#nutrcracker norsk

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

12. Calendar

Hello all! Today we've just got some useful when words.

i dag - today

i går - yesterday

i morgen - tomorrow

i forgårs - the day before yesterday

i overmorgen - the day after tomorrow

i morges - this morning

i ettermiddag - this afternoon

i kveld - this evening

i natt - tonight, last night*

(akkurat) nå - (right) now

morgen (m) - morning

ettermiddag (m) - afternoon

kveld (m) - evening

natt (m/f) - night

*I natt describes the closest night. If it's 9am and you say "i natt", it means the night before. If it's 9pm, it means the coming night.

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

4. People

mann (m) [pl: menn] - man, husband

kvinne (m/f) - woman

jente (m/f) - girl

gutt (m) - boy

barn (n) - child

baby (m) - baby

venn (m) - friend (male or female)

venninne (m/f) - female friend

Extras

You can also use 'ei dame' for 'woman'. This is more like 'lady'. Generally, I hear people use 'dame' for a specific person ("she's a nice lady") and 'kvinne' for women generally, or when emphasising a person's gender

'Dame' is also colloquially used for girlfriend (the equivalent of boyfriend is 'type')

There's also the word 'kjæreste' to mean boyfriend/girlfriend/partner (yes, it's gender neutral)

There's also the word 'et spedbarn' for a baby or infant

Grammar

I talked previously about grammatical gender and the lack of a definite article (the word "the"). In Norwegian, when you want to say the [something], you add a definite suffix. These are as follows:

Masculine: -en (mann -> mannen)

Feminine: -a (kvinne -> kvinna)

Neuter: -et (barn -> barnet)

Plural: -ene (venn -> vennene)

Special notes:

As previously mentioned, all feminine nouns can behave as masculine, so both kvinna/jenta and kvinnen/jenten are correct

Neuter plural nouns can take -ene OR -a, and sometimes it's more common and natural to use -a. Barn is one of those cases. Barnene is correct, but most people would say barna. -Ene is a lot more common otherwise.

When using den/det and denne/dette, you have to use the definite form of the word (that girl = den jenta, that boy = den gutten, that child = det barna, these people = disse personene, those men = de mennene)

Sample Sentences

Hun er ei kvinne / Hun er en kvinne (She is a woman)

Den personen er en mann (That person is a man)

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

15. Time

tid (m/f) - time

klokke (m/f) - clock

sekund (n) - second

minutt (n) - minute

time (m) - hour*

døgn (n) - 24 hours

dag (m) - day

uke (m/f) - week

måned (m) - month

år (n) - year

tiår (n) - decade

århundre (n) - century

*En time can also mean a lesson (at school) or an appointment (e.g. at the hairdresser), even if the amount of time you're there is more or less than an hour.

Grammar: What's the time?

In Norwegian, you don't ask "what's the time"; you ask "what's the clock?"

Hva er klokka/klokken? (What's the time)

Klokka/klokken er to (It's two o'clock)

You can use twelve hour or twenty-four hour time. You can read the time like a digital clock (9:22 = ni tjueto) or like so:

10:00 klokka ti

10:05 fem over ti

10:10 ti over ti

10:15 kvart over ti

10:20 ti på halv elleve

10:25 fem på halv elleve

10:30 halv elleve

10:35 fem over halv elleve

10:40 ti over halv elleve

10:45 kvart på elleve

10:50 ti på elleve

10:55 fem på elleve

Did you notice something funny? Whereas in English we describe 10:30 as half (past) ten, in Norwegian the same time is described as half (to) eleven. Please keep this in mind when making appointments!

It takes...

Just like in English, if you want to describe duration you can use the verb å ta (to take).

Det tar ti minutter (It takes ten minutes)

Ta deg god tid (Take your time)

Det tar tid (It takes time)

Et døgn/en dag?

