Norsk → English
Nouns: en, ei, et, the definite ending, the plural (bilen, biler, bilene)
Norwegian nouns with en, ei and et (en bil, ei bok, et hus), no article for a job (Han er lærer), the plural (biler, jenter, lærere, hus), the definite form (bilen, boka, huset, bilene), the irregular plurals (menn, bøker, barn) and possession with -s or til (Karis bil, bilen til Kari).
The English a or an is en before a masculine noun, ei before a feminine noun and et before a neuter noun: en bil, en penn, ei dør, ei jente, et hus, et eple. A feminine noun can also take en, so ei bok and en bok are both correct, and so are the other feminine words of this chapter. The form of a noun rarely shows its gender, so each noun is learned with its article.
Emil ser et tog. Ida har ei seng.
The English speaker's trap is one article for every noun: en hus and et bil are wrong.
Show the answer Jonas har ___ bil. enShow the answer
Show the answer Kari kjøper ___ hus i Bergen. etShow the answer
After være (to be), a noun for a job, a role or a nationality is used without an article: Han er lærer, Hun er student, Emma er amerikaner, Han er nordmann. The same rule applies after bli (to become) and after som (as): Hun vil bli sjåfør, Han arbeider som lege (arbeide, present arbeider). Other nouns take en, ei or et as usual: Han har ei leilighet i Tromsø, Hun har en bil.
Ola er også lege.
The English speaker's trap is the article: he is a teacher is Han er lærer, without en.
Show the answer “Anna is a teacher.” Anna ___ lærer. erShow the answer
Show the answer Tom arbeider ___ sjåfør. somShow the answer
The indefinite plural is made with an ending that depends on the noun.
| Noun | Plural | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| most masculine and feminine nouns | -er | bil, biler; stol, stoler; hund, hunder |
| a noun ending in -e | -r | kake, kaker; jente, jenter |
| a noun in -er for a person | -e | lærer, lærere; kelner, kelnere |
| a noun in -el | -er, one e dropped | nøkkel, nøkler |
| a short neuter noun | no ending | hus, hus; bord, bord |
| a longer neuter noun | -er | bilde, bilder; eple, epler |
Jonas har tre venner. Vi har fire rom.
The English speaker's trap is the plural -s: biles and hunds are wrong.
Show the answer Vi har to ___ (bil). bilerShow the answer
Show the answer Anna kjøper tre ___ (kake). kakerShow the answer
The English the is an ending in Norwegian. The definite form is made by adding -en to a masculine noun, -a to a feminine noun and -et to a neuter noun. A feminine noun can also take -en, so senga and sengen are both correct.
| Gender | Ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | -en | bil, bilen; buss, bussen; kopp, koppen; stasjon, stasjonen |
| masculine in -e, -el | -n, -en | hage, hagen; nøkkel, nøkkelen |
| feminine | -a | seng, senga; jente, jenta (the -e is dropped) |
| neuter | -et | hus, huset; vann, vannet; brød, brødet |
| neuter in -e | -t | eple, eplet |
The definite form is used for something known: a thing already mentioned, or a place both speakers know. A known place after a preposition is therefore definite: i rommet.
Anna ser hesten. Hesten er i hagen.
The English speaker's trap is a separate word for the: the definite form of bil is bilen, and den bil is wrong.
Show the answer Emil kjøper en bil. ___ (bil) er ny. BilenShow the answer
Show the answer Lars kjøper et hus i Tromsø. Han liker ___ (hus). husetShow the answer
The definite plural ends in -ene. The ending replaces the -er of the indefinite plural (biler, bilene; jenter, jentene) and is added to a plural with no ending (hus, husene). A noun in -er for a person takes -ne, added to the singular: lærer, lærere, lærerne. Many neuter nouns can also take -a: husa and epla are correct beside husene and eplene.
| Indefinite singular | Definite singular | Indefinite plural | Definite plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| en bil | bilen | biler | bilene |
| ei jente | jenta | jenter | jentene |
| et hus | huset | hus | husene |
| en lærer | læreren | lærere | lærerne |
| en nøkkel | nøkkelen | nøkler | nøklene |
Other definite plurals are hund, hundene; kake, kakene; penn, pennene; kelner, kelnerne; eple, epler, eplene. After hvor mange the noun is an indefinite plural: Hvor mange biler?
The English speaker's trap is a separate word for the: the cars is bilene, and de biler is wrong.
Show the answer Ali har tre hunder. Han liker ___ (hund). hundeneShow the answer
Show the answer Ida ser to jenter. Hun liker ___ (jente). jenteneShow the answer
A few common nouns have a plural of their own and are learned one by one. English has similar changes: man, men; foot, feet; tooth, teeth.
| Singular | Definite singular | Plural | Definite plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| mann | mannen | menn | mennene |
| bok | boka | bøker | bøkene |
| bror | broren | brødre | brødrene |
| søster | søsteren (also søstera) | søstre (also søstrer) | søstrene |
| far | faren | fedre | fedrene |
| mor | mora | mødre (also mødrer) | mødrene |
| hånd | hånda | hender | hendene |
| fot | foten | føtter | føttene |
| tann | tannen (also tanna) | tenner | tennene |
| øye | øyet | øyne | øynene |
| barn | barnet | barn | barna (also barnene) |
Barn does not change: et barn, to barn. A feminine noun can also take -en in the definite singular, so mora and moren are both correct.
Per har fire brødre.
The English speaker's trap is the regular ending: foter and hånder are wrong.
Show the answer Det er tre ___ (mann) her. mennShow the answer
Show the answer Vi har mange ___ (bok). bøkerShow the answer
Possession is shown in two ways. The owner takes -s, and the thing owned has no article and no definite ending: Karis bil, Olas bok, Idas far, Noras hus, Pers hund, Annas søster, Emils bok. Or the thing owned is definite and the owner follows til: bilen til Kari, huset til Tom, nøkkelen til Sofie. A common noun can take -s too: farens bil.
Det er Ingrids hage. Boka til Per er her.
The English speaker's trap is the apostrophe: the -s has none, so Emil's bok is wrong. Another trap is the article: Karis bilen is wrong, and the car of Kari is bilen til Kari.
Show the answer Det er ___ (Kari) bil. KarisShow the answer
Show the answer Hvor er ___ (Ola) bok? OlasShow the answer
A noun takes en, ei or et (ei avis, et kamera), no article for a job after være (Hun er også sjåfør), a plural ending (tomater, bøker, epler), a definite ending (kjolen, billettene, bøkene) or, for an owner, -s or til (Noras veske, jakken til Tom). Naming things, saying what someone is, the plural, the definite form, the irregular plurals and possession are mixed.
Show the answer Ingrid kjøper ___ kamera. etShow the answer
Show the answer Ola har ___ bil, men han er ikke sjåfør. enShow the answer
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