PARTS OF SPEECH

PARTS OF SPEECH
NOUNS
Nouns are names of people, animals, things or abstract concepts.

Proper names – common names

We divide nouns in

- Proper names (Per, Oslo, Norge, Storgata, etc.) They shall have capital first letter.
- Common names (a boy, a street, a town, a country, rice, margarine, gold, love)

Comon names have three genders (= sex). Take notice of the articles (en/ei/et) and endings:

- Masculine (m) = hankjønn: en gutt – gutten (a boy – the boy)

- Feminine (f) = hunkjønn: ei/en bok – boka [boken] (a book – the book)
- Neutral (n) = intetkjønn: et hus – huset (a house – the house)

Always learn the article together with every new noun you learn!

OMISSION OF THE ARTICLE

Usually we use an article in front a noun in singular, but we omit it

- In front of quantities we can’t count: He bought milk and coffee. We wish us snow for Christmas.
- After forms of være (be) or bli (become) when the noun designates a group (nationality, profession or other
groups): He is Arab. She is lawyer. He is Muslim. She has just become grandmother.
- When verb and noun can be perceived as an expression or an entity: Anne wrote letter to grandma yesterday.
They will buy apartment. Can you play piano?
(But if we use an adjective, we must consider the article: Anne wrote a long letter to grandma. She is a
competent lawyer.)
 PARTS OF SPEECH

OVERVIEW – INDEFINITE FORM SINGULAR AND PLURAL

Singular: Plural: Ends in:
Main rule: Completely regular en bil (a car) to biler (two cars)
Indefinite form nouns: en pakke (a pack) tre pakker (three packs)
plural ends in - ei dør (a door) fire dører (four doors)
er. ei klokke (a clock) noen klokker (some clocks)
et vindu (a window) flere vinduer (several windows)
et eple (an apple) mange epler (many apples)

Nouns on accentuated -e en kafé (a café) noen kafeer (some cafés)

do not lose the e before ei skje (a spoon) seks skjeer (six spoons)
the ending:

Nouns on -m after a short en kam (a comb) to kammer (two combs)

vowel get -mm- before ei rem (a strap) to remmer (two straps)
the ending:

Nouns on -el get en sykkel (a bike) to sykler (two bikes) ___er

contracted: en onkel (an uncle) tre onkler (three uncles)
et kapittel (a chapter) fire kapitler (four chapters)
et fengsel (a jail) flere fengsler (several jails)

Some nouns on -er also en finger (a finger) ti fingrer (ten fingers)

get contracted: en sommer (a summer) to somrer (two summers)
These nouns shift vowel en hovedstad (a capital) to hovedsteder (two capitals)
in plural: en kraft (a force) av alle krefter (of all forces)
ei and (a duck) to ender (two ducks)
ei hand [hånd] (a hand) to hender (two hands)
a→e ei rand (a brink) flere render (several brinks)
ei strand (a beach) flere strender (several beaches)
ei tann (a tooth) 32 tenner (32 teeth)
ei tang (a plier) mange tenger (many pliers)
ei stang (a bar/rod) flere stenger (several bars/rods)
ei natt (a night) flere netter (several nights)
o→ø en fot (a foot) to føtter (two feet)
en bot (a fine) store bøter (big* fines)
en bonde (a farmer) noen bønder (some farmers)
ei bok (a book) fire bøker (four books)
ei rot (a root) dype røtter (deep roots)
 PARTS OF SPEECH

Singular: Plural: Ends in:

Rule 2: Neutral words with one et hus (a house) to hus (two houses)
syllable get no ending in et ord (a word) flere ord (several words)
(no ending in plural: et bord (a table) flere bord (several tables)
indefinite form et skrivebord (a desk) to skrivebord (two desks)
plural) et barn (a child) mange barn (many children)

NB! Exception: et sted (a place) flere steder (several places)