Et døgn describes a twenty-four hour period, whereas a day is a bit more variable. If I say something takes en dag, that might mean it takes from 7am to 9pm. But something that takes et døgn is something I start at 7am and finish at 7am the following morning.

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

22. Hvor bor du? (Where do you live?)

Good morning/afternoon/evening to you! Today's post is a long one because we have some cultural insights at the end if you're interested. But if you're just here for the vocabulary, that's fine too.

by (m) - town, city

bygd (m/f) - village

vei (m) - road

gate (m/f) - street

bolig (m) - residence, housing

hus (n) - house

leilighet (m) - apartment/flat

boligblokk (m) - block of flats/apartments

hytte (m/f) - cottage, cabin

Sample Sentences

Bor du i et hus eller en leilighet? (Do you live in a house or a flat?)

Susanna bor i tredje etasje (Susanna lives on the third floor)

Den boligblokken har åtte etasjer (That block of flats has eight floors)

Bolige i Oslo er dyre (Housing in Oslo is expensive)

Husene på denne veien er veldig fine (The houses on this road are very nice)

Karl Johans gate er en lang gate i Oslo (Karl Johans street is a long street in Oslo)

False Friends in Norwegian

Lots of vocabulary in Norwegian is similar to English vocabulary. But there are some words that look like an English word, but actually have a different meaning! Today we learned that ei gate is NOT a gate, but a street!

Here are a few mor beginner-level false friends to watch out for!

🇳🇴en dress = 🇬🇧a suit 🇬🇧a dress = 🇳🇴en kjole

🇳🇴bra = 🇬🇧good, well 🇬🇧a bra = 🇳🇴en BH (brystholder = breast holder)

🇳🇴ei mappe = 🇬🇧a folder 🇬🇧a map = 🇳🇴et kart

🇳🇴en sky = 🇬🇧a cloud 🇬🇧sky = 🇳🇴himmel

🇳🇴å telle = 🇬🇧to count 🇬🇧to tell = 🇳🇴å fortelle

🇳🇴en advokat = 🇬🇧a lawyer 🇬🇧an advocate = 🇳🇴en forkjemper

🇳🇴akkurat = 🇬🇧exactly 🇬🇧accurate = 🇳🇴nøyaktig

Cultural Insight: Hytter i Norge

In Norway, it's common for families to own a cottage out in the countryside. They tar hyttetur (go on a cottage-trip) during the holidays, typically at Easter and often during the summer too. Some cottages are modern with all the comforts of home (wifi, kitchen gadgets etc), while some families are adamant that the true hytte-experience means being cut off from all that. Some cottages don't even have an inside toilet, and you'll have to use the utedo (outdoor toilet) instead!

Owning a cottage has become more popular over time, and in recent years (especially since covid and working from home) the industry has boomed. This is creating a lot of controversy in Norway: building more cottages to supply the demand means clearing large swathes of forests and marshlands. Norwegians are quite protective about nature (or, at least, they claim to be) and many are unhappy with this development. It's also a problem for the locals who can't buy houses in their hometowns simply because all the houses are being bought up by city folk. Additionally, it means that for large portions of the year these places are ghost towns and businesses may struggle to make ends meet.

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

8. Colours

Welcome to week two! We're kicking off the week by looking at some colours and the grammar of adjectives.

farge (m) - colour

rød (m/f) rødt (n) røde (pl) - red

oransje - orange

gul (m/f) gult (n) gule (pl) - yellow

grønn (m/f) grønt (n) grønne (pl) - green

blå (m/f/pl) blått (n) - blue

lilla - purple

rosa - pink

svart (m/f/n) svarte (pl) - black

hvit (m/f) hvitt (n) hvite (pl) - white

grå (m/f/pl) grått (n) - grey

brun (m/f) brunt (n) brune (pl) - brown

Grammar: Adjectives

Many adjectives in Norwegian change depending on what they're describing. If the noun is neuter, the adjective also needs to be in the neuter form:

en rød bil (a red car)

ei gul bok (a yellow book)

et brunt hus (a brown house)

svarte biler (black cars)

