www.eriknord.no

BASIC NORWEGIAN

- especially for Dutch people

I was born in Amsterdam and lived in the Hague at the age of 7-11. I went to an English school, but couldn’t avoid picking up some Dutch. Here is my pay back. 😊

Contents: Pronounciation, grammar, useful words

Pronounciation (no comment when equal to Dutch):

a, b, (c), d, e, f, g (English: good), h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o (Dutch: broek), p, (q), r (rolling), s, t, u, v (Dutch w), (x), y (German ü), (z), æ (English: glad), ø (English: girl), å (English: tall).

Complications in pronounciation:

e is usually æ before r: er (is), der (there), her (here).

g is j before i, j, y: gift (poison), gjerrig (stingy), gylden (golden).

o is a short å before more than one consonant and a long å before g and v: dobbel (double), tog (train), sove (sleep).

sj, skj: like sh in English: sjanse (chance), skjørt (skirt).

sk before i and y is also like sh in English: ski (ski), skyte (shoot).

tj, kj is like j in the Dutch diminutive –je: tjukk (thick), kjønn (sex).

Diphtongs:

øy is pronounced øy: røyk (smoke), øy (island).

au is pronounced æu: sau (sheep), tau (rope).

ei is pronounced æj: bein (bone), reir (nest).

Grammar

Gender:

Masculine: En gutt – gutten (a boy – the boy)

Feminine: Ei jente – jenta (a girl – the girl)

Neutral: Et hus – huset (a house – the house)

Verbs

present imperfect perfect

To be

jeg er jeg var jeg har vært

du er same same

han/hun/ etc

det/den er

vi er

dere er

de er

To have

jeg har jeg hadde jeg har hatt

etc

Regular verbs:

å snakke (speak)

jeg snakker jeg snakket jeg har snakket

å titte (look)

jeg titter jeg tittet jeg har tittet

å kjøre (drive)

jeg kjører jeg kjørte jeg har kjørt

å spise (eat)

jeg spiser jeg spiste jeg har spist

å male (paint)

jeg maler jeg malte jeg har malt

è mostly -et, -te after r, s, l

Irregular verbs:

Past tense Perfect tense

se (see) så har sett

ta (take) tok har tatt

treffe (meet) traff har truffet

stå (stand) sto har stått

brekke (break) brakk har brukket

sitte (sit) satt har sittet

sette (put, place) satte har satt

bringe (bring) bragte har bragt

finne (find) fant har funnet

gjøre (do) gjorde har gjort

Future tense: Norwegian has the modal word ‘skal’ as English ‘shall’ – e.g. ‘Jeg skal kjøre’, but – as in English - it often implies some sort of obligation. Future tense is often expressed simply by present tense (‘jeg kommer i morgen‘) or by the use of ‘kommer til’ (‘jeg kommer til å gjøre det’).

More pronouns:

Accusative/dative: meg, deg, ham/henne/det, oss, dere, dem.

Possessive: min/mi/mitt, din/di/ditt, hans, hennes, dets, vår/vårt, deres, deres.

(Note dependence on gender in first and second person singular and second person plural)

Examples:

Han elsker henne (he loves her).

Jeg gir deg mitt hjerte (I give you my heart).

Hvor er bilen vår (where is our car)?

Hvor er huset vårt (where is our house)?

Some useful small words:

and: og;

or: eller;

I know that you ..: jeg vet at du;

but: men;

only: bare;

than: enn;

if: hvis;

whether: om;

before: før;

when you arrive:

når du kommer;

when you arrived: da du kom;

then; da;

afterwards:etterpå;

later: seinere;

earlier: tidligere/før;

now: nå;

today: i dag;

tomorrow: i morgen;

yesterday: i går;

last year: i fjor;

Question pronouns:

why: hvorfor;

where: hvor;

when: når;

who: hvem;

which: hvilken;

what: hva;

what kind: hva slags;

whose: hvem sin;

Prepositions:

on: på;

in: i;

by (the lake): ved;

at (the station, airport, restaurant):

over: over;

under: under;

next to: ved siden av;

in front of: foran;

behind: bak;

between: mellom;

inside: inne (i);

outside: ute (utenfor);

In two years: om to år;

Two years ago: For to år siden;

For two years: i to år.

day: dag;

night: natt;

morning: morgen; a

afternoon: ettermiddag;

evening: kveld;

week: uke;

month: måned;

minute: minutt;

second: sekund;

hour: time;

car: bil;

boat: båt;

road: vei;

house: hus;

man: mann;

woman: kvinne;