Many words for measure,
weight, and money get no
ending either:
The same applies a few
masculine and feminine
with one syllable:
These two words don’t get an
ending, but a vowel shift:
en meter (a meter)
ei mil (a mile)
en kilo (a kilo)
en liter (a liter)
en dollar (a dollar)
en mark (a mark)
en sko (a shoe)
en ting (a thing)
en feil (a mistake)
en maur (an ant)
en mygg (a mosquito)
ei ski (a ski)
ei lus (a louse)
ei mus (a mouse)
en mann (a man)
ei gås (a goose)
to meter (two meters)
flere mil (several miles)
tre kilo (three kilos)
fem liter (five liters)
ti dollar (ten dollars)
to mark (two marks) _________
to sko (two shoes)
et par sko (a pair of shoes)
mange ting (many things)
flere feil (several mistakes)
mange maur (many ants)
tusen mygg (thousand mosquitoes)
et par ski (a pair of skis)
mange lus (many lice)
tre mus (three mice)
to men (two men)
fem gjess (five geese)

Singular: Plural: Ends in:

Rule 3: “Person words” (like en lærer (a teacher) noen lærere (some teachers)
nationality/profession/family) en baker (a baker) flere bakere (several bakers)
wich end on -er in indefinite en tysker (a German) noen tyskere (some Germans)
form singular, only get the en amerikaner (an American) tre amerikanere (three Americans)
ending -e in plural: en fetter (a cousin) fire fettere (four cousins)
en svoger (a brother-in-law) tre svogere (three brothers-in-law)
NB! These two get contracted en forelder (a parent) to foreldre (two parents) ___e
in addition. ei søster (a sister) tre søstre (three sisters)
Vowel shift a → e en far (a father) to fedre (two fathers)
o→ø en bror (a brother) to brødre (two brothers)
en/ei mor (a mother) to mødre (two mothers)
NB! a→ø
en/ei datter (a daughter) tre døtre (three daughters)

Singular: Plural: Ends in:

Rule 4: o→ø ei glo (a glow) mange glør (many glows)
-r ending + ei klo (a claw) fire klør (four claws)
vowel shift -klær
NB! e→æ et håndkle to håndklær ___r
et tre fire trær
et kne to knær
 PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS WITH ONLY PLURAL

A few nouns can only be used in plural. They always imply groups of things or people: money, clothes, siblings,
chicken pox, measles (those last two are common childhood illnesses).

NOUNS WITHOUT PLURAL

 Words for stuff (matter), materials, or liquids we can’t put numbers (or some/several/many …) in front of,
and they have no plural form: gold, silk, air, snow, rice, food, coffee, equipment, furniture, etc.
See Quantifiers for quantities we cannot count on page 36.
 Many abstracts [abstrakter] (words for quality, state, condition of things) can’t be used in plural either:
love, hate, childhood, sleep, mood, cold, etc.
 But: All these nouns have an article, and it is important to learn it, because we often use the words in definite
form: the love, the air, the food, the gold, etc.

FROM INDEFINITE TO DEFINITE FORM

If you master the indefinite forms of the nouns, it is easy to make the definite forms:

(1) Indefinite form: (2) Definite form:

Singular: en _________ en vase (a vase) vasen (the vase) _________en
en kniv (a knife) kniven (the knife)
en kafé (a café) kafeen (the café)
en kam (a comb) kammen (the comb)
ei _________ ei jente (a girl) jenta (the girl)
ei bok (a book) boka (the book) _________a
ei skje (a spoon) skjea (the spoon)
et _________ et eple (an apple) eplet (the apple)
et vindu (a window) vinduet (the window) _________et
et hus (a house) huset (the house)
et barn (a child) barnet (the child)
Plural: _________er to bøker (two books) bøkene (the books)
to epler (two apples) eplene (the apples) _________ene
__________ to hus (two houses) husene (the houses)
to barn (two children) barna* (the children)
_________e to søstre (two sisters) søstrene (the sisters)
to brødre (two brothers) brødrene (the brothers)
_________ere to lærere (two teachers) lærerne (the teachers)
to grekere (two Greeks) grekerne (the Greeks) _________ne
_________r** to klør (two claws) klørne (the claws)
to trær (two trees) trærne (the trees)

Important: All feminine have optional article ei or en. They can also get the ending -en in plural definite form:
ei/en bok → boka/boken

*barna = barnene. All neutral words can have the ending -a in plural definite form. Those two words barna and beina
always tend to have this ending.