Adjectives also have a definite form. Good news: it's the same as the plural form! So if you want to say the red car/yellow book/white house/black cars, you have to use den/det/de + the plural form of the adjective + definite form of the noun:

den røde bilen (the red car)

den gule boka (the yellow book)

det brune huset (the brown house)

de svarte bilene (the black cars)

Colours as nouns

To use colours as nouns, we always use the neuter form:

Jeg liker blått (I like blue)

Grønt er en fin farge (Green is a nice colour)

Grått og brunt er litt kjedelige (Grey and brown are a bit boring)

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

9. Common Verbs

Hi everyone! Today we're looking at common verbs in Norwegian, and our grammar will have us looking at the present tense and infinitive forms.

å være [er] - to be

å ha - to have

å gjøre [gjør] - to do

å bo - to live (reside)

å lage - to make

å like - to like

å ta - to take

å gi - to give

å komme - to come

å gå - to go, to walk

Grammar: Present Tense

Norwegian verbs are pretty easy. Unlike a lot of languages where the verb changes depending on the person, Norwegian only has one form for each tense!

With the exception of a couple of irregulars, the present tense in Norwegian is very easy to make: just take off 'å' and add 'r'!

jeg har = I have

du bor = you live

han lager = he makes

hun liker = she likes

hen tar = they take

vi gir = we give

dere kommer = you come

de går = they go

The exceptions I've listed above are å være and å gjøre:

jeg er = I am

vi gjør = we do

And that's it! Easy peasy!

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

26. Continents

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone! We're back with some continents today:

kontinent (n), verdensdel (m) - continent

Afrika - Africa

Asia - Asia

Oseania - Oceania

Nord-Amerika - North America

Sør-Amerika - South America

Europa - Europe

Antarktis - Antarctica

Grammar: I live in...

Typically when you talk about what country or city you live in, you use 'i' (in):

Vi bor i Frankrike - We live in France

Bor dere i Oslo? - Do you live in Oslo?

But sometimes, you use 'på'. This is typically if the country or place is and island, but sometimes there's no apparent reason for it:

Hen bor på island - They live in Iceland

De har et fint hus på Lillehammer - They have a nice house in Lillehammer

Don't worry if you get it wrong; Norwegians know it's confusing!

With continents, you use 'i':

Botswana er et land i Afrika (Botswana is a country in Africa)

De bor i Asia (They live in Asia)

Er Mexico i Nord-Amerika eller Sør-Amerika? (Is Mexico in North America or South America?)

Bonus: Kaizers Orchestra

Immersion is a big part of learning a language, so allow me to introduce you to one of my favourite bands: Kaizers Orchestra! They're a famous rock band in Norway. The dialect is a bit difficult, but you can still learn lots of vocabulary from their songs.

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

23. Around town

Good morning/afternoon/evening folks! We're back with some words to use around town today:

hjem (n) - home

butikk (m) - shop

kontor (n) - office

kafé (m) - café

restaurant (m) - restaurant

bibliotek (n) - library

bank (m) - bank

postkontor (n) - post office

rådhus (n) - city hall

kino (m) - cinema

togstasjon (m) - train station

jernbanestasjon (m) - railway station

apotek (n) - pharmacy

sykehus (n) - hospital (lit. 'sick house')

Grammar: Til/På

To say you go somewhere, you can use either til or på:

Jeg går på butikken

Jeg går til butikken

På focuses more on the place you're going to whereas til focuses more on how you get there. Because the word gå can also mean walk, "jeg går til butikken" sounds a bit like "I walk to the shop." But if you say "jeg går på butikken" it's more like "I'm going to the shop (to buy groceries)".

