Norwegian Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and

Grammar
Note: Before heading to the tutorial I would Strictly recommend to download any
online dictionary which could easily translate the difficult Norwegian words
provided below so that you can understand them easily and learn quickly, if
you have one so thats good if not then Ill personally prefer BabelFish
dictionary which is free so you dont need to buy it. The download link is
provided below:

Download BabelFish Translator

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

1. Basic Phrases
God morgen
Good Morning

Hallo / God dag

Hello / Good Day

God kveld
Good Evening

God natt
Good Night

Ha det bra
Goodbye

Hei / Ha det
Hi / Bye

Vr s snill
Please

(Tusen) Takk
Thank you (very much)

Ingen rsak / Vr s god

Don't mention it / You're
welcome

Ja / Nei
Yes / No

Herr / Fru / Frken

Mister / Misses

Velkommen!
Welcome!

Hvordan har du det?

How are you?

Hvordan gr det?
How it's going?

Bra / Drlig
Good / Bad

Hva heter du?

What's your name?

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

Hyggelig treffe deg!

Pleased to meet you!

called...)
Hvor kommer du fra?
Where are you from?

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

Unnskyld
Excuse me / Sorry

Hvor bor du?

Where do you live?

Jeg bor i...

I live in...

Jeg vil gjerne ha... / Jeg skulle

gjerne hatt...
I would like...

Hvor gammel er du?

How old are you?

Jeg er ____ r (gammel).

I am ____ years (old).

Jeg vet [ikke.]

I [don't] know.

Snakker du norsk?
Do you speak
Norwegian?

Jeg snakker engelsk.

I speak English.

Snakk langsomt
Speak slowly

svensk, dansk, fransk, italiensk, spansk, tysk,

hollndsk, rysk, japansk
Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, Spanish, German,
Dutch, Russian, Japanese

Hva heter ... p norsk?

How do you say ... in
Norwegian?

Forstr du?
Do you understand?

Jeg forstr [ikke.]

I [don't] understand.

Vr s snill gjenta /
Vennligst gjenta
Please repeat

Hva er dette?
What is this?

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

Hvor mye koster dette?

How much does this cost?

Jeg er sulten
I'm hungry

Jeg er trst
I'm thirsty

Jeg er trett
I'm tired

Jeg er syk
I'm sick

Jeg tror [ikke] det

I [don't] think so

Kom inn / hit

Come in / here

Ta plass
Have a seat.

Stans! / Stopp!
Stop!

Straks!
Immediately! / Soon!

Jeg har gtt meg bort

I'm lost

Hjelp!
Help!

Fare!
Danger!

Pass p!
Watch out!

Vent litt!
Wait a minute!

Hvor langt er det?

How far is it?

Det var synd.

That's too bad!

Velbekomme!
Have a good meal!

Skl!
Cheers! (toast)

Lykke til!

Jeg elsker deg.

Jeg savner deg.

Good luck!

I love you.

I miss you.

2. Pronunciation
Norwegian letter(s)
d
ig
eg
h
j, gj, hj
kj, tj
sj, skj
sl
ki, ky, kei, ky
ski, sky, skei, sky
gi, gy, gei, gy
g + other vowels
sk + other vowels
-egn, -egl, -gn
ng

English sound
silent at end of word; and in -ld, -nd, -rd
ee
ay
silent before consonants, such as in hvyuh, as in yes
sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)
sh
shl
sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)
sh
yuh
guh
sk
g is silent
nasalized, as in singer and not finger
ah as in cat
ay, but with lips rounded
aw as in saw