**Regarding the nouns, which follow rule 4. All these have vowel shift.
 PARTS OF SPEECH
USE OF THE FORMS
We use indefinite form:
A First time we talk about something:
Per buys a pen and two books. →
[Per kjøper en penn og to bøker.]
Kari and Per have bought a new apartment. →
[Kari og Per har kjøpt ny leilighet.]
B After possessive words:
My book – Per’s car – all his friends – Norway’s
largest city
[Mi(n) bok – Pers bil – alle hans venner – Norges
største by]
C After a number of fixed determinants:
 a car – a door – a house
[en bil – ei dør – et hus]
five cars – two liters of milk / three kilos of meat
(when we count, measure or weigh
something)
[fem bilder – to liter melk / tre kilo kjøtt
(når vi teller, måler eller veier noe]
 no (none)/some/several/some/many cars
[ingen/noe/flere/ en del / mange biler]
 much/little/a bit/nothing food
[mye/lite/litt/ ikke noe mat]
 every day – every house
[hver dag – hvert hus]
 which day / which house / which books?
[hvilken dag / hvilket hus / hvilke bøker?]
We also use the indefinite form of the noun
 after possessive words and a number of other fixed determinants*
 when we present something new or unknown
 when we talk about something general
* indefinite articles, cardinals, weight units and measuring units, counters for quantities we can count, and counters
for quantities we cannot count (about counters see page 32)
We use the definite form of the noun
 in front of possessive words and expressions and after a number of other fixed determinants*
We use definite form:
A We talk more about something we have named
before, or about something everyone knows or
understands:
The pen costs 20 crowns, and the books cost 300 crowns.
[Pennen koster 20 kroner, og bøkene koster 300 kroner]
The living room (of course in the apartment) is big, but
the kitchen (also in the apartment) is little.
[Stua (selvfølgelig I leiligheten) er stor, men kjøkkenet
(også i leiligheten) er lite.]
B In front of possessive words:
My book – The car of Per – all the friends of him – the
largest city in Norway
[Boka mi – bilen til Per – alle vennene hans – den
største byen i Norge]
C After a number of fixed determinants:
 the (new) car / the (purple) house / the (big)
pictures
[den (nye) bilen / det (lille) huset / de (store)
bildene]
 this book / this house / these children
[denne boka / dette huset / disse barna]
 none of / not anyone of the cars
[ingen av / ikke noen av bilene]
 some (a few) of / a part of the houses
[noen (få) av / en del av husene]
 several of / many of the trees
[flere av / mange av trærne]
 all the day / half the night
[hele dagen / halve natta]
 PARTS OF SPEECH

 when we talk more about something that has already been presented
 when we consider that what we talk about is known to the one/those we talk to

* the adjective’s definite article, demonstratives, combinations with av (when we talk about parts of definite quantities)

In the examples above stand the most important determinants for each form. Read more about Possessives on pages
24-25, Demonstratives on pages 25-26, and Counters on pages 32-36. Such words always determine more about what
we talk about is unknown or known from before. Put otherwise, always notice which form the noun shall have in
different contexts, for example together with individual propositions.

When we consider that what we talk about is known to the one/those we talk to, we often use the definite form of a
noun although it is the first time we mention just this noun.

Study the examples:

I have so hurt my back! / I have a backache! (my back, of course, and I have only one…)
[Jeg har så vondt i ryggen!] (min rygg, selvfølgelig, og jeg har bare en ...)