There are some cases where there's a difference between the two, and there are some cases where you can only use one or the other. For example, you would always say "jeg går til parken" (I go to the park), but "jeg går på skolen" (I go to school), unless you want to specifically say I walk to school, in which case you would use "jeg går til skolen".

If you want to say you're going to a city/town/country, it's more natural to use å dra (unless you plan to walk!)

This may seem a little complicated at first. Don't worry too much about learning it all right now; try to listen to lots of songs and lots of radio, and soon you'll be able to pick the right word based on vibes alone! And if you use the wrong one in a conversation, no one will be confused. Even at an advanced level people can mess this one up, so just be brave and give yourself license to make mistakes!

Extras

When asking where someone is going, it's a bit unnatural to ask "hvor går/drar du?" Even though this is how we'd ask in English. It's better to say "hvor skal du?" And it's also perfectly natural to use this in affirmative sentences too!

Jeg skal på biblioteket

Hun skal hjem

And you can ask "do you wanna come too?" you can ask: "blir du med?"

Vi skal på kino. Blir du med? (We're going to the cinema. You wanna come?)

If I've made any mistakes, please let me know so that I can fix them!

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

29. Furniture

Welcome to day 29! Yesterday we looked at rooms in a house, and now we're looking at some of the things in those rooms:

møbel (n) - a piece of furniture

bord (n) - table

stol (m) - chair

sofa (m) - sofa, couch

tv (m) - TV

bilde (n) - picture

datamaskin (m) - computer

hylle (m/f) - shelf

skap (n) - cupboard

kjøleskap (n) - fridge (literally 'cool cupboard')

lampe (m/f) - lamp

lys (n) - light

seng (m/f) - bed

klesskap (n) - wardrobe (literally 'clothes cupboard')

Bonus: Prepositions of Place

i - in

på - on

under - under

over - above

foran - in front of

bak - behind

ved - by

ved siden av - next to

overfor - opposite

mellom - between

til høyre for - to the right of

til venstre for - to the left of

Grammar: Where are my keys?

The good news about prepositions of place is that they largely overlap with English prepositions of place as outlined about. The one thing that's different when talking about where things are is that Norwegian often uses the verbs å stå (to stand - står/sto/stått) and å ligge (to lie - ligger/lå/ligget) when talking about where things are. For example:

Det ligger ei bok på bordet. (There is a book on the table)

Det står ei lampe bak tv-en. (There is a lamp behind the TV)

But you can just use å være too. It's not quite as natural, but it's perfectly valid. And if you don't know where something is, you don't know whether it's lying down or standing up, so you have to use å være:

Hvor er nøklene mine? (Where are my keys?)

De ligger på senga. (They're on the bed)

Verb in Position 2

In main clauses in Norwegian sentences, the verb always comes second, which can mean you have to invert the subject and the verb. What does that mean, I hear you asking. It's easiest to use examples. I'm going to colour-code the sentence to show position 1, position 2, position 3 and position 4.

Det står et stort bord mellom to røde stoler. (There is a big table between two red chairs). Mellom to røde stoler står det et stort bord. (Between two red chairs there is a big table).

See how I changed the order of the words, but 'står' stayed in position 2? I couldn't have said "mellom to røde stoler det står et stort bord" as that would have pushed the verb into position 3.

Let's look at some more examples:

Jeg tar toget til jobb hver dag. (I take the train to work every day) Hver dag tar jeg toget til jobb. (Every day, I take the train to work)

Det sto en gammel sofa til høyre for døra. (An old sofa stood to the right of the door) Til høyre for døra sto det en gammel sofa. (To the right of the door there stood an old sofa)

Notice how the verb is always second. If the sentence starts with something other than the subject, the subject switches place with the verb (inversion) and ends up in position 3 so that the verb can stay in position 2.

