Norwegian2 Nouns Norwegian Grammar

Phrasebase Archive

Psyche Tuesday 28th of June 2005 09:01:23 PM
NOUNS -
Norwegian grammar is fairly easy. The nouns are considered to be the hardest grammatical aspect of the Norwegian language and here follows a guide to help you through it.

First of all what is a noun?

A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality.

Examples of nouns:

A boy, a girl, a house, a tree, a beauty..

Here comes the tricky part:

Norwegian nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and their inflection depends on the gender. You can`t really tell which gender a noun has simply by looking at it, but there are certain "rules" that will make it easier.

Masculine nouns

Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in masculine Norwegian nouns we`ll put en.

En gutt (a boy)
En hund (a dog)
En katt (a cat)

The noun inflects by adding the suffix -en in definite singular,-er in indefinite plural and -ene in def. plural.

En gutt (a boy)- gutten (the boy)- gutter (boys)- guttene (the boys)

En hund (a dog)- hunden (the dog)- hunder (dogs)- hundene
(the dogs)

En katt (a cat) - katten (the cat) - katter (cats)- kattene
(the cats)

If you don`t know if the noun is masculine or feminine and you have no possibility to check it out, go for the masculine gender.

Feminine nouns

Many feminine nouns can be inflected like masculine nouns (in Bokmål) and many nouns can be both masculine and feminine, where you can choose which gender it has. Using the masculine form is more conservative, but both forms are equally respected and used. The rule is, that you don`t mix them up. Either be conservative (only choose the masculine inflections) or not (only choose the feminine inflections).

Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in feminine Norwegian nouns we`ll put ei.

Feminine nouns inflects by adding the suffix -a to the definite singular, and the rest of the inflections follows the same procedure as the masculine nouns.

Ei jente* (a girl) - jenta (the girl) - jenter (girls) - jentene (the girls)

Ei seng* (a bed) - senga (the bed) - senger (beds) - sengene (the beds)

Note: Even nouns for female beings, such as jente (girl) and kvinne (woman) can be masculine as well as feminine. Actually, it is better to inflect kvinne as a masculine noun, but avoid writing jente in the definite singular (jenten)

*
Ei jente (a girl) - jenten (the girl) - jenter (girls) - jentene (the girls)

En seng (a bed) - sengen (the bed) - senger (beds)- sengene (the beds)

Neuter nouns

Most nouns that refer to a non-living thing, is neuter.

E.g

A tree, a house, a fridge, a mountain..

Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in neuter Norwegian nouns we`ll put et.

The nouns inflects by adding the suffix -et to the definite singular, - "no ending" in the indefinite plural and -ene or alternatively -a in the definite plural.

Et tre (a tree) - treet (the tree)- tre (trees) - treene/trea (the trees)

Et hus (a house) - huset (the house)- hus (houses) - husene/husa (the houses)

And there are always exceptions to the rule...

You just have to memorize the exceptions as you come across them, but here is a list over common nouns:

En bror (a brother) - brødre (brothers)
En/ei søster (a sister) - søstre (sisters)
En far (a father) - fedrene (the fathers)
En/ei mor (a mother) - mødrene (the mothers)
En fot (a foot) - føtter (feet)
En/ei rot (a root) - røtter (roots)

Ulven Tuesday 28th of June 2005 10:12:52 PM
- En gutt = a boy. haha
WARNING: Swedish/Danish-educated person trying to write in Norwegian... (Good luck, me! :D)
Jeg har trodd å på norsk, boy ville være sammen så dansk eller svensk. Men nej. Vi har nu dreng, pojke og gutt :p. Lige finskasprogs 'boy' er mer sammen til svensksprogs boy - poika.

English...
I would have assumed the Norwegian word for boy would be the same as either Swedish or Danish. But no, now we have three different words for boy. Even Finnish's word for boy is more similar to Swedish.
Just for the record-
dreng (Danish)
gutt (norwegian)
poika (Finnish)
pojke (Swedish)

Hvad er norsk for 'girl', så?
Også, er 'å' norsk for at (Danish), att (Swedish), that (English)?

