

In the plural, this gender difference is not visible on adjectives and pronouns: f. Adjective: brune stol-er brown chairs g. Pronoun: disse stol-ene these chairs.the these chairs h. Pronoun: noen stol-er some chairs brune ky-r brown cows brune eple-r brown apples disse eple-ne these apples.the these apples

disse kyr-ene these cows.the these cows

noen ky-r some cows

noen eple-r some apples

This type of congruence is also visible on adjectives after the verbs be and get. (2) Stolen er brun. chair.the is brown The chair is brown. Kua er brun. cow.the is brown The cow is brown. Eplet er brunt. apple.the is brown.NEUT The apple is brown.

When a noun is referred to by a pronoun, gender is visible in another way. See 3.1.2.2 This kind of gender concord is absent from English. 3.1.2.2 Pronominal reference It is very common to refer to a noun with a personal pronoun. In these cases Norwegian uses four different pronouns to refer to the noun. If it is a neuter noun, the pronoun det it is used. If the gender is masculine or feminine, it is possible to use some of the pronouns han he, hun she, or den it. When the noun refer to a mann man the pronoun han he is used.

When the noun refer to a kvinne woman the pronoun hun she is used. When the noun refer to a thing or something inanimate, the pronoun den it is used. If the noun refers to animals with a certain kind of personality, it is possible to use han he or hun she, otherwise den it is used also for animals in masculine or feminine. (1) a. Huset ble ikke ferdig innen de solgte det. house.the became not finished until they sold it The house wasnt finished by the time they sold it. b. Gutten kunne ikke vite hvem som skulle mte ham. boy.the could not know who that should meet him The boy couldnt know who would meet him. c. Dronninga ble glad for at avisen skrev om henne. queen.the became happy for that newspaper.the wrote about her The queen was happy because the news paper wrote about her. d. Boka m skrives innen man kan selge den. book.the must be-written before one can sell it The book must be written before it can be sold. A common exception is that Norwegian speakers may use hun when talking about time. (2) Hva er klokka? what is clock.the What time is it? Hun er halv sju. she is half seven Its half past six.

Han and hun are much more commonly used about things in spoken and (partly also) in written Norwegian than it is in English.

3.1.3 Inflection
Norwegian nouns can be inflected in number (singular - plural), definiteness (definite - indefinite), and case (nominative - genitive). All three inflections are visible as endings on common, concrete nouns. Singular, indefinite, and nominative nouns have no ending at all, but on plural nouns, definite nouns, and nouns in genitive, three endings are visible. (1) Masc. Singular - indefinite - nominative: stol chair Fem. flue fly Neut. eple apple

Singular - indefinite - genitive: stol-s chairs

flue-s flys

eple-s apples eple-t apple.the the apple eple-t-s apple.thes the apples

Singular - definite - nominative: stol-en flu-a chair.the fly.the the chair the fly Singular - definite - genitive: stol-en-s chair.thes the chairs (2) Plural - indefinite - nominative: stol-er chairs Plural - indefinite - genitive: stol-er-s chairs flu-a-s fly.thes the flys flue-r flies

eple-r apples eple-r-s apples eple-ne apples.the the apples eple-ne-s apples.thes the apples

flue-r-s flies

Plural - definite - nominative: stol-ene chairs.the the chairs Plural - definite - genitive: stol-ene-s chairs.thes the chairs

flue-ne flies.the the flies

flue-ne-s flies.thes the flies

Thus the plural endings -er/-r and -ene/-ne come first. They are followed by the ending for genitive case -s. 3.1.3.1 Number Most Norwegian nouns are inflected in number, singular or plural. There are three different ways of forming plural in Norwegian. The ending -er: Most nouns ending in a consonant belong to this group: prest prest-er clergyman - clergymen, seng - senger bed - beds. Some words get umlaut in plural, which means a change of the root vowel: fot - ftter foot - feet, bok - bker book - books, hnd - hender hand - hands. The ending -r: Only a few nouns belong to this group, above all monosyllabic words that end with a vowel: klo - klr claw - claws, t - tr toe - toes, linje linjer line - lines, or nouns with the ending -else: fristelse - fristelser temptation temptations.

The ending -e: Most nouns ending in -er in singular belong to this group: baker bakere baker - bakers, sster - sstre sister - sisters, mnster - mnstre pattern - patterns. No ending: Almost all neuter nouns that end in a consonant belong to this group: hus - hus house - houses, smil - smil smile - smiles, forslag - forslag suggestion - suggestions. 3.1.3.2 Definiteness Norwegian nouns normally have one definite and one indefinite form. Proper nouns as Peter, Maria, and Europa Europe have a definite meaning in themselves and cannot co-occur with a definite article. Indefinite nouns have no ending while nouns that are definite take the ending -en/-n in masculine, -a in feminine, and -et/-t in neuter. (1) kjempe kjempe-n giant giant.the giant the giant bok bok-a book book.the book the book eple eple-t apple apple.the apple the apple 3.1.3.3 Case Norwegian makes a distinction between two cases: nominative and genitive. The genitives have one single function, namely to indicate possession and similar relations between two nouns or between two noun phrases. The genitive endings are very easy to learn; the suffix -s is attached at the end of the word (after other endings). (1) mannens hest man.thes horse the mans horse min brors kone my brothers wife my brothers wife Hennings bil Hennings car Hennings car Jupiters mner Jupiters moons Jupiters moons husets rom house.thes room the rooms of the house dagens beslutning day.thes decision todays decision hus hus-et house house.the house the house stol stol-en chair chair.the chair the chair

In ancient Norwegian, genitive was used after the preposition til to, and there are for that reason quite a few expressions with til to followed by a genitive noun

with the -s suffix. Many of these expressions have a special meaning, and therefore they can be used only in special cases: (2) til skogs to forest.GEN to the forest til fots to foot.GEN on foot (only when it is referred to the movement) til sjs to sea.GEN by sea (only about sailors til bords to table.GEN to/at the table (only about meals

3.1.4 Proper names

Proper nouns are partly names of persons, such as Peter and Hedda, and partly place names such as Norge Norway and Troms. They are fundamentally devoid of meaning (even though Peter always must indicate a man and Hedda a woman). In writing proper nouns are spelled with an initial capital letter. 3.1.4.1 Gender Names of persons are always masculine or feminine nouns, while place names are normally neuter. (1) a. Hedda er vakker. Hedda is beautiful Hedda is beautiful. b. Min Hedda my Hedda my Hedda 3.1.4.2 Number Proper nouns are not inflected for number. Names of persons are always in the singular, while place names can be either singular or plural. Singular: Oslo, Bergen, Mjsa, Mongolia Plural: Fryene the Faeroe Islands, Alpene the Alps, Filippinene the Philippines. 3.1.4.3 Syntactic function Proper nouns are very often used on their own, without attributes, but they may have attributes both before and after them, in the same way as common nouns. Accordingly, they can constitute the head of a noun phrase. Troms er vakkert. Troms is beautiful.NEUT Troms is beautiful.

Mitt Troms my.NEUT Troms my Troms

(1) a. min mann my husband b. den lille jenta the little girl.the the little girl

min Espen my Espen den lille Karin the little Karin the little Karin Lise med flettene Lise with plaits.the Lise with the plaits Hedda fra Narvik Hedda from Narvik Hedda from Narvik

c. dama med hatten lady.the with hat.the the lady with the hat d. gutten fra Troms boy.the from Troms the boy from Troms 3.1.4.4 Inflection

Proper nouns are normally not inflected for number or definiteness. However, they can be inflected in the genitive, by adding the genitive suffix -s. (1) Henning-s bror Hennings brother Eva-s stil Evas essay Lise-s id Lises idea

3.2 ADJECTIVES
A typical adjective is a word that denotes a property, such as colour, form, size, or nationality. The words rd red, rund round, stor big/large, and norsk Norwegian are thus adjectives. So are the more abstract words farlig dangerous, vidunderlig wonderful, kritisk critical, and aktuell current, up-todate. Adjectives modify nouns, and they inflect in accordance with this noun (concord): (1) en stor hest a big horse ei god bok a good book et stort hus a big house

Adjectives may also be inflected for comparison: (2) stor strre strst big bigger biggest svak svakere svakest weak weaker weakest

3.2.1 Form
Adjectives often only contain a root, such as bra good, stor big/large, liten little/small, ung young, and gammel old. Many adjectives are also derived by suffixes.