If this explanation was a bit confusing or feels like it's too much grammar, don't worry! You'll pick it up soon enough and it will start to feel natural before you know it :)

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

1. Personal Pronouns

Welcome to January's crash course in Norwegian (bokmål) for total beginners! Each day we're going to learn some basic, fundamental vocabulary in Norwegian. Obviously you won't learn to speak Norwegian through tumblr posts alone, but hopefully this will supplement your studying and reinforce things you're learning anyway, or maybe even inspire you to pick up Norwegian ;)

Anyway! Today we're looking at personal pronouns in subject and object forms:

jeg - I

meg - me

du - you (singular, subject form)

deg - you (singular, object form)

han - he

ham - him

hun - she

henne - her

hen - they, them (singular, indicating a nonbinary individual or person of unknown gender)

vi - we

oss - us

dere - you (plural, subject and object form)

de - they (plural or singular)

dem - them (plural)

As you can see, there are two pronouns for they/them. 'Hen' is only ever used as a singular person pronoun and is used when talking about someone whose gender is unknown or for non-binary individuals. It's not used by everyone but I'm seeing it more often. De and dem, on the other hand, are used as a third person plural. I've seen some people us it in place of hen too, but I don't know how common that is.

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

24. Transport

Welcome back! Time to look at some transport words:

bil (m) - car

varebil (m) - van

lastebil (m) - lorry, truck

buss (m) - bus

trikk (m) - tram

tog (n) - train

T-bane (m) - metro, subway

sykkel (m) - bicycle

motorsykkel (m) - motorbike

båt (m) - boat

ferge (m/f) - ferry

skip (n) - ship

drosje (m/f), taxi (m) - taxi

fly (n) - plane

til fots - on foot

Grammar: by bus / on the bus

When saying you go somewhere by a method of transport, use med (with)

Jeg drar på jobb med sykkel (I go to work by bike)

De kom med bil (They came by car)

To say you take the bus/train/tram etc, you can use the verb å ta:

Han tar trikken i dag (He is taking the tram today)

Du kan ta ferga til Tromsø (You can take the ferry to Tromsø)

When you are on public transport, use på:

Vi er på bussen nå (We are on the bus now)

Hun så Erling Haaland på flyet (She saw Erling Haaland on the plane)

As with English, you don't say on the car; you say you're in the car (i bilen):

Bestemor er i bilen (Grandma's in the car)

Bonus: På vei!

På vei is a useful phrase meaning "on the way":

Vi er på vei! (We're on our way!)

Jeg så en katt på vei til skolen (I saw a cat on the way to school)

Er du på vei ennå? (Are you on your way yet?)

De var endelig på vei (They were finally on their way)

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

17. Days of the week

Hello everyone! Today's lesson is easy: days of the week!

mandag - Monday

tirsdag - Tuesday

onsdag - Wednesday

torsdag - Thursday

fredag - Friday

lørdag - Saturday

søndag - Sunday

Grammar: On this day...

When you say you do something on a particular day, use på. If it's just a one-off, use the day in the singular. If you always do an activity on a particular day every week, make it plural:

Jeg spiller tennis på lørdager (I play tennis on Saturdays)

Hun kjøpte melk på onsdag (She bought milk on Wednesday)

De drar hjem på tirsday (They're going home on Tuesday)

Hva gjør du på mandag? (What are you doing on Monday?)

Notice that days of the week don't start with a capital letter in Norwegian like they do in English.

Etymology

The origins of the days of the week names in Norwegian are fairly similar to those in English:

mandag = moon day

tirsdag = Tyr's day (from Tyr, the god of war in the Norse pantheon)

onsdag = Odin's day

torsdag = Thor's day

fredag = Frigg's day (goddess of prophecy and motherhood)

lørdag = washing day (laundry day)

søndag = sun day

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

13. Food

Hello again! I hope you're hungry, because today we're talking about food!