Ali was not on the Norwegian course today. (you know that he and I go to Norwegian course)
[Ali var ikke på norskkurset i dag.] (du vet at han og jeg går på norskkurs)

Did you like the house, Laura? (I know that she has just looked at a particular house)
[Likte du huset, Laura?] (jeg vet at hun nettopp har sett på et betemt hus)

Are you finished with the homework? (the one I asked you to do)
[Er du ferdig med oppgaven?] (den jeg bad deg gjøre)

Jon works at the factory. (there is only one factory at this place)
[Jon arbeider på fabrikken.] (det er bare en fabrikk på dette stedet)

I must call the doctor today. (my regular doctor)

[Jeg må ringe til legen i dag.] (til min faste lege)

But:

I have such hurt in a tooth! / I have a toothache! (my tooth, but I have many teeth)
[Jeg har så vondt i ei tann!] (min tann, men jeg har mange tenner)

Per works at a factory. (there are many factories, I don’t know which one)
[Per arbeider på en fabrikk.] (det er mange fabrikker, jeg vet ikke hvilken)

I must call a doctor today. (one or another doctor)

[Jeg må ringe til en lege i dag.] (en eller annen lege)

GENITIVE
We make the genitive by adding -s to

- proper names: Annes mann (Anne’s man), Norges hovedstad (Norway’s capital), Oslos gater (Oslo’s streets)
- common names: en times tid (an hour’s time), alle gutters drøm (all boys’ dream), noen dagers arbeid (some
days’ work), guttenes mor (the boys’mother)
 PARTS OF SPEECH

S-genitives stand in front of another noun, and this noun is always in indefinite form.
S-genitive is used in some special expressions:

Take with you the raincoat just to be sure. He went out at sea when he was 18 years old.
[Ta med deg regnfrakk for sikkerhets skyld. Han drog til sjøs da han var 18 år.]

In Easter many Norwegians go to the mountains. We went on foot. He has gone to the forest.
[I påsken drar mange nordmenn til fjells. Vi gikk til fots. Han har dratt til skogs.]

See also about ownership on page 74.

 PARTS OF SPEECH

PRONOUNS
Pronouns are words we can use instead of nouns.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns and possessives are shown here in the same form for overview:

Pronouns Possessives
Subject form Dependent form
Singular: I (jeg) Me (meg) My (min/mi/mitt/mine)
You (du) You (deg) Your (din/di/ditt/dine)
He (han) Him (ham/han) His (hans)
Her (hun) Her (henne) Hers (hennes)
Him/Her/Itself «Su» en español
(seg) (sin/si/sitt/sine)
It (den) It (den) Its (dens)
It (det) It (det) Its (dets)
Plural: We (vi) Us (oss) Our (vår/vårt/våre)
You (dere) You (dere) Your (deres)
They (de) Them (dem) Themselves (seg) Their (deres) sin/si/sitt/sine

We use the subject form (nominative) of a pronoun only when the word is the subject in the sentence.

We use the dependent form (accusative) when the word is not the subject.
– Han, hun, den, det and de have a special reflexive dependent form: seg.

USE OF THE PRONOUNS FORMS

Subject form: Dependent form: Reflexive form:
I have a good friend. Soon he will come and visit me I am looking forward to it.
[Jeg har en god venn.] [Snart kommer han og besøker meg.] [Jeg gleder meg til det.]

Do you have a friend? Will he come soon and visit you? Are you looking forward to it?
[Har du en venn?] [Kommer han snart og besøker deg?] [Gleder du deg til det?]

She has a friend. He will come soon to visit her. She is looking forward to it.
[Hun har en venn.] [Han kommer snart på besøker til henne.] [Hun gleder seg til det.]

He has an old uncle. He will come and visit him. He is looking forward to it.
[Han har en gammel onkle.] [Han skal komme og besøke ham.] [Han gleder seg til det.]

We have many friends. They visit us often. We are looking forward to it.
[Vi har mange venner.] [De besøker oss ofte.] [Vi gleder oss over det.]

Do you have many friends? Do they visit you often? Are you looking forward to it?
[Har dere mange venner?] [Besøker de dere ofte?] [Gleder dere dere over det?]

They have a son. The son comes often to visit them. They are looking forward to it.
[De har en sønn.] [Sønnen kommer ofte på besøk til dem.] [De gleder seg over det.]

I look forward to (til) something nice in the future. I look forward to (over) something that has happened or usually
happens.

Some verbs are only used in reflexive, for example: skynde seg (to hurry up), gifte seg (to get married).
 PARTS OF SPEECH

But after many verbs, the pronoun can have both regular dependent form and reflexive dependent form:

Siv is two years old. Ida puts her to bed at seven o’ clock. = Ida puts Siv to bed.
[Siv er to år.] [Ida legger henne klokka sju.] [Ida legger Siv.]

Ida puts herself to bed at ten o’ clock. = Ida puts Ida to bed. (but we can’t say it this way …)
[Ida legger seg klokka ti.] [Ida legger Ida. (men slik kan vi ikke si det ...)]

See also Reflexive verbs on page 49.

RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
Hverandre (Each other):

I look at you, and you look at me. = We look at each other.

[Jeg ser på deg, og du ser på meg. = Vi ser på hverandre.]

Harald loves Anne. Anne loves Harald. = They love each other.
[Harald elsker Anne. Anne elsker Harald. = De elsker hverandre.]

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
We have three indefinite pronouns: man (one), en (one) and det (it).

We use en and man when we do not think of special people but for example of something that applies to many. Man
can only be used as subject; en can be both subject and object:

(Lit.) One shall not see the dog on the hairs. (Do not judge a book by its cover.)
[Man/en skal ikke skue hunden på hårene.]

One should thank when someone gives one something.

[En/man bør takke når noen gir en noe.]

Det is used as subject (or object) in several kinds of sentences:

It is raining.
[Det regner.]

There are some birds on the roof.

[Det sitter noen fugler på taket.]

(Lit.) Now I have it good. (I am fine now.)

[Nå har jeg det bra.]

See Det and det-sentences on page 13, Introductions on page 15 and Breakout on page 15.
 PARTS OF SPEECH

POSSESSIVES
Possessives tell who owns or has something.

MIN, DIN, HANS, HENNES, VÅR, DERES

Owner jeg du han hun vi dere de

Dette er bilen min din vår
Dette er boka mi di vår
hans hennes deres deres
Dette er huset mitt ditt vårt
Dette er bøkene mine dine våre

The noun tells which form we must use. Above the possessive stands after the noun, that is common in Norwegian.
Then the noun must have definite form. We can also let the possessive stand in front of the noun, then shall the noun
have indefinite form.

bilen min min bil

boka mi mi(n) bok
huset mitt mitt hus
bøkene mine mine bøker

The possessive often goes first when it has emphasis:

This is my pen, not yours. It was not her fault.

[Dette er min penn, ikke din. Det var ikke hennes skyld.]

We can intensify a possessive with the adjective egen (own). Then the possessive always goes first:

It was his own fault. I will decide in my own house.

[Det var hans egen skyld. Jeg vil betemme i mitt eget hus.]

Note that «egen» shall also have indefinite form (see adjective on page 27).

See also Ownership on page 74.

 PARTS OF SPEECH

SIN/SI/SITT/SINE
Under Pronouns on page 23 is an overview of coherence between pronouns and possessives. There we saw that han
(he), hun (she) and de (they) also have a reflexive possessive form: sin/si/sitt/sine.

We use sin/si/sitt/sine only if something belongs to the subject.

Ida washes her clothes. Ida washes Siv’s clothes.

[Ida vasker klærne sine.] [Ida vasker klærne til Siv.]

– the clothes belong to the subject: – the clotes do not belong to the subject.
[– klærne tilhører subjektet:] [– klærne tilhører ikke subjektet.]
Ida washes her sweater Ida washes her sweater
[Ida vasker genseren sin] [Ida vasker genseren hennes]

and her jacket and her jacket

[og jakka si] [og jakka hennes]

and her skirt and her skirt

[og skjørtet sitt] [og skjørtet hennes]

– and she shines her shoes. – and she shines her shoes.
[og hun pusser skoene sine.] [og hun pusser skoene hennes.]

As a rule sin/si/sitt/sine cannot be part of the subject or after forms of å være.

We must say: We cannot say:

Siv is her daughter. Siv is her daughter.

You know Ida, but who is Siv? [Siv er dattera hennes.] [Siv er dattera si.]
[Du kjenner Ida, men hvem er Siv?]
Her daughter is two years old. Her daughter is two years old.
[Dattera hennes er to år.] [Dattera si er to år.]

What is the subject in the different sentences?

If we use sin/si/sitt/sine instead of the genitive form of the noun, we can, either way, get the word in the subject or
after er (we use this only verbally!):

Per’s car was stolen yesterday. This is Siv’s shoe. Have you seen Ole’s tie?
[Per sin bil ble stjålet i går. Dette er Siv sine sko. Har du sett Ole sitt slips?]

Something unintelligible here.

Petter said that Ole had to put his bicycle in the garage. (Ole’s bicycle)
[Petter sa at Ole måtte sette sykkelen sin i garasjen. (Oles sykkel)]

Petter said that Ole had to put his bicycle in the garage. (Petter’s bicycle)
[Petter sa at Ole måtte sette sykkelen hans i garasjen. (Petters sykkel)]
 PARTS OF SPEECH

DEMONSTRATIVES
The most important demonstratives are denne/dette/dise (this/these) and den/det/de (that/those).

A We use denne, dette and disse if something is near us

(we can touch it or hold it).
B We use den, det and de if something is not near us
(for example something we can only point at).

Den/denne are used alone or in front of masculines or feminines in singular.

Det/dette are used alone or in front of neutral words in singular.
De/disse are used alone or in front of nouns in plural.
When we use a demonstrative alone, the noun is implicit.

C When we talk, demonstratives get stress. The noun must have definite form.

Can I try that sweater? This (sweater) is too small.

[Kan jeg få prøve den genseren? Denne (genseren) er for liten.]

Do you want that jacket, or do you like this (jacket) better?

[Vil du ha den jakka, eller liker du denne (jakka) bedre?]

Is that scarf new? This (scarf) is quite old.

[Er det skjerfet nytt? Dette (skjerfet) er nokså gammelt.]

These shoes fit well, but those (shoes) I tried first, were too small.
[Disse skoene passer bra, men de (skoene) jeg prøvde først, var for små.]

D Det and dette

In questions with hva (what) or hvem (who) + er we often use det or dette:

What is this (that I touch)? It is a pen / a book / a letter / two pencils.*

[Hva er dette (som jeg ta på)? Det er en penn / ei bok / et brev / to blyanter.*]

What is that** (that I point at)? It is a man / a lady / a window / three chairs.
[Hva er det** (som jeg peker på)? Det er en mann / ei dame / et vindu / tre stoler.]

Who is that? That is Anne. / It is Harald’s wife.

[Hvem er det? Det er Anne. / Det er kona til Harald.]

– We only use hvem on people to learn the name or get another clarification on who it is. – When we look at a picture,
we often ask with det even if we have the picture near us.

* We must use det or dette in front of er/var when we get a noun afterwards, regardless if it is singular or plural, and
regardless of which gender of which form the noun has.

We say: We cannot say:

It is a penn. [Det er en penn.] It is a penn. [Den er en penn.]
This is my book. [Dette er boka mi.] This is my book. [Denne er boka mi.]
Those are two chairs. [Det er to stoler.] Those are two chairs. [De er to stoler.]
That is Anne. [Det er Anne.] That is Anne. [Hun er Anne.]
 PARTS OF SPEECH

** Note: with stress in er, not on det: What is that? ≈ What is that you want? Is there anything wrong?

[** Merk: med trykk på er, ikke på det: Hva er det? ≈ Hva er det du vil? Er det noe i veien?]

ADJECTIVES