(1) -bar: merkbar noticable -ig: lydig obedient

brbar portable

-lig: mannlig manly, masculine -sk: engelsk English -isk: erotisk erotic statistisk statistical

rlig annually

-som: hjelpsom helpful -et(e): klossete clumsy -ende: levende alive

slitsom tiresome

Norwegian also has many words with the international (latin) suffixes, such as -abel: riskabel risky, diskutabel questionable, and -iv: massiv massive, intensiv intensive.

3.2.2 Inflection
Adjectives are inflected in two ways. They are inflected for comparison taking the positive, the comparative, and the superlative forms: (1) stor strre strst big bigger biggest They are also inflected for concord with the noun they are modifying in gender, number, and definiteness: (2) en stor bil a big car et stort hus a big.NEUT house den store bilen the big.DEF car flere store biler many big.PL cars

Contrastive notes: The English group should note that concord is lacking in English

The German and Icelandic groups should add that concord involves the category case. 3.2.2.1 Comparison Norwegian adjectives are inflected for the comparison. They can be in the positive, in the comparative, or in the superlative. Comparative and superlative forms express a comparison. Comparative is formed by adding the suffix -ere; in the superlative the suffix -est is added. (1) svak svakere svakest weak weaker weakest sterk sterkere sterkest strong stronger strongest

Some common adjectives form their comparative by adding -re and their superlative by adding -st. In these cases the stem vowel is mutated (i-umlaut): a becomes e, o becomes , or u becomes y. (2) lang lengre lengst long longer longest stor strre strst big bigger biggest ung yngre yngst young younger youngest

Some common adjectives have one root in its positive form and another root in its comparative and superlative forms. (3 gamm eldr eldst ) el e olde olde old r st mindr minst e smal small smalle l er st liten bedr e g bette ood r bra b est b est drli drlige drlig g re st bad worse worst

Some adjectives are inflected for comparison with mer more and mest most. See the adjective phrase 2.3.2 3.2.2.2 Concord Norwegian adjectives normally agree with the noun/pronoun they are modifying. They are then inflected for gender, number, and definiteness. Differences in gender are only found in singular, and both the definite form and the plural has the ending e. Therefore there are only three different types: the adjective can lack the ending: stor big; it can have neuter singular -t: stort; or it can have -e: stor-e. (1) a. en stor bil den store bilen a big car the big car.the a big car the big car b. et stort hus a big house to store biler two big cars two big cars de store bilene the big cars.the the big cars de store husene the big houses.the

det store huset the big house.the

to store hus two big houses

a big house

the big house

two big houses

the big houses

The agreement that is illustrated in the two first examples is found in indefinite noun phrases, but also when the adjective is a predicate. (2) Bilen er stor. car.the is big The car is big. Huset er stort. Bilene / husene er store. house.the is big cars.the / houses.the are big The house is big. The cars/houses are big.

3.3 PRONOUNS
Pronouns are used to replace nouns or to identify them (to point them out). They constitute the nucleus or attribute of a noun phrase. Typical pronouns that replace a noun are the personal pronouns, like jeg I, du you, han he, hun she, etc. Pronouns which identify a noun may for instance be demonstratives, like denne this, den her this, interrogative, such as hvem who, hva what, etc., or pronouns expressing amount or number, such as alle all, noen some, any, mange many, f few. Pronouns can be divided into groups in many different ways. In this reading grammar, we sort them into the following four main types: Definite pronouns Interrrogative pronouns Quantitative pronouns Relational pronouns

3.3.1 Definite pronouns

When the speaker uses definite pronouns, it means that he/she believes that the listener knows which person or thing is being referred to. We identify the following types: (1) Personal pronouns: jeg meg min du I me my you Definite articles: den det de the the the Demonstrative pronouns: denne dette den this this that Reflexive pronouns: seg sin

himself/herself his/her Reciprocal pronouns: hverandre each other Relative pronouns: som hvilken that which 3.3.1.1 Personal pronouns Norwegian personal pronouns belong to first person (the speaker), second person (the listener), or third person (the mentioned). These three persons can be in the singular or in the plural. Additionally, they can have different cases. The have one subject form, one object form, and one possessive form. The subject form is used when the pronoun constitutes the subject, the possessive form to denote possession and the object form in all other cases. (1) a. Jeg traff Henning. I met Henning b. Henning traff meg. Henning met me c. Henning spiste opp isen min. Henning ate up ice-cream.the my Henning ate up my ice cream. Norwegian personal pronouns are the following: (1) Singular: 1. jeg I 2. du you 3. Masc. han he 3. Fem. hun she 3. Masc./Fem. den it 3. Neut. det it meg me deg you ham him henne her den it det it min, mitt, mine my din, ditt, dine your hans his hennes her dens its dets its vr, vrt, vre our deres your deres their

Plural: 1. vi we 2. dere you 3. Masc./Fem./Neut. de they

oss us dere you dem them

Previously a more polite form of du you, De , was used. Since the 1970s, though, du is used almost exclusively to everybody, irrespective age and status.

The pronouns han he and hun she only denote human beings and some animals. Things and abstract phenomena are denoted with the pronoun den or det; den it for masculine and feminine words, det it for neuter words. Cf. paragraph 3.1.2.2 The pronoun det is used as a subject in clauses like the ones below. (2) a. Det regner. it rains Its raining. b. Det var hyggelig at du kom. it was nice that you came c. Det sitter ei katt p trappa. it sits a cat on stairs.the A cat is sitting on the stairs. 3.3.1.2 Free definite article In Norwegian, the definite article is generally a suffix to the noun: bil.en car.the, huset house.the, sko-ene shoes-the. In some cases, however, this suffix has to be complemented with an independent article, namely when an adjective, a pronoun, or a numeral precedes the noun. This article is den in singular masculine and feminine, det in singular neuter, and de in plural. (1) bilen den hvite bilen de mange bilene car.the the white car.the the many cars.the the car the white cars the many cars senga den myke senga de myke sengene bed.the the soft bed.the the soft beds.the the bed the soft bed the soft beds huset det rde huset de tre husene house.the the red house.the the three houses.the the house the red house the three houses See also section 2.2.3.1 3.3.1.3 Demonstrative pronouns Norwegian has two demonstrative pronouns: denne this and den that. (1) a. Singular masc./fem.: denne Singular neut.: dette Plural: disse

this b. Singular masc./fem.: den that

this Singular neut.: det that

these Plural: de those

When preceded by a demonstrative pronoun, the Norwegian noun is in the definite form: denne mannen this man, dette ret this year, disse rene these years, den veien that way, den boka this book, det huset that house, de husene those houses. 3.3.1.4 Reflexive pronouns Norwegian has a 3rd person reflexive, seg REFL and sin REFL, which refer to the subject in a clause. The former is indeclinable, while the latter is inflected according to the number and gender of the nucleus: sin, si, sitt, sine. (1) a. Gutten s seg i speilet. boy.the saw REFL in mirror.the The boy looked in the mirror. b. Jenta s armen sin i speilet. girl.the saw arm.the her in mirror.the The girl saw her arm in the mirror. c. Gutten s klokka si i speilet. boy.the saw watch.the his in mirror.the The boy saw his watch in the mirror. d. Jentene vasket seg. REFL girls.the washed The girls washed themselves. e. Gutten s kneet sitt i speilet. boy.the saw knee.the his in mirror.the The boy saw his knee in the mirror. f. Barnet har vasket seg. child.the has washed REFL The child had washed itself. g. Gutten s fttene sine i speilet. boy.the saw feet.the his in mirror.the The boy saw his feet in the mirror. Many verbs demand a reflexive seg:

(2) a. Erik blandet seg i andres affrer. REFL in others business Erik mixed Erik interfered with other peoples business. b. Hedda angret seg. Hedda regreted REFL Hedda was sorry. 3.3.1.5 Reciprocal pronouns When the subject is in the plural, and a reciprocal action or state is described, the pronoun hverandre each other/one another or hverandres each others is used: (1) a. Erik og Hedda elsker hverandre. Erik and Hedda love each other b. Vi diskuterer ofte med hverandre. we discuss often with each other We often discuss with each other. c. Eva og Jan lner ofte hverandres sykler. Eva and Jan borrow often each others bikes Eva and Jan often borrow each others bikes. 3.3.1.6 Relative pronouns Norwegian relative clauses are usually initiated with the subjunction som that. See sections 3.8.2.2 and 1.10.2. In addition, Norwegian has the relative pronouns hvis whose, expressing possession, and hva what may be used when the relative clause lacks a word which can be referred to. However, this use of these pronouns is rather formal, and is rarely found in speech and informal writing. (1) a. huset hvis eier nettopp hadde ddd house.the whose owner recently had died the house whose owner had died recently b. Han har hva vi mangler. he has what we lack He has what we lack.