mat (m) - food

måltid (n) - meal

å spise - to eat

brød (n) - bread

ost (m) - cheese

egg (n) - egg

et smørbrød (n) - sandwich

smør (n) - butter

olje (m/f) - oil

sukker (n) - sugar

salt (n) - salt

pepper (m) - pepper

Extras

frokost (m) - breakfast

lunsj (m) - lunch

middag (m) - dinner

sulten/sultent/sultne - hungry

brødskive (m/f) - slice of bread

Grammar: Ikke

'Ikke' (not) was mentioned on day 2, so let's quickly look at it in some sentences:

Jeg liker ikke ost. (I don't like cheese)

Hun spiser ikke egg. (She doesn't eat eggs/She's not eating eggs)

De er ikke sultne. (They aren't hungry)

In simple sentences, 'ikke' comes after the verb. It gets a bit more complicated when you start making longer sentences or you want to add nuance. Don't worry about that for now though.

In questions, 'ikke' comes after the subject:

Liker du ikke smørbrød? (Don't you like sandwiches?)

Spiser dere ikke frokost? (Don't you eat breakfast?)

Er han ikke sulten? (Isn't he hungry?)

Words like always (alltid), never (aldri) and only (bare) follow the same pattern:

Vi spiser alltid egg til frokost (We always eat eggs for breakfast)

Hen har aldri smør på smørbrødene sine (They never have butter on their sandwiches)

Spiser du bare den brødskiva? (Are you only eating that slice of bread?)

Til frokost/lunsj/middag

To say you eat something *for breakfast/lunch/dinner, use the preposition 'til':

Hva spiser du til middag? (What do you eat for dinner?)

Hun spiser smørbrød til lunsj (She eats sandwiches for lunch)

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

6. Numbers 11-20

Welcome to day 6 - here are numbers up to 20! As with numbers 0-10, they're pretty similar to English. Just be careful of number 16, which despite the spelling is pronounced more like SIGH-stn.

Don't forget to review numbers 1-10 and the rest of what you've learned so far ;)

11 = elleve

12 = tolv

13 = tretten

14 = fjorten

15 = femten

16 = seksten

17 = sytten

18 = atten

19 = nitten

20 = tjue, tyve (both are okay, tyve is more conserative/old fashioned)

Grammar: Defintes + Numbers

When you want to say "the (number) (noun)", it's exactly the same word order as in English. You'll need to use 'de' as well as the definite form of the noun!

De tolv mennene = the twelve men / those twelve men

De tjue kvinnene = the twenty women / those twenty women

De femten barna = the fifteen children / those fifteen children

De atten trærne = the eighteen trees / those eighteen trees

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

16. Basic Verbs 2

Welcome back! Today we have 10 (well, 12) more basic verbs for you, as well as a how-to on the past tense

å lese (v2) - to read

å skrive (v) - to write

å si (v) - to say

å snakke (v1) - to speak

å sove (v) - to sleep

å se (v) - to see

å spille (v2) - to play

å jobbe (v1), å arbeide (v2) - to work

å kjøpe (v2), å handle (v1) - to buy*

å selge (v) - to sell

*Å kjøpe is the most general way to say 'to buy'. Å handle is mostly used to talk about grocery shopping (å handle mat = to buy groceries)

Grammar: 4 Verb Groups

There's a fair bit of grammar here, so take your time with it. You don't have to memorise it all today; just be aware of it so that when you're immersing/studying otherwise, you can spot these different forms and make mental notes.

You may have noticed I added some things in brackets to our vocabulary list this time. What's v1/v2, you ask? Well, it indicated the verb group.

There are 4 groups of weak verbs in Norwegian (there are exceptions and sometimes they belong to multiple groups):

Group 1: verbs with more than one consonant before the final e (å snakke, å elske)

Group 2: verbs with 1 consonant before the final e (å like, å kjøpe), 2 Ls (å spille) or nk/ng (å tenke)

Group 3: verbs that end -ve, -ge or -eie (å leve, å lage*, å leie)

Group 4: verbs that end in a stressed vowel (å bo)

*Å lage is also, for whatever reason, a group 1 verb. I told you there are exceptions. Don't panic; I promise you pick it up through immersion and you'll get to a point where you'll know a verb's group based on vibes alone.