3. Alphabet
a

ahh

kaw

ooh

bay

el

vay

say

em

dobbel-veh

day

en

eks

ay

ooh

ew (lips rounded)

ef

pay

set

gay

koo

ah (as in cat)

haw

air

ay (lips rounded)

ee

ess

aw

yod

tay

4. Nouns & Cases

Nouns in Norwegian (Bokml) have two genders, masculine and neuter, which adjectives
must agree with when modifying nouns. Technically there is a third gender, feminine
(which Nynorsk retains), but since feminine nouns can be written as masculine nouns, I'm
including feminine nouns in the masculine category. There are two indefinite articles that
correspond with these genders: en for masculine nouns and et for neuter nouns. In the
vocabulary lists, a noun followed by (n) means that it is a neuter noun and it takes the
indefinite article et. The majority of nouns in Norwegian are masculine, so they take the
indefinite article en.
The only case of nouns that is used in Norwegian is the genitive (showing possession),
and it is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. This is comparable to adding -'s in
English to show possession. However, if the noun already ends in -s, then you add
nothing (unlike English where we add -' or -'s). Olavs hus = Olav's house

5. Articles & Demonstratives

There are two indefinite articles (corresponding to a and an): en and et. En is used with
most of the nouns (words denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have
to learn which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a separate
word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the indefinite article attached to
the end of the noun. Note that en words ending in a vowel retain that vowel and add an
-n instead of adding -en. And et words ending in -e just add -t. Furthermore, the t of et as
an indefinite article is pronounced; however, the t is silent in the definite article -et
attached to the noun. (For feminine nouns, the indefinite article is ei and the definite
article that is attached to the noun is -a. In theory, this gender does still exist in Bokml,
but in practice, it is rarely used and the feminine nouns are inflected like masculine
nouns, i.e. add -en instead of -a for the definite form.)
Articles
En words (masculine)
Indefinite
Definite
en fisk

a fish

fisken

the fish

Et words (neuter)
Indefinite
Definite
et
a
vinduet the window
vindu window

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

Demonstrative Adjectives
masculine
neuter
plural

denne
dressen
dette
skjerfet
disse
skoene

den
dressen
det
this scarf
skjerfet
these
de
shoes
skoene
this suit

that suit
that scarf
those
shoes

Notice that the noun that follows a demonstrative adjective must have the definite article
attached to it.
(The feminine form of demonstratives is identical to the masculine; denne and den.)

6. Subject & Object Pronouns

Subject & Object Pronouns
jeg

meg

me

du

you (singular)

deg

you

han

he

ham

him

hun

she

henne

her

den

it (masc.)

den

it

det

it (neut.)

det

it

man

one

man

one

vi

we

oss

us

dere

you (plural)

dere

you

de

they

dem

them

7. To Be & to Have
The present and past tenses of verbs in Norwegian are very simple to conjugate. All the
forms are the same for each personal pronoun. The infinitive of the verb to be in
Norwegian is vre, and the conjugated present tense form is er and the past tense is var.
The infinitive of the verb to have is ha, and the conjugated present tense form is har and
the past tense is hadde.
vre - to be
ha - to have
I am
jeg er I was
jeg var I have jeg har I had jeg hadde
you are du er you were du var you have du har you had du hadde

han
hadde
hun
she is hun er she was hun var she has hun har she had
hadde
it is
den er it was
den var it has
den har it had den hadde
it is
det er it was
det var it has
det har it had det hadde
man
man
man
one is man er one was
one has
one had
var
har
hadde
we are vi er we were vi var we have vi har we had vi hadde
dere
dere
dere
you are dere er you were
you have
you had
var
har
hadde
they
they
they are de er they were de var
de har
de hadde
have
had
he is

han er he was

han var he has

han har he had

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

8. Useful Words

always
never
often
usually
now

noen granger / av og
til
alltid
aldri
ofte
vanligvis
n

and

og

but
or

men
eller

perhaps
both
some
again
between
a lot,
many
of course
a little

very

veldig / svrt

not at all

here
there
with

her
der
med

almost
really?
it is
there
is/are

sometimes

each other hverandre

already

allerede
kanskje
begge
noe(n)
igjen
mellom
mye / mange
selvflgelig / sklart
litt
ikke i det hele tatt / slettes ikke /
overhodet ikke
nesten
virkelig?
det er
det finnes

9. Question Words
Who

hvem

How

hvordan

What

hva

How much

hvor mye

Why

hvorfor

How many

hvor mange

When

nr

How long

hvor lenge

Where

hvor

Where from

hvorfra

Which

hvilken, hvilket, hvilke

What kind of

hva slags

Hvilken is used with masculine nouns, hvilket is used with neuter nouns, and hvilke is
used with plural nouns.