3.3.2 Interrogative pronouns

Norwegian interrogative pronouns are primarily hvem who, hva what, and hvilken which. The pronoun hvem who refers to a person, while hva what refers to a thing or something abstract. Hvem who may have the genitive form

hvems whose, but it is more common to use hvem followed by the reflexive pronoun sin/si/sitt/sine. (1) a. Hvem har stjlet tflene mine? who has stolen slippers.the my Who has stolen my slippers? b. Hvem snakket du med? who talked you with Who did you talk to? c. Hvems bker er dette? whose books are this Whose books are these? d. Hvem sine bker er dette? who his/her books are this Whose books are these? e. Hva har du kjpt? what have you bought What did you buy? f. Hva skjer p mandag? what happens on Monday The pronoun hvilken which refers to persons as well as to things. It is inflected according to gender and number: hvilken/hvilket/hvilke who/which. Unlike hvem who and hva what, it requires a limited quantity to choose from. Therefore hvilken which is frequently an adjunct of a noun. (2) a. Hvilken er di kusine? which is your cousin Which one is your cousin? b. Hvilket er ditt hus? which is your house c. Hvilke er dine votter? which are your mittens Which ones are you mittens? d. Hvilken jente mener du? which girl mean you Which girl do you mean?

e. Hvilket hus er strst? which house is biggest Which house is the biggest? f. Hvilke biler er eldst? which cars are oldest? Which cars are the oldest?

3.3.3 Quantitative pronouns

Quantitative pronouns give information about share or quantity. Common pronouns, like alle all, begge both, hver every, mange many, mye much, f few, and ingen nobody belong to this group. 3.3.3.1 Totality pronouns Norwegian uses the pronouns all/alle all, begge both, samtlige all the, and hele whole to indicate that the set of referents is in its totality without exclusion. The word all all in the singular refers to uncountable nouns: all melka all the milk, alt smret all the butter. In general, however, these words are used in the plural. To express the totality of a countable singular noun, the pronoun hele whole is used: hele huset the whole house, hele dagen the whole day. The words samtlige all and begge both are both used in the plural. The word all/alle all can be combined either with indefinite or with definite form. Begge both and hele whole can only be combined with definite form, and samtlige all normally just with indefinite form. (1) all melk all melken all milk all milk.the all milk all the milk begge spillerne both players both players alle spillere all players all players alle spillerne all players.the all the players

hele spillet whole play.the the whole play

samtlige spillere all players all players

3.3.3.2 Distributive pronouns The most common distributive pronoun in Norwegian is hver every/each. This pronoun always occurs together with an indefinite noun in the singular, and it agrees in gender with this noun: hver mann each man, hver kvinne each woman, hvert hus each house. It also occurs independently at the end of the clause. (1) a. Hver student m kunne dette.

every student must could this Every student must know this. b. Vi betalte 50 kroner hver. we payed 50 Crowns each Other distributive pronouns are hver eneste every and the combined forms hver og en each and hver sin/hvert sitteach. If something is equally shared, hver sin each is used to express this. (2) a. Guttene fikk hver sin is. boys.the got each his ice-cream The boys were given an ice cream each. b. De kjpte hvert sitt hus. they bought each their house They bought one house each. c. De kjpte hver sine to aviser. they bought each their two newspapers They bought two papers each. 3.3.3.3 Generalising pronouns A very common pronoun in Norwegian is man one/you. Without further specifications, it refers to a person. The direct object form of the pronoun is en and the genitive form ens ones. (1) a. Man kan ofte skylde p sin partner. one can often blame on ones partner One/you can often blame ones/your partner. b. Om noen prater med en i byen ... if somebody talks with one in town.the If somebody talks to you in town c. Ens partner er ofte den verste kritikeren. ones partner is often the worst critic.the Ones/Your partner is often ones/your worst critic. The word man one is often used instead of jeg I. In addition, there are many pronouns that consist of an interrogative and som helst anyhow/anyway/any time etc.

(2) a. Hvem som helst kan gjre dette. who that ever can do this Anyone can do this. b. Jeg aksepterer hva som helst. I accept what that ever I accept anything. c. Jeg vil ikke bo hvor som helst. I will not live where that ever I dont want to live just anywhere. 3.3.3.4 Multitude pronouns The most common multitude pronouns are mange many and f few, which refer to countable nouns and mye much and lite little, which refer to uncountable nouns or nouns that indicate a quantity. (1) mange bker f bker many books few books mye vin lite vin much wine little wine mye epler lite epler much apples little apples

Partly, these pronouns can be compared. (2) a. mange bker flere bker flest bker many books more books most books b. f bker frre bker frrest bker few books fewer books fewest books c. mye vin mere vin mest vin much wine more wine most wine d. lite vin mindre vin minst vin little wine less wine least wine 3.3.3.5 The indefinite article The indefinite article in Norwegian is en in masculine, ei in feminine, and et in neuter. Normally, it is unstressed, but in writing, it is impossible to separate it from the numeral en/ei/ett. (1) a. Vi har kjpt en ny bil. we have bought a new car b. Guttene stjal en sykkel. boys.the stole a bike

The boys stole a bike. c. Det ligger ei bok p bordet. it lies a book on table.the There is a book (lying) on the table. d. Vi kjrte forbi ei kirke. we drove passed a church We passed a church. e. Hun satte et kryss i ruta. she placed a cross in square.the She ticked off the box. f. Lena pakket den inn i et rdt papir. Lena wrapped it in in a red paper Lena wrapped it in a red wrapping paper. There is no indefinite plural article in Norwegian. (2) a. Vi har kjpt nye biler. we have bought new cars b. Det ligger bker p bordet. it lies books on table.the There are books (lying) on the table. c. Lena pakket dem inn i rde papir. Lena wrapped them in in red papers Lena wrapped them in red wrapping papers. 3.3.3.6 Indefinite pronouns The most common indefinite pronoun is noen/noe someone/something/anyone/anything. When used independently in masculine and feminine, it refers to a person, when used independently in neuter, it signifies a thing or a phenomenon. The plural form normally signifies persons. (1) a. Noen har stjlet tflene mine. someone has stolen slippers my Someone has stolen my slippers. b. Noe har hendt. something has happened c. Noen ble irriterte.

someone became irritated Someone was irritated. The pronoun is often used together with a noun. Then it means some, any (more than nothing). (2) a. Han sprang noen kilometer. he ran some kilometers He ran a few kilometers. b. Noen fiskere stod og pratet p brua. some fishermen stood and talked on bridge.the Some fishermen were talking on the bridge. c. Har du noen penger? have you any money Do you have any money? d. Kari behver ikke noen penger. Kari needs not any money Kari doesnt need any money. Other indefinite pronouns in Norwegian are enkelte some, adskillige several, and visse certain. They are normally only used in the plural. (3) a. Enkelte (menn) tror at han kommer til klare det. some men believe that he comes to to manage it Some (men) believe that hell succeed. b. Visse (kvinner) tror at han kommer til mislykkes. certain women believe that he comes to to fail Certain (women) believe that hell fail. c. Adskillige (barn) hper at han kommer til snuble. several children hope that he comes to to trip Several (children) hope that hell trip. 3.3.3.7 Negating pronouns The pronoun ingen/intet nobody, no/nothing can be independent, and in masculine and feminine it then refers to a person. In neuter it refers to a thing or a phenomenon. The neuter form is rather formal, and it is not very common in speech and in informal writing. (1) a. Ingen vet hva vi skal gjre. nobody knows what we shall do

