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There are two types of written Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk. This tutorial includes Bokmål only. Thanks to Dan for helping with this tutorial!
1. Basic Phrases
God morgenGood Morning
Hallo / God dagHello / Good Day
God kveldGood Evening
God nattGood Night
Ha det braGoodbye
Hei / Ha detHi / Bye
Vær så snill Please
(Tusen) TakkThank you (very much)
Ingen årsak / Vær så godDon't mention it / You're welcome
Ja / NeiYes / No
Herr / Fru / FrøkenMister / Misses
Velkommen!Welcome!
Hvordan har du det?How are you?
Hvordan går det?How it's going?
Bra / DårligGood / Bad
Hva heter du?What's your name?
Jeg heter...My name is... (I am called...)
Hyggelig å treffe deg!Pleased to meet you!
Hvor kommer du fra?Where are you from?
Jeg er fra...I'm from...
UnnskyldExcuse me / Sorry
Hvor bor du?Where do you live?
Jeg bor i...I live in...
Jeg vil gjerne ha... / Jeg skulle gjerne hatt...I would like...
Hvor gammel er du?How old are you?
Jeg er ____ år (gammel).I am ____ years (old).
Jeg vet [ikke.]I [don't] know.
Snakker du norsk?Do you speak Norwegian?
Jeg snakker engelsk.I speak English.
Snakk langsomtSpeak slowly
svensk, dansk, fransk, italiensk, spansk, tysk, holländsk, rysk, japanskSwedish, Danish, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Russian, Japanese
Hva heter ... på norsk?How do you say ... in Norwegian?
Forstår du?Do you understand?
Jeg forstår [ikke.]I [don't] understand.
Vær så snill å gjenta / Vennligst gjentaPlease repeat
Hva er dette?What is this?
Hvor er ... ?Where is ... ?
Hvor mye koster dette?How much does this cost?
Jeg er sultenI'm hungry
Jeg er tørstI'm thirsty
Jeg er trettI'm tired
Jeg er sykI'm sick
Jeg tror [ikke] detI [don't] think so
Kom inn / hitCome in / here
Ta plassHave a seat.
Stans! / Stopp! Stop!
Straks!Immediately! / Soon!
Jeg har gått meg bortI'm lost
Hjelp!Help!
Fare!Danger!
Pass på!Watch out!
Vent litt!Wait a minute!
Hvor langt er det?How far is it?
Det var synd.That's too bad!
Velbekomme!Have a good meal!
Skål!Cheers! (toast)
Lykke til!Good luck!
Jeg elsker deg.I love you.
Jeg savner deg.I miss you.
2. Pronunciation
Norwegian letter(s)
English sound
d
silent at end of word; and in -ld, -nd, -rd
ig
ee
eg
ay
h
silent before consonants, such as in hv-
j, gj, hj
yuh, as in yes
kj, tj
sh, but softer and more palatalized (as in German)
sj, skj
sh
sl
shl
ki, ky, kei, køy
ski, sky, skei, skøy
gi, gy, gei, gøy
yuh
g + other vowels
guh
sk + other vowels
sk
-egn, -egl, -øgn
g is silent
ng
nasalized, as in singer and not finger
æ
ah as in cat
ø
ay, but with lips rounded
å
aw as in saw
3. Alphabet
a
ahh
k
kaw
u
ooh
b
bay
l
el
v
vay
c
say
m
em
w
dobbel-veh
day
n
en
x
eks
e
o
y
ew (lips rounded)
f
ef
p
pay
z
set
g
gay
q
koo
ah (as in cat)
haw
r
air
ay (lips rounded)
i
s
ess
aw
j
yod
t
tay
4. Nouns & Cases
Nouns in Norwegian (Bokmål) have two genders, masculine and neuter, which adjectives must agree with when modifying nouns. Technically there is a third gender, feminine (which Nynorsk retains), but since feminine nouns can be written as masculine nouns, I'm including feminine nouns in the masculine category. There are two indefinite articles that correspond with these genders: en for masculine nouns and et for neuter nouns. In the vocabulary lists, a noun followed by (n) means that it is a neuter noun and it takes the indefinite article et. The majority of nouns in Norwegian are masculine, so they take the indefinite article en.
The only case of nouns that is used in Norwegian is the genitive (showing possession), and it is easily formed by adding an -s to the noun. This is comparable to adding -'s in English to show possession. However, if the noun already ends in -s, then you add nothing (unlike English where we add -' or -'s). Olavs hus = Olav's house
5. Articles & Demonstratives
There are two indefinite articles (corresponding to a and an): en and et. En is used with most of the nouns (words denoting people almost always use en), but you will just have to learn which article goes with which noun. The definite article (the) is not a separate word like in most other languages. It is simply a form of the indefinite article attached to the end of the noun. Note that en words ending in a vowel retain that vowel and add an -n instead of adding -en. And et words ending in -e just add -t. Furthermore, the t of et as an indefinite article is pronounced; however, the t is silent in the definite article -et attached to the noun. (For feminine nouns, the indefinite article is ei and the definite article that is attached to the noun is -a. In theory, this gender does still exist in Bokmål, but in practice, it is rarely used and the feminine nouns are inflected like masculine nouns, i.e. add -en instead of -a for the definite form.)
Articles
En words (masculine)
Et words (neuter)
Indefinite
Definite
en fisk
a fish
fisken
the fish
et vindu
a window
vinduet
the window
en baker
a baker
bakeren
the baker
et barn
a child
barnet
the child
en hage
a garden
hagen
the garden
et hus
a house
huset
the house
Demonstrative Adjectives
masculine
denne dressen
this suit
den dressen
that suit
neuter
dette skjerfet
this scarf
det skjerfet
that scarf
plural
disse skoene
these shoes
de skoene
those shoes
Notice that the noun that follows a demonstrative adjective must have the defin...
McKill