Why are verb groups important? Because they tell you how to form the past tense.

Group 1 verbs: you have two options! Either add -t (more common, more conservative) or change the final -e to an -a (more radical)

å snakke -> snakket/snakka

å jobbe -> jobbet/jobba

å elske -> elsket/elska (love)

Group 2 verbs: the final -e becomes -te:

å like -> likte

å kjøpe -> kjøpte

å lese -> leste

å spille -> spilte (note: the double L becomes a single L)

å tenke -> tenkte (think)

Group 3 verbs: the final -e becomes -de:

å leve -> levde (live)

å eie -> eide (own)

å leie -> leide (rented)

Group 4 verbs: add -dde

å bo -> bodde

å tro -> trodde (believe)

å snu -> snudde (turn round/back)

There are also strong verbs. These are irregular and you just have to learn them. Here are some from this series so far:

å være -> var

å ta -> tok

å gjøre -> gjorde

å dra -> dro

å komme -> kom

å gå -> gikk

å få -> fikk

å gi -> ga/gav

å drikke -> drakk

å skrive -> skrev

å si -> sa

å sove -> sov

å se -> så

å selge -> solgte

There's a third form of the verb too, but we'll leave it there for today.

Like I say, don't worry about memorising this. Reference this post when you want to write things. Whenever you're reading things or listening to something, see if you can spot the different verb endings even if you don't know the verb or understand much of what's being said.

If in doubt, you can check how to conjugating a verb by looking it up on ordbøkene.no and clicking "vis bøyning".

[corvid-language-library]

Norwegian Bokmål for Total Beginners (January 2024 Crash Course)

10. Possessive Pronouns

Hello all! Today we're looking at possessive pronouns. We get a little grammar heavy here, but I'm sure you'll pick it up. You may notice that most have different forms... yep, they correspond to gender! More on that in a minute.

min (m/f) mi (f) mitt (n) mine (pl) - my/mine

din (m/f) di (f) ditt (n) dine (pl) - your/yours (sing)

sin (m/f) si (f) sitt (n) sine (pl) - his/her/hers/their/theirs (one's own)

hans - his (another person's)

hennes - her, hers (another person's)

hens - their, theirs (another person's)

vår (m/f) vårt (n) våre (pl) - our/ours

deres - your/yours (pl), their/theirs (plural, another person's)

Grammar

Possessive pronouns can come either before or after the noun. When placing it after the noun, you need to use the definite form. Both of these sentences are correct ways to say "my car is red":

Bilen min er rød.

Min bil er rød.

The first one is a more common and neutral structure. The second puts emphasis on the pronoun. Say someone asked you: "is this your car?" And the car is blue, you might say, "nei, min bil er rød" (no, my car is red).

For feminine nouns, you can use either the masculine form or the feminine form, but you can't mix and match:

✅ Datteren min

✅ Dattera mi

❌ Datteren mi

❌ Dattera min

You can also use possessive pronouns on their own to mean mine/yours/ours/theirs:

Den grønne bilen er min (The green car is mine)

Er denne boka din? (Is this book yours?)

Det svarte huset er vårt (The black house is ours)

Dette er deres (This is yours/theirs)

Sin/si/sitt/sine or hans/hennes/hens/deres?

Both sin/si/sitt/sine and hans/hennes/hens/deres refer to third person. Sin/sitt/sine refer to the subjects own object, while hans/hennes/hens/deres refer to someone elses. Take a look at these sentences:

Ingrid liker søstera si.

Ingrid liker søstera hennes.

Both these sentences can be translated as "Ingrid likes her sister". But in the first sentence, we're talking about Ingrid's own sister. In the second, we're talking about another girl or woman's sister.