Nobody knows what to do. b. Intet er mer ubehagelig enn en lungebetennelse. nothing is more unpleasant than a pneumonia Nothing is more unpleasant than pneumonia. It is also possible to combine a negative pronoun with a noun. (2) a. Ingen bok ble solgt. no book became sold No book was sold. b. Intet forslag kunne vre dummere. no suggestion could be stupid.er No suggestion could be more stupid. c. Vi fikk ingen penger. we got no money The pronoun ingenting nothing refers to things. (3) a. Ingenting har hendt. nothing has happened b. Vi fant ingenting. we found nothing When the object is a negated pronoun (ingenting nothing) or a noun phrase with ingen (ingen sykkel no bike) it cannot be placed further to the right than the negation, as illustrated by the ungrammaticality of (4a). The examples in (4b) are rarely used in speech, but may be found in literary texts. However, the constructions in (4c), with the negation (ikke not) and a positive pronoun (noenting something/anything) or a noun phrase with noen (noen sykkel some/any bike), are generally preferred: (4) a. * Han hadde sett ingenting. he had seen nothing b. Han hadde ingenting sett. he had nothing seen * Han hadde kjpt ingen sykkel. he had bought no bike

Han hadde ingen sykkel kjpt. he had no bike bought Han hadde ikke kjpt noen sykkel. he had not bought any bike

c. Han hadde ikke sett noenting. he had not seen anything

3.3.4 Relational pronouns

Norwegian has a number of relational pronouns. They can express comparisons, such as samme same, likedan similar, succession, such as frste first, neste next, spatial comparisons, such as borterste further, midterste middle, or focus, such as selv self. 3.3.4.1 Comparative pronouns The most common comparative pronouns are annen other, samme same, likedan similar, and slik such. Samme same is principally indeclinable, while the remaining ones agree with the gender of the noun: annen/annet/andre other, likedan/likedant/likedanne similar, slik/slikt/slike such. (1) en annen bil an other car et likedant hus a similar house et slikt hus a such house (= such a house)

Annen other can be combined with a enn than-phrase, while samme same, likedan similar, and slik such can be combined with a som as/that-phrase. (2) a. et annet forslag ( enn dette ) an other suggestion than this b. samme forslag ( som forrige gang ) same suggestion as last time c. et likedant / slikt forslag ( som Hedda presenterte ) a similar / such suggestion as Hedda presented a similar/such a suggestion (as that Hedda presented) 3.3.4.2 Ordinative pronouns Ordinative pronouns express succession in time or space. They include words such as frste first, siste last, forrige former, etc. Normally, they are indeclineable. (1) den siste romanen the last novel.the the latest novel dette frste forsket this first try.the this first try det siste forsket the last try.the the last try neste gang next time next time min forrige hustru my last wife my former wife

3.3.4.3 Perspective pronouns

Perspective pronouns state position in proportion to something else. They include hyre right and venstre left, the points of the compass, and a number of pronouns that state position, like vre upper, nedre lower, fremre front, hitre the one nearer, midterste middle. In addition, the words rett right and feil wrong belong to this group. These pronouns can occur with both indefinite and definite nouns. Used in preposition phrases, they generally combine with an indefinite noun without any article. Otherwise they behave like an adjective, and require double definiteness (both a prenominal definite article, and a definiteness suffix). (1) a. p / i hyre hnd on / in right hand on/in the right hand den hyre hnda. the right hand.the the right hand den sndre sida the southern side.the the southern side

b. p sndre side (= p srsida ) on southern side on south-side.the on the southern side on the south side c. p rett sted on right place on the right place det rette stedet the right place.the the right place

d. i feil retning in wrong direction in the wrong direction

den feile retninga the wrong direction.the the wrong direction

Most of the words mainly occur only in definite phrases. (2) de nrmest stolen n e de ytre veggen n exterio the nearest chair.the thefurthercorner.the the middle lift.the the wall.the r the nearest chair the further corner the middle lift the exterior wall de bortre hjrnet t de midterst heise n e n

3.3.4.4 Focusing pronouns The focusing pronouns in Norwegian are selv self, egen own, eneste only, blotte mere. Selv self can be indefinite, and then it follows its noun. It can also be definite, and then it precedes the noun: selve self. (1) kongen selv king.the self the king himself vi selv we self we ourselves selve kongen self king.the the very king selve det innerste self the innermost the innermost itself

The pronoun egen own intensifies a phrase with a genitive attribute. Principally, this pronoun always has strong inflection: egen/eget/egne. Sometimes the weak egne occurs after the definite article. (2) min egen bil my own car hans eget forslag his own suggestion hennes egne romaner her own novels det egne forslaget suggestion (= the own his/her own suggestion)

3.4 VERBS
Verbs denote events or actions: sn to snow, falle to fall, arbeide to work, kjpe to buy, gi to give. They are inflected for tense (present or past), and they may also have a specific form for commands (the imperative). Norwegian verbs also have a passive form,but only in the present tense. The verbs kjpe to buy and gi to give may be inflected for all these categories. (1) Present kjper buy(s) gir give(s) Past kjpte bought ga gave Imperative kjp! buy! gi! give! Passive present kjpes is-bought gis is-given

3.4.1 Form
In Norwegian, verbs may have different forms in the infinitive and in the imperative. The infinitive generally ends in -e. (1) Imperative snakk! talk! bytt! change! kjenn! feel! syng! sing! Infinitive snakke talk bytte change kjenne feel synge sing

Verbs may be formed in the following way: (2) a. Root: g go tro believe

b. Root + -e suffix: snakke talk

kaste throw smalne become narrow

c. Root + derivational suffix: svartne become black, blacken d. Derivational prefix + root: be-hve need e. Compound: stv-suge dust-suck vacuum av-bryte off-break interrupt for-akte despise

Compounds with a particle and a verb root, like av-bryte have special properties, see paragraph 3.4.1.1 3.4.1.1 Compounding with particles Norwegian has verb particles, which may be placed both before and after the verb. When the particle is placed before the verb, it is prefixed to it, and it is then often used in a more abstract sense. When the particle is placed after the verb, it normally has a more concrete interpretation. (1) a. Regjeringen avgikk. government.the off.went The government resigned. b. Han uttrykker seg bra. he out.presses REFL well He expresses himself well. Lyset gikk av. light.the went off The light went off. Han trykte ut majonesen fra tuben. he pressed out mayonnaise.the from tube.the He pressed the mayonnaise out of the tube.

Sometimes both variants can be used in the same expression, and we then get a stylistic difference. (2) a. Lreren fremsatte en hypotese. teacher.the forward.placed a hypothesis The teacher put forward a hypothesis. b. Hun ble oppsagt. she became up.said She was fired. Lreren satte frem en hypotese. teacher.the placed forward a hypothesis The teacher put forward a hypothesis.

Hun ble sagt opp. she became said up She was fired.

The prefixed variant (to the left above) is more formal and common in written language, whereas the variant with the particle to the right is more natural and common in spoken language.

Often, only one of the variants is allowed. (3) a. Henning brt av greina. Henning broke off branch.the Henning broke off the branch. b. * Henning brt av taleren. Henning broke off speaker.the * Henning avbrt greina. Henning off.broke branch.the

Henning avbrt taleren. Henning off.broke speaker.the Henning interrupted the speaker.

3.4.2 Transitive and intransitive verbs

In Norwegian clauses, there is always a subject. The verb may also have one or two objects and additionally they may have prepositional objects. If the object is a personal pronoun it occurs in the object form: meg me, oss us, etc. Verbs that take an object are called transitive. Transitive verbs: (1) a. Knut kysset Else. Knut kissed Else b. Else ga Knut ei bok. Else gave Knut a book c. Else ga ei bok til Knut. Else gave a book to Knut Intransitive verbs: (2) a. Linda kjrer fort. Linda drives fast Hun kjrer fort. she drives fast Hun s p ham. she looked on him She looked at him. Han snakket med henne om deg. he talked with her about you He talked to her about you. Jeg kysset deg. I kissed you Du ga meg ei bok. you gave me a book Du ga ei bok til meg. you gave a book to me

b. Linda s p Erik. Linda looked on Erik Linda looked at Erik.

c. Erik snakket med Linda om Else. Erik talked with Linda about Else Erik talked to Linda about Else.