Takk ska du ha. Låt dig være i fred å rette norsk mit.

*I don't know if I was supposed to put 'norsk mit' in that order :S)

Petr Wednesday 29th of June 2005 05:04:16 AM
- Hehe Eg sei "kørv" (tenk i forrhold til svensk (hehe)), men det er spesiell ranværing. (Jada av og til gut (lang vokal)).

CharonPlu Wednesday 29th of June 2005 06:31:57 AM
- girl (English) = pike (Norwegian). en pike/piken/piker/pikene
å (Norwegian) = to (English)

stjerne Wednesday 29th of June 2005 01:47:40 PM
- another norwegian word for girl is Jente (feminine gender)

ei jente/jenta/jenter/jentene

Zakk Thursday 04th of August 2005 11:51:26 AM
- So, let me get this gay.
Some nouns can be either male or female?
When can you tell if you can use either or?

You could never use a feminine "ei" for "gutt"
But you can use either "ei" or "en" for "seng"?

Could I use this for "katt"?
Elaborate please!

Could I ever say "senga"?

Psyche Thursday 04th of August 2005 03:51:07 PM
- Hello Zakk :)

Yes, many nouns can be either masculine or feminine. You decide for yourself really. Using the masculine form for these nouns are more old-fashioned, but just as many people use that form. The point main point is that you should either always choose the masculine form or alsways the feminine form. Don`t mix them. Don`t write one sentence choosing the masculine form and the next with the feminine form.

Yes, for the word "katt", you can use both forms.
I don`t know if there are a rule for this, other than what I wrote in the main post. I can try to check it out.

And yes, you could say both "senga" and "sengen" :)

Zakk Sunday 07th of August 2005 05:14:33 AM
- Could ei/en katt also be Neutral?

From what I know, there are nouns that are strictly male, some that are strictly female, ones that are strictly neutral, and then ones that can be either male or female.

Are there nouns that can be either male, female, or neutral?

Psyche Sunday 07th of August 2005 05:33:19 AM
- No, if they are neuter, then they are ONLY neuter.

Phrasebase Archive
	Psyche	Tuesday 28th of June 2005 09:01:23 PM
	NOUNS - Norwegian grammar is fairly easy. The nouns are considered to be the hardest grammatical aspect of the Norwegian language and here follows a guide to help you through it. First of all what is a noun? A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality. Examples of nouns: A boy, a girl, a house, a tree, a beauty.. Here comes the tricky part: Norwegian nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and their inflection depends on the gender. You can`t really tell which gender a noun has simply by looking at it, but there are certain "rules" that will make it easier. Masculine nouns Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in masculine Norwegian nouns we`ll put en. En gutt (a boy) En hund (a dog) En katt (a cat) The noun inflects by adding the suffix -en in definite singular,-er in indefinite plural and -ene in def. plural. En gutt (a boy)- gutten (the boy)- gutter (boys)- guttene (the boys) En hund (a dog)- hunden (the dog)- hunder (dogs)- hundene (the dogs) En katt (a cat) - katten (the cat) - katter (cats)- kattene (the cats) If you don`t know if the noun is masculine or feminine and you have no possibility to check it out, go for the masculine gender. Feminine nouns Many feminine nouns can be inflected like masculine nouns (in Bokmål) and many nouns can be both masculine and feminine, where you can choose which gender it has. Using the masculine form is more conservative, but both forms are equally respected and used. The rule is, that you don`t mix them up. Either be conservative (only choose the masculine inflections) or not (only choose the feminine inflections). Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in feminine Norwegian nouns we`ll put ei. Feminine nouns inflects by adding the suffix -a to the definite singular, and the rest of the inflections follows the same procedure as the masculine nouns. Ei jente* (a girl) - jenta (the girl) - jenter (girls) - jentene (the girls) Ei seng* (a bed) - senga (the bed) - senger (beds) - sengene (the beds) Note: Even nouns for female beings, such as jente (girl) and kvinne (woman) can be masculine as well as feminine. Actually, it is better to inflect kvinne as a masculine noun, but avoid writing jente in the definite singular (jenten) * Ei jente (a girl) - jenten (the girl) - jenter (girls) - jentene (the girls) En seng (a bed) - sengen (the bed) - senger (beds)- sengene (the beds) Neuter nouns Most nouns that refer to a non-living thing, is neuter. E.g A tree, a house, a fridge, a mountain.. Where we in English would put a/an in front of a noun, in neuter Norwegian nouns we`ll put et. The nouns inflects by adding the suffix -et to the definite singular, - "no ending" in the indefinite plural and -ene or alternatively -a in the definite plural. Et tre (a tree) - treet (the tree)- tre (trees) - treene/trea (the trees) Et hus (a house) - huset (the house)- hus (houses) - husene/husa (the houses) And there are always exceptions to the rule... You just have to memorize the exceptions as you come across them, but here is a list over common nouns: En bror (a brother) - brødre (brothers) En/ei søster (a sister) - søstre (sisters) En far (a father) - fedrene (the fathers) En/ei mor (a mother) - mødrene (the mothers) En fot (a foot) - føtter (feet) En/ei rot (a root) - røtter (roots)
	Ulven	Tuesday 28th of June 2005 10:12:52 PM
	- En gutt = a boy. haha WARNING: Swedish/Danish-educated person trying to write in Norwegian... (Good luck, me! :D) Jeg har trodd å på norsk, boy ville være sammen så dansk eller svensk. Men nej. Vi har nu dreng, pojke og gutt :p. Lige finskasprogs 'boy' er mer sammen til svensksprogs boy - poika. English... I would have assumed the Norwegian word for boy would be the same as either Swedish or Danish. But no, now we have three different words for boy. Even Finnish's word for boy is more similar to Swedish. Just for the record- dreng (Danish) gutt (norwegian) poika (Finnish) pojke (Swedish) Hvad er norsk for 'girl', så? Også, er 'å' norsk for at (Danish), att (Swedish), that (English)? Takk ska du ha. Låt dig være i fred å rette norsk mit. *I don't know if I was supposed to put 'norsk mit' in that order :S)
	Petr	Wednesday 29th of June 2005 05:04:16 AM
	- Hehe Eg sei "kørv" (tenk i forrhold til svensk (hehe)), men det er spesiell ranværing. (Jada av og til gut (lang vokal)).
	CharonPlu	Wednesday 29th of June 2005 06:31:57 AM
	- girl (English) = pike (Norwegian). en pike/piken/piker/pikene å (Norwegian) = to (English)
	stjerne	Wednesday 29th of June 2005 01:47:40 PM
	- another norwegian word for girl is Jente (feminine gender) ei jente/jenta/jenter/jentene
	Zakk	Thursday 04th of August 2005 11:51:26 AM
	- So, let me get this gay. Some nouns can be either male or female? When can you tell if you can use either or? You could never use a feminine "ei" for "gutt" But you can use either "ei" or "en" for "seng"? Could I use this for "katt"? Elaborate please! Could I ever say "senga"?
	Psyche	Thursday 04th of August 2005 03:51:07 PM
	- Hello Zakk :) Yes, many nouns can be either masculine or feminine. You decide for yourself really. Using the masculine form for these nouns are more old-fashioned, but just as many people use that form. The point main point is that you should either always choose the masculine form or alsways the feminine form. Don`t mix them. Don`t write one sentence choosing the masculine form and the next with the feminine form. Yes, for the word "katt", you can use both forms. I don`t know if there are a rule for this, other than what I wrote in the main post. I can try to check it out. And yes, you could say both "senga" and "sengen" :)
	Zakk	Sunday 07th of August 2005 05:14:33 AM
	- Could ei/en katt also be Neutral? From what I know, there are nouns that are strictly male, some that are strictly female, ones that are strictly neutral, and then ones that can be either male or female. Are there nouns that can be either male, female, or neutral?
	Psyche	Sunday 07th of August 2005 05:33:19 AM
	- No, if they are neuter, then they are ONLY neuter.