10. Cardinal & Ordinal Numbers

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
30
40

null
en, ett
to
tre
fire
fem
seks
sju
tte
ni
ti
elleve
tolv
tretten
fjorten
femten
seksten
sytten
atten
nitten
tjue
tjueen, tjueett
tjueto
tretti
frti

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
30th
40th

frste
annen, andre
tredje
fjerde
femte
sjette
sjuende
ttende
niende
tiende
ellevte
tolvte
trettende
fjortende
femtende
sekstende
syttende
attende
nittende
tjuende
tjuefrste
tjueandre
trettiende
frtiende

50
60
70
80
90
100
1,000
million
billion
trillion

femti
seksti
sytti
tti
nitti
hundre
tusen
million
milliard
billion

50th
60th
70th
80th
90th
100th
1,000th

femtiende
sekstiende
syttiende
ttiende
nittiende
hundrede
tusende

"Sju" can also be written "syv" (slightly more formal), and "sjuende" as "syvende"
Similarly "tjue" can be "tyve", but this does seem less common and more formal.

11. Days of the Week

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
day
morning
afternoon
evening
night
today
tomorrow

mandag
tirsdag
onsdag
torsdag
fredag
lrdag
sndag
dag
morgen
ettermiddag
kveld
natt
i dag
i morgen

this morning
tomorrow morning
tomorrow afternoon
tomorrow night
day after tomorrow
tonight
last night
yesterday
day before yesterday
week
next week
weekend
daily
weekly

12. Months of the Year

January
February
March
April

januar
februar
mars
april

i dag morges
i morgen tidlig
i morgen formiddag
i morgen kveld
i overmorgen
i kveld
i gr kveld
i gr
i forgrs
uke
nest uke
helg
daglig
ukentlig

May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
month
last month
monthly
year
this year
last year
yearly

mai
juni
juli
august
september
oktober
november
desember
mned
forrige mned
mnedlig
r (n)
i r
i fjor
rlig

13. Seasons
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall

vinter
vr
sommer
hst

in (the) winter
in (the) spring
in (the) summer
in (the) fall

om vinteren
om vren
om sommeren
om hsten

14. Directions
North
South

nord
syd

East

st

West

vest

Northeast
Northwest

nordst
nordvest

Southeast
Southwest

sydst
sydvest

to the right
to the left
straight
ahead

til hyre
til venstre
rett fram /
frem

Frem is slightly more formal than fram.

15. Colors
orange
pink
purple
blue
yellow
red
black
brown
gray
white
green

oransje
rosa
lilla
bl, bltt, bl
gul, gult, gule
rd, rdt, rde
svart, svart, svarte
brun, brunt, brune
gr, grtt, gr
hvit, hvitt, hvite
grnn, grnt, grnne

The first three colors do not change according to gender or number to agree with the noun
they modify. The rest of the colors must agree, however, and they are listed in masculine,
neuter and plural forms: en grnn kjole - a green dress; et bltt hus - a blue house;
svarte sokker - black socks

16. Time
What time is it?
It is 2.
6:20
half past 3
quarter past 4
quarter to 5
10 past 11
20 to 7
noon
midnight
in the morning
in the evening
It's exactly...
About/around 8.