Some intransitive verbs may have a cognate object, that is an object which means approximately the same as the verb. (3) a. Vi danset. we danced Vi danset en dans / en tango. we danced a dance / a tango

b. Hun sov. she slept

Hun sov sin skjnnhetssvn. she slept her beauty.sleep

Many verbs may take a reflexive pronoun. This is seg in the third person. It refers to the subject of the clause. (4) a. Eva vasket seg. cf. Eva vasket barnet. Eva washed REFL Eva washed child.the Eva washed herself. Eva washed the child. b. De barberte seg. cf. De barberte pasienten. REFL they shaved they shaved patient.the They shaved themselves. They shaved the patient. c. Hun gjemte seg. cf. Hun gjemte flyktningen. REFL she hid she hid refugee.the She hid herself. She hid the refugee. Some verbs have a reflexive pronoun that cannot be exchanged for an ordinary object. (5) a. Henning angret seg. Henning regretted REFL Henning regretted it. b. Lise giftet seg. Lise married REFL Lise got married. c. Lena m skynde seg. Lena must hurry REFL Lena must hurry.

3.4.3 Auxiliaries
In Norwegian there are auxiliaries and modals of different kinds. They can be used to express, for instance, time (tense), or to make the clause passive. The Norwegian verbs used to express time are the following: (1) Infinitive skulle komme ha Present skal kommer har Past skullet kom hadde Past participle skullet kommet hatt future future past

Skal shall is followed by the infinitive and it expresses future (often with a certain sense of intention). Kommer comes is followed by til to and the infinitive; it expresses future (without any intention). Ha have is followed by a past participle, and it expresses that something has happened. (2) a. Du skal hjelpe meg. you shal help me You will help me. b. Du kommer til hjelpe meg. you come to to help me You will help me. c. Du har hjulpet meg. you have helped me To create a passive sentence, Norwegian may use the verb bli become, which is followed by the past participle. (Norwegian also uses the special s-form of the verb to make a clause passive in many cases, see paragraph 3.4.9.1.) The verb bli inflects in the following way: (3) Infinitive bli Present blir Past ble Past participle blitt

(4) Hun ble kjrt til sykehuset. she became driven to hospital.the She was sent to the hospital. Norwegian also has several modal verbs. These are used to express intention, obligation, permission, wish, or the like. They are always followed by the infinitive. The most common modal verbs are inflected like this. (5) Infinitive skulle kunne ville mtte burde la f Present skal kan vil m br lar fr Past skullet kunne ville mtte burde lot fikk Past participle skullet kunnet villet mttet latt ftt shall can, be able to want to must, have to ought to let, permit get to, be allowed to

(6) a. Han skulle springe en runde. he should run a lap b. Hun kunne ikke berge seg. she could not save REFL

She could not save herself. c. Vi lar dem g. we let them walk. We will let them walk.

3.4.4 Tense
Norwegian expresses three tenses, present (now), past (before now), and future (after now) by using special verb forms or by combining an auxiliary with a certain verb form. Only the present and past tenses have their own verb forms. (1) Simple present kaster throw(s) kjper buy(s) Simple past kastet threw kjpte bought

The other tenses are formed by using an auxiliary. Perfect and pluperfect are formed with the auxiliary ha have. Present uses the present tense of ha, har, and the pluperfect uses the past tense of ha, hadde. The auxiliary ha is always followed by the past participle (which always ends in -t). (2) Perfect har kastet has thrown har has kjpt bought Pluperfect hadde kastet had thrown hadde had kjpt bought

Future is formed with the auxiliary skal will, shall, which is followed by the infinitive, or the auxiliary kommer comes, which is followed by til and the infinitive. Skal normally expresses intention, which kommer does not. (3) skal kaste shall throw will throw, is going to throw skal kjpe shall buy will buy, is going to buy kommer til kaste comes to to throw will throw, is going to throw

kommer til kjpe comes to to buy will buy, is going to buy

Future is also very often expressed by just the present form:

(4) Vi stenger butikken om ei stund. we close shop.the about e while We close (will close) the shop in a while.

3.4.5 The conjugations

The weak verbs in Norwegian have a -de or -te in the past form. The strong verbs change the stem vowel in the past. The three most common ways to inflect verbs are shown below. (1) Infinitive 1. sparke 2. kjpe bygge sy 3. g Imperative spark! kjp! bygg! sy! g! Present sparker kjper bygger syr gr Past sparket kjpte bygde sydde gikk Past participle sparket kjpt bygd sydd gtt kick buy build sew walk

See the following paragraphs. 3.4.5.1 First conjugation The first conjugation has -et in the past tense. Most Norwegian verbs are inflected this way. The different forms are illustrated with the verb hente fetch below. (1) a. Infinitive: Vi kan hente Per. we can fetch Per b. Imperative: Ikke hent bilen! not fetch car.the Dont fetch the car. c. Present: Han henter ikke avisen sin. he fetches not newspaper.the his He doesnt fetch his newspaper. d. Past: Hun hentet den i gr. she fetched it yesterday e. Past participle: Vi har allerede hentet den. we have already fetched it Many other very frequent verbs are inflected in the same way. arbeide work, flytte move, handle buy, trade, havne end up, hente fetch, hevde maintain, claim, huske remember, hpe hope, jobbe work, kaste

throw, koste cost, lande land, arrive, lede lead, mangle miss, lack, miste lose, passe fit, ramme strike, regne rain, count, samle collect, satse bet, sikre secure, ensure, sikte aim, skade hurt, harm, skaffe provide, snakke talk, speak, starte start, stoppe stop, sttte support, tyde interpret, understreke emphasize, utvikle develop, vente wait, virke seem, nske wish, want, pne open. 3.4.5.2 Second conjugation The smaller class of weak verbs in Norwegian contains two subclasses: The first subclass As in the first conjugation has imperative forms ending in a consonant and past tense forms in -de, or -te. Below the verb forms are illustrated for kjpe buy and bygge build. (1) a. Infinitive: Vi skal kjpe den i morgen. we shall buy it tomorrow We will buy it tomorrow. b. Imperative: Ikke kjp bilen! not buy car.the Dont buy the car. c. Present: Han kjper ofte bker he buys often books He often buys books. d. Past: Hun kjpte den i gr. she bought it yesterday e. Past participle: De har allerede kjpt den. they have already bought it (2) a. Infinitive: Jeg skal bygge den i morgen. I shall build it tomorrow I will build it tomorrow. b. Imperative: Ikke bygg huset! not build house.the Dont build the house. c. Present: Han bygger ofte hus he builds often houses He often builds houses.

d. Past: Hun bygde det i gr. she built it yesterday e. Past participle: De har bygd det. they have built it Several common verbs are inflected like kjpe: begynne begin, betale pay, bruke use, finnes exist, fortelle tell, fle feel, flge follow, fre lead, hete be called, hre listen, hear, kjenne feel, know, kjpe buy, kjre drive, klare manage, like like, mene mean, think, mte meet, reise travel, selge sell, sende send, skape create, spille play, stille place, pose, synes think, consider, tape lose, tenke think, trenge need, vare last, velge choose, vise show, ke increase. Several common verbs are inflected like bygge: behve need, bygge build, bye bend, eie own, feie sweep, gjre do, lage make, leve live, tygge chew, tye stretch, ve practice. The second subclass This subclass contains verbs with stems ending in a stressed vowel. Both the infinitive and the imperative are identical to the stem ro row, sy sew. In the present tense, they get the ending -r: ror rows, syr sews. The past and the past participle show the ending -dde and -dd: rodde rowed rodd rowed, sydde sewed sydd sewn: (3) a. Infinitive: Vi skal sy den i morgen. we shall sew it tomorrow Well sew it tomorrow. b. Imperative: Sy en bluse! sew a blouse Vi skal str salt p den. we shall sprinkle salt on it Well sprinkle salt on it tomorrow.

Str salt p den! sprinkle salt on it De strr salt p den. they sprinkle salt on it They are sprinkling salt on it.

c. Present: De syr en bluse. they sew a blouse They are sewing a blouse. d. Past: Hun sydde den i gr. she sewed it yesterday

De strdde salt p den. they sprinkled salt on it De har strdd salt p den. they have sprinkled salt on it.

e. Past participle: Han har allerede sydd den. he has already sewn it

One of the most common verbs, ha have is inflected according to this conjugation.

(4) Infinitive ha

Imperative ha!

Present har

Past hadde

Past participle hatt

have

Sometimes the stem vowel is changed in the past forms of the verbs in the second conjugation. Below you find examples of the verbs: velge choose, selge sell, flge follow, gjre do, make, smrre grease, smear, burde ought to. (5) Infinitive velge selge flge gjre smrre burde Imperative velg! selg! flg! gjr! smrr! Present velger selger flger gjr smrer br Past valgte solgte fulgte gjorde smurte burde Past participle valgt solgt fulgt gjort smurt choose sell follow do grease spread ought to

3.4.5.2 Third conjugation The third conjugation includes several verbs which end in a consonant. They typically have a vowel change in the past tense. Some of them also have a vowel change in the past participle. Many of them are quite common. (1) Infinitive bite skrive bryte synge drikke finne ta sl bre skjre ligge se komme sove Present biter skriver bryter synger drikker finner tar slr brer skjrer ligger ser kommer sover Past beit skreiv brt sang drakk fant tok slo bar skar l s kom sov Past participle bitt skrevet brutt sunget drukket funnet tatt sltt bret skret ligget sett kommet sovet bite write break sing drink find take hit carry cut lie see come sleep

The following verbs are conjugated like bite bite: drive drive, drift, ride ride, stige step, rise. The following verbs are conjugated like bryte break: flyte float, fryse freeze, lyve lie, skryte boast. The following verbs are conjugated like drikke drink: binde bind, finnes exist, be, rekke reach, have time to, sitte sit, springe run, synke sink.

3.4.6 Mood
Norwegian only has two modes: imperative and indicative. The imperative expresses a command. (1) G! Walk/Go! Spring! Run! Sitt! Sit (down)!

The indicative is the form that is used in all other circumstances. The indicative can be either present or past tense, see further paragraph 3.4.4.

3.4.7 Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of a verb in Norwegian are infinitive, present participle, and past participle. The infinitive is preceded by the infinitival marker to or by an auxiliary. The present participle follows the verb vre be or bli become, and the past participle follows the auxiliaries ha have, vre be, or bli become. (1) a. Infinitive: () fascinere (to) fascinate b. Present participle: (de) er fascinerende, (de) blir vrende (they) are fascinating, (they) become staying they are fascinating, they are staying c. Past participle: (han) er fascinert, (hun) er dratt, (vi) ble sett (he) is fascinated, (she) is gone, (we) became seen he is fascinated, she has gone, we were seen The auxiliary vre be is possible with the past participle of intransitive verbs. Often these verbs express some kind of movement or transition: (2) a. Han er reist. he is gone He has gone. b. Jenta er sovnet. girl.the is fallen.asleep The girl has fallen asleep. c. Pengene er forsvunnet. money.the is disappeared The money has disappeared.

The past participle form can also be used in passive clauses with passive, and then the auxiliary bli become is used: (3) a. De ble avhrt. they became interrogated They were interrogated. b. Sofaen blir flyttet fra rom til rom. couch.the becomes moved from room to room The couch is moved from room to room. c. Pengene ble stjlet. money.the became stolen The money got stolen. The past participle can also precede a noun. (4) ei (ny)bygd hytte, et (opp)spist smrbrd a (newly)built cottage, an (up)eaten sandwich When the present participle is used with the auxiliary vre be it denotes an experience. When it is used with bli become on the other hand it expresses continuous aspect. (5) a. Filmen var skremmende. film.the was terrifying The film was terrifying. b. Situasjonen var opphissende. situation.the was exciting The situation was exciting. c. Hun ble gende aleine. she became walking alone She ended up walking alone. d. De ble sittende i ro. they became sitting in peace They kept sitting still. Present participle is mainly used before nouns. (6) en smittende latter, en arbeidende mann an infectious laughter, a working man

3.4.8 Agreement

Norwegian verbs do not show agreement with the subject. All forms are the same, regardless of what subject is used. (1) Singular: Plural: 1. jeg ryker I smoke vi ryker we smoke 2. du ryker you smoke dere ryker you smoke 3. han/hun/det ryker he/she/it smokes de ryker they smoke

3.4.9 S-forms
In Norwegian many verbs may take an s-form. The -s is added to the inflected form of the verb and it either turns an active sentence into a passive one or it expresses reciprocity. (1) a. Passive: Dren pnes plutselig. door.the is.opened suddenly The door is suddenly opened. b. Reciprocity: De mttes. they met They met each other. See the following paragraphs. Adding the -s to the inflected verb creates the s-form of the verb, so it will always be the last (rightmost) element. When the verb is in the present tense and ends in an -r, this -r disappears when adding the -s. (2) Active S-form Active S-form a. Infinitive: snakke, snakkes; synge, synges talk be.talked sing be.sung

b. Present: snakker, snakkes; synger, synges talks is.talked sings is.sung c. Past: snakket, ; sang, talked sang d. Past participle: snakket, ; sunget, talked sung 3.4.9.1 S-passive In Norwegian the s-form of the verb is a common way to create passive sentences. However, the s-passive is only possible in the present tense. Compare the active sentences on the left below to the passive ones on the right.

(1)

Active a. Henning kjper boka. Henning buys book.the Henning buys the book.

Passive Boka kjpes ( av Henning ). book.the is.bought by Henning The book is bought by Henning.

b. Lise bygger huset. Huset bygges ( av Lise ). Lise builds house.the house.the is.built by Lise Lise builds the house. The house is built by Lise. See paragraph 1.12.4 on the passive construction. 3.4.9.2 Other s-forms The s-form of the verb may be used to express that the plural subject does things to each other (reciprocity). (1) a. Vi snakkes hver fredag. we talk.S every Friday We talk to each other every Friday. b. De mttes i Paris. they met.S in Paris They met (each other) in Paris. Some verbs always have the s-form. These verbs have no s-less form with similar meaning. The most common are: finnes be, exist, lykkes succeed.

3.5 Prepositions
Prepositions denote a relation between two things. Typically, they are short words that denote a local relation, but they may also denote time relations or more abstract relations. They are never inflected. The most common prepositions are the following. (1) i: Henning bor i Troms. vasen i skapet in Henning lives in Troms vase.the in cupboard.the Henning lives in Troms. the vase in the cupboard av: De er lagd av marmor. en av guttene of it is made of marble one of boys.the It is made of marble. one of the boys p: Hun satt p stolen. grenene p treet on she sat on chair.the branches.the on tree.the She sat on the chair. the branches of the tree

for: Det var lett for Lise. moten for tiden for it was easy for Lise fashion.the for time.the It was easy for Lise. the fashion of today med: Han skreiv med pennen. dama med hunden with he wrote with pen.the lady.the with dog.the He wrote with the pen. the lady with the dog til: Vi reiste til Lund. brevet til Hedda to we traveled to Lund letter.the to Hedda We went to Lund. the letter to Hedda om: Legg den om halsen. boka om Emil i Lnneberget about, around put it around neck.the book.the about Emil in Lnneberget Put it around your neck. the book about Emil in Lnneberget fra: Hun er fra Salzburg. kvinnen fra Reykjavk from she is from Salzburg woman.the from Reykjavk She is from Salzburg. the woman from Reykjavik The preposition i is often used in temporal expressions to denote the time of the day i kveld tonight, or how long something takes: arbeide i tre timer work for three hours. The preposition av is often used in abstract contexts when a noun is derived from a verb salget av huset the selling of the house, or when one wants to denote a member of a group: en av guttene one of the boys. It is also used to express the agent of a passive clause: Prisen deles ut av kongen The price is awarded by the king. The preposition p is sometimes used to express that something is a part of something else: beina p stolen the legs of the chair. The preposition med is sometimes used to express content of a case, vessel, or the like: ei flaske med melk a bottle of milk. The preposition til is used with verbs like gi give and sende send: Gi den til Karin Give it to Karin. The preposition om is often used in temporal expression to tell how long it is left until something will happen: Jeg kommer om tre timer I will arrive in three hours. See further paragraph 2.5 on prepositional phrases.

3.6 ADVERBS

The word class of adverbs contains many different sorts of words. They express, for instance, time, place, or degree, and they can be used to negate the clause, or modify it in another way. Adverbs may modify clauses, verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. (1) a. Henning kan kanskje hjelpe deg. Henning can perhaps help you b. Linda bor her. Linda lives here c. Lena springer fort. Lena runs fast d. N skal Espen lese. now shall Espen read Now Espen will read. e. Albert er svrt gammel. Albert is very old f. Dette skjer ganske sjelden. this happens quite seldom Adverbs are normally not inflected, but a few of them may be inflected for comparison.

3.6.1 Morphological properties

Adverbs are normally not inflected. A few of them can however be inflected for comparison, that is they have specific forms that denotes higher degree (comparative) and highest degree (superlative) in a comparison. (1) a. Henning kjrer fort. Henning drives fast b. Henning kjrer fortere enn Lise. Henning drives faster than Lise c. Tiril kjrer fortest. Tiril drives fastest Tiril drives the fastest. Several of the adverbs that are inflected for comparison have a different root in comparative and superlative than they have in the positive form.

(1) Positive fort sakte lenge ofte mye lite nr gjerne vel/bra ille

Comparative fortere saktere lengre oftere mere mindre nrmere heller bedre verre

Superlative fortest saktest lengst oftest mest minst nrmest helst best verst

fast slowly long, for a long time often very, much little near willingly well badly

Suffixes are often used to form adverbs. Among these suffixes we find: (2) -vis: gradvis forsksvis -lig: egentlig virkelig gradually tentatively

actually really, truely somewhere nowhere

-steds: noensteds ingensteds

Compounding is a productive way to form adverbs. Especially common are the prefixes der or sometimes her eller hvor followed by a preposition. Adverbs like derav of that, can be changed to av det. (3) dertil to that, there deretter afterwards derimot on the other hand derfra from there herav of this hvorav of (from) what, which, whom

3.6.2 Various types of adverbs

Among the most common adverbs we find adverbs that denote or ask for time, place or manner. her here, der there, hit here, this way, dit there, that way, hvor where, n now, da then, allerede already, enn yet, lenge long, for a long time, straks immediately, nr when, s so, slik, snn so, like this/like that, fort fast, hvordan how. (1) a. Hvor er du? where are you b. Nr when drar leave Jeg er her. I am here du? you Jeg drar n. I leave now

When are you leaving? c. Hvordan gjr man dette? how does one this How do you do this?

Im leaving now. Man gjr slik. one does such You do it like this.

Among the most common adverbs we also find some that denote or ask for degree. svrt very, much, mer more, mest most, lite little, mindre less, minst least, s so, that, like as, ganske pretty, hvor where. (2) a. Hvor interessert er du? where interested are you How interested are you? Jeg er svrt/ganske interessert. I am very/quite interested Im quite interested.

b. Dette firmaet er like stort som ditt. this company.the is as big as yours. This company is as big as yours. Adverbs also express that something is true, false, or credible. They can also connect to something previously said. ikke not, kanskje maybe, perhaps, sannsynligvis probably, absolutt absolutely, virkelig really. ogs also, bare just, only, egentlig actually, jo as we know, vel I think. The last two adverbs are quite vague, and normally not translated into English at all. Adverbs may also be so called verb particles, short words denoting, for example, direction, which follow the verb. See further paragraph 2.1.4. inn in, ut out, opp up, ned down, fram forth, bak back. (3) Ta inn hunden. Kjr fram bilen. take in dog.the drive forth car.the Let in the dog. Drive out the car. Legg ned vpnene. lay down weapons.the Lay down the weapons.

Some adverb of place are build by adding an -e to particles like these. The particle inn denotes direction and corresponds to inne inside, which denotes where something is placed. (4) a. Kjr inn bilen i garasjen. drive in car.the in garage.the Drive the car into the garage.

b. Bilen str her inne i garasjen. car.the stands here in in garage.the The car is here inside the garage. c. Kom fram i lyset. come forth in light.the Come forth into the light. d. Still deg framme p scenen. place you forth on stage.the Place yourself in the front of the stage. e. G ned til byen. go down to city.the Walk down to the city. f. Vi var nede i byen. we were down in city.the We were down in the city.

3.7 NUMERALS
Numerals indicate how many there are of something (cardinal numbers: for example tre three) or which one in an ordered set something is (ordinal numbers: for example tredje third). (1) Cardinal numbers: en one to two tre three fire four fem five seks six sju, syv seven tte eight ni nine ti ten elleve eleven tolv twelve tretten thirteen fjorten fourteen femten fifteen seksten sixteen sytten seventeen atten eighteen Ordinal numbers: frste first andre second tredje third fjerde fourth femte fifth sjette sixth sjuende, syvende seventh ttende eighth niende ninth tiende tenth ellefte eleventh tolvte twelfth trettende thirteenth fjortende fourteenth femtende fifteenth sekstende sixteenth syttende seventeenth attende eighteenth

nitten tjue, tyve tjueen tjueto tretti trettien frti femti seksti sytti tti nitti hundre tusen million miljard

nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two thirty thirty-one forty fifty sixty seventy eighty ninety hundred thousand million Br. milliard Am. billion

nittende tjuende, tyvende tjuefrste tjueandre trettiende trettifrste frtiende femtiende sekstiende syttiende ttiende nittiende hundrede tusende millionte

nineteenth twentieth twenty-first twenty-second thirtieth thirty-first fortieth fiftieth sixtieth seventieth eightieth ninetieth hundredth thousandth millionth

3.7.1 Syntactic function

Numerals can be used in three ways. They may be predicates, typically after the verbs vre be or bli become. They may also occur in front of nouns, both in indefinite and definite noun phrases. Finally, they may be used independently, that is without a noun. Ordinal numbers do not occur as predicates, and only rarely in indefinite noun phrases. (1) a. Predicatively: Cardinal numbers: Antallet medlemmer var tolv. number.the members was twelve The number of members was twelve. tre hus three houses Definite noun phrase: de fire bkene the four books.the the four books c. Independently: alle tre all three Ordinal numbers:

b.

Indefinite noun phrase:

en tredje gang a third time den fjerde boka the fourth book.the the fourth book den tredje the third (one)

3.7.2 Morphology: cardinal numbers

The numeral en/ei/ett one agrees with its noun. (1) Masculine: en bil a.MASC car Feminine: ei seng a.FEM bed Neuter: ett hus a.NEUT house

Other numerals ending in -en do not agree in gender with the noun. The masculine form is used with all nouns. (2) Masculine: tjueen biler twenty-one cars Feminine: tjueen senger twenty-one beds Neuter: tjueen hus twenty-one houses

3.7.3 Morphology: ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are uninflected.

3.8 CONJUNCTIONS, SUBJUNCTIONS, AND THE INFINITIVAL MARKER

Conjunctions are words like og and, men but, eller or; these words link elements of the same kind. (1) a. Henning sykler, men Lise. kjrer bil. Henning bikes but Lise drives car Henning bikes but Lise drives a car. b. Henning og Lise sykler Henning and Lise bike Subjunctions are words like at that,om if,ettersom since; these words introduce subordinate clauses. (2) a. Han visste at han ville komme for seint. he knew that he would come too late b. Du fr den, ettersom du er min venn. you get it since you are my friend The infinitival marker is and it introduces infinitival clauses. (3) a. Knut begynte lese. Knut began to read b. Det er fint seile.

it

is nice to sail

3.8.1 Conjunctions
All conjunctions connect two elements of the same kind. The Norwegian conjunctions are: og and, samt and (also), eller or, men but, skjnt though, although, fordi for, because, for for, as. They may connect two main clauses. (1) a. Lise synger og Espen spiller. Lise sings and Espen plays b. Eva er vakker, skjnt hun har ingen selvtillit. Eva is beautiful although she has no self-esteem Eva is beautiful, although she has got no self esteem. Conjunctions can also connect to phrases. (2) a. den gamle mannen og hunden hans the old man.the and dog.the his the old man and his dog b. Lise og Henning er ganske livlige, men svrt snille. Lise and Henning are pretty lively but very kind 3.8.1.1 Copulative conjunctions Copulative conjunctions connect elements of the same type without implying any difference between them. Copulative conjunctions are og and and samt and (also). (1) a. Henning og Espen tar militrtjenesten. Henning and Espen take military.service.the Henning and Espen are doing their military service. b. Vi arbeider og tenker p deg. we work and think on you We are working and thinking of you. The conjunction samt and (also) is mostly used to mark that something is separate from the other elements. (2) P bryllupsreisen dro Lena og Jan samt Lenas fetter Per. on honey-moon.the went Lena and Jan as-well-as Lenas cousin Per Lena and Jan as well as Lenaa cousin Per went on the honey-moon. The conjunction og and can be emphasised by bde both.

(3) Bde Henning og Espen tar militrtjenesten. Both Henning and Espen take military.service.the Both Henning and Espen are doing their military service. 3.8.1.2 Disjunctive conjunctions Disjunctive conjunctions express an alternative. There is only one conjunction of this sort in Norwegian: eller or. (1) a. Jeg vet ikke om det er en mann eller ei kvinne. I know not whether it is a man or a woman I dont know whether it is a man or a woman. b. Om du sykler eller gr spiller ingen rolle. whether you bike or walk plays no part Whether you bike or walk doesnt matter. The expression can be emphasised with enten either or the negation hverken neither. (2) a. Enten Espen eller Henning m g av. either Espen or Henning must go off Either Henning or Espen must resign. b. Hverken Espen eller Henning m g av. neither Espen nor Henning must go off Neither Henning nor Espen must resign. 3.8.1.3 Adversative conjunctions Adversative conjunctions express a contrast. In Norwegian men but and skjnt but, though are used. (1) a. Boka er vanskelig, men interessant. book.the is difficult but interesting The book is difficult but interesting. b. Han drikker mye, skjnt spiser lite. he drinks a.lot though eats little He drinks a lot though he eats little. The expression may be emphasised by riktignok meaning admittedly in the first part of the co-ordination, or by likevel or dog, both meaning nevertheless, still, anyway in the second. (2) a. Svein er riktignok tjukk, men likevel ganske flott.

Svein is admittedly fat

but anyway quite handsome

b. Vi har riktignok mange venner, men kan dog ikke vre helt sikre. we have admittedly many friends but can still not be quite sure We admittedly have many friends but we still cannot be sure. 3.8.1.4 Explanative conjunctions Explanative conjunctions imply that the second part of the co-ordination is an explanation of the first one. Norwegian uses for for, as. (1) a. Han vil ikke, for han orker ikke. he wants not because he manages not He doesnt want to because he is tired. b. Knut var bekymret, for han hadde ingen penger. Knut was worried because he had no money 3.8.1.5 Conclusive conjunctions Conclusive conjunctions imply that the second part of the co-ordination is a conclusion or a consequence. (1) Eva var trtt, s hun ble hjemme. Eva was tired so she stayed home Eva was tired, so she stayed at home.

3.8.2 Subjunctions
Subjunctions are words that introduce subordinate clauses. The typical subjunctions at that, som that, which, and om if lack content almost entirely. Others denote a specific relation between the subordinate clause and its main clause, such as cause: ettersom since; time: mens while; etc. 3.8.2.1 Syntax and inflection Subjunctions are not inflected. They are sometimes written as two or more words: fordi at because, til tross for at although, slik at so that for at in order to. 3.8.2.2 The most common subjunctions Among the most common subjunctions in Norwegian are at that, som that, which, om if, whether and enn than.

At that is used to introduce clauses that tell or report something, or clauses that denote a consequence. In the latter case it is almost always preceded by an adjective modified by s so, as. (1) a. Han fortalte at han hadde ftt ei tre kilo tung gjedde. he told that he had got a three kilo heavy pike He told us that he had got a pike of three kilos. b. Forslaget om at huset skulle rives ble stemt ned. proposal.the about that house.the should demolish.PASS became voted down The proposal that the house should be demolished was turned down. c. Han var s lykkelig at han danset. he was so happy that he danced Som that, who, which, is used to introduce relative clauses or comparative clauses (and phrases). In the latter case it is normally translated by as in English, and it is almost always preceded by an adjective modified by like as. (2) a. mannen som str der borte man.the that stands there away the man standing over there b. Jeg kjenner ei jente som bor i Tnsberg. I know a girl that lives in Tnsberg c. Det gamle huset, som er bygd i 1870, har blitt flyttet to ganger. the old house.the that is built in 1870 has been moved two times The old house, which was built in 1870, has been moved twice. d. Jeg har like dyre bukser som du har. I have as expensive trousers as you have Som is also used to double a questioned subject in a subordinate clause. (3) Vi vet hvem som har kjpt den. we know who that has bought it We know who has bought it. Om is used to introduce conditional clauses or interrogative clauses, which correspond to yes-no questions. (4) a. Om det ikke regner s drar vi p utflukt. if it not rains then go we on picnic If it doesnt rain, we will go for a picnic.

b. Eva spurte om vi ville vre med. Eva asked if we wanted be with Eva asked if we wanted to come along. Enn is used to introduce comparative clauses (or phrases). They are almost always preceded by a comparative adjective or an adjective modified by mer more. (5) a. Du har en bedre sykkel enn jeg har. you have a better bike than I have b. Dette er mer interessant enn jeg trodde. this is more interesting than I thought 3.8.2.3 Subjunctions grouped according to their meaning Subjunctions may signal many different sorts of connections between the main clause and the subordinate clause. They may for instance express time, that is that the event in the subordinate clause is simultaneous to, earlier, or later than the event of the main clause. In a similar way they can express that the subordinate clause constitutes a condition for or a reason to the event of the main clause. The most common subjunctions are listed below. Temporal subjunctions: nr/da when,fr before, til until, mens while, siden after, since. (1) a. Du m hjelpe meg med klesvasken fr vi kan g. you must help me with laundry.the before we can go You must help me with the laundry before we can go. b. Hun smilte da han gikk. she smiled when he left Causal subjunctions: ettersom as, because, since,for (at) because, fordi (at) because, av at in that. (2) Han gikk ettersom hun ikke snakket med ham. he left since she not talked with him He left since she didnt talk to him. Conditional subjunctions: om if, hvis if, s vidt insofar as, forutsatt at provided that. (3) Jeg hjelper deg om/hvis du vil. I help you if you want Ill help you if you want me to.

Concessive subjunctions: til tross for at though, selv om although, skjnt even though. (4) Vi arbeider til tross for at / selv om vi ikke fr noen lnn. we work to despite for that even if we not get any salary We are working, even though we dont get paid. Final subjunctions: for at in order to. (5) Vi m selge bilen for at vi skal klare det. we must sell car.the for that we shall manage it We must sell the car, in order to make it. Consecutive subjunctions: slik at so that. (6) Han jobbet slik at han ble rd i ansiktet. he worked such that he became red in face.the He worked so that his face became red. Comparative subjunctions: (like)...som as...as, (slik/snn) som as, liksom as, enn than, jo...desto/dess/jo the...the, som om as if. (7) a. Han gjorde som de ba ham om gjre. he did as they asked him about to do He did what they asked him to do. b. Jo strre de er, desto hardere faller de. the bigger they are the harder fall they The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Descriptive subjunctions: av at in that, uten at not that, without. (8) a. Han ble reddet av at kameratene grep inn. he became saved of that friends.the grabbed in He was saved because his friends intervened. b. Vi m hjelpe Henning uten at lreren merker det. we must help Henning without that teacher.the notices it We must help Henning without the teacher noticing.

3.8.3 The infinitival marker

The infinitival marker in Norwegian is to. It is used to introduce infinitival clauses. (1) a. Det er hyggelig seile.

it is nice to sail It is nice to go sailing. b. Han lovte ikke synge. he promised to not sing He promised not to sing. c. Vi ble lei av synge. we became tired of to sing We became tired of singing. See further paragraph 1.11.1 on infinitival phrases.