From Wikitravel
Norwegian is the language spoken in Norway. It's closely related to
Danish
and Swedish, and most speakers of the
three languages can understand each other without much difficulty.
Norwegian is also historically closely related to Icelandic, but
the two are no longer mutually understandable. Written Norwegian is
virtually identical to Danish and phrasebooks for the two languages
can for most purposes be used interchangeably. Most of Norway's 4.5
million citizens speak Norwegian. Norwegian is written with the
latin alphabet and three additional vowels (ø, æ, å).
Because Norwegian is a Germanic language, learning a decent form
of Norwegian shouldn't be too hard if you already speak English,
German and/or Dutch. Norwegian grammar is similar
to English and relatively easy compared to German. For example, the
role of a word is determined by its place in the syntax, rather
than by morphology. Norwegian basically only has two grammatical
cases: Nominative and genitive - genitive differs from nominative
by an "s" at the end of the noun (like English but without the
apostrophe). Verbs are not conjugated according to person.
Adjectives are (like in English) placed before the noun. Norwegian
has three grammatical genders, and nouns are inflected according to
their grammatical gender. Plural form of noun is often expressed
with the suffix "-r" or "-er", for example "en katt, katter" = "a
cat, cats".
Although modern Norwegian is relatively easy to understand and
practice at a superficial level, learning Norwegian a hundred
per-cent fluently is exceptionally difficult. There are several
reasons to this: The first thing worth mentioning is that there is
a wide range of dialects in Norwegian, that could
differ significantly to the standard written form. Due to the
country's geography, being extremely long and narrow, these
dialects have had the opportunity to develop over time. There is no
standard spoken Norwegian, and it is fully socially accepted (even
highly regarded) to use your local dialect whatever the context or
situation. Politicians and news reporters all do this. Norwegian
has a number of idioms, many of which are used regularly but hardly
make any sense to an outsider (they just have to be learned). Many
idioms originates from playwright Henrik Ibsen, from the ancient
sagas (compiled by icelander Snorre Sturlason), or from the Bible,
as well as from popular culture. The weak Norwegian verbs could
also have one of five different endings.
There are two official variations of written Norwegian:
Bokmål and Nynorsk. The
differences are small, but important to a lot of Norwegians. Bokmål
is by far the most common, and evolved from Danish. Nynorsk is a
reconstructed standard written form, devleoped by Ivar Aasen, a
teacher and linguist. Aasen traveled through most of the country,
except for the eastern parts, because he felt those parts had been
too heavily influenced by Danish language. Between 1848 and 1855,
Aasen published a grammar, lexicon, dialect samples, and a set of
readings as he developed Nynorsk (called then landsmål) A
summary of the language situation can be found at:
http://odin.dep.no/odin/engelsk/norway/history/032005-990497/index-dok000-b-n-a.html
In 2003, approximately 15% of primary school pupils were in
school districts that taught Nynorsk as the primary written
standard.
Numbers, time