Hva er klokken?
Klokken er to.
tjue over seks
halv fire
kvart over fire
kvart p fem
ti over elleve
tjue p sju
middag
midnatt
om morgenen
om kvelden
Den er nyaktig...
omtrent tte

now
early
earlier
soon
late
later
in 10 minutes
in 15 minutes
in a half hour
in an hour
right now
at once
immediately
At 8.

n
tidlig
tidligere
snart
sent
senere
om ti minutter
om et kvarter
om en halvtime
om en time
akkurat n
med en gang
straks
klokken tte

17. Weather
How's the weather?
It's cold
It's warm
It's beautiful
It's bad
It's clearing
It's icy
It's windy
It's cloudy
It's humid/muggy

Hvordan er vret?
Det er kaldt
Det er varmt
Det er pent
Det er drlig
Det lysner
Det er isete
Det blser
Det er overskyet
Det er fuktig

What temperature is it?

It's foggy
The fog is lifting
It's snowing
It's raining
It's going to storm
There's thunder
There's lightning
It's freezing (cold as ice)
It's hailing

Hvor mange grader er det?

Det er tke
Tken letner
Det snr
Det regner
Det bli storm
Det tordner
Det lyner
Det er iskaldt
Det hagler

18. Family
Parents
Mother
Father
Son
Daughter
Brother
Sister
Grandfather
Grandmother
Grandson
Granddaughter
Cousin (male)
Cousin (female)

foreldre
mor
far
snn
datter
bror
sster
bestefar
bestemor
barnebarn
barnebarn
fetter
kusine

Niece
Nephew
Uncle
Aunt
Boy
Girl
Child / Baby
Adult
Man
Woman
Friend (male)
Friend female)

niese
nev
onkel
tante
gutt
jente, pike
barn
voksen
mann
kvinne
venn
venninne

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

19. To Know People & Facts

present

kjenne - to
know people
kjenner

vite - to
know facts
vet

past
future

kjente
skal kjenne

visste
skal vite

20. Formation of Plural Nouns

Masculine nouns generally add -er or -r to the indefinite singular noun to form the
indefinite plural, and -ene or -ne to form the definite plural. The names of jobs ending in
-er only add -e and -ne in these cases. Neuter nouns that are more than one syllable form
plural nouns the same way as masculine nouns. Neuter nouns that are only one syllable,
however, add nothing to form the indefinite plural and either -ene or -a to form the
definite plural.
Singular Indefinite Plural
en fisk fisker some fish
some
en hage hager
gardens
en
some
bakere
baker
bakers
some
et vindu vinduer
windows
some
et hus hus
houses
some
et barn barn
children

Definite Plural
fiskene the fishes
the
hagene
gardens
bakerne the bakers
vinduene

the
windows

husene

the houses

barna

the
children

Irregular plural nouns in Norwegian:

and
bok
bonde

Irregular Indefinite
Plural
ender
duck(s)
bker
book(s)
bnder
peasant(s)

fot

ftter

foot(feet)

hnd

hender

hndkle

hndklr

kne (n)
kraft
ku
natt
mann
rand

knr
krefter
kyr
netter
menn
render

hand(s)
hand
towel(s)
knee(s)
strength
cow(s)
night(s)
man(men)
edge(s)

Singular

Singular = Indefinite Plural

angrep (n) attack(s)
besok (n)
visit(s)
eventyr (n) tale(s), story(ies)
error(s),
feil
mistake(s)
forhold
circumstance(s)
hve (n)

opportunity(ies)

kreps
mus
mygg
sild
sko
spiker

crawfish(es)
mouse(s)
mosquito(es)
herring(s)
shoe(s)
nail(s)

rot
sted (n)
stang
strand
tang
tann
tre
t
ye

rtter
steder
stenger
strender
tenger
tenner
trr
tr
yne

root(s)
ting
place(s)
vpen
bar(s)
beach(es)
pincher(s)
tooth(teeth)
tree(s)
toe(s)
eye(s)

thing(s)
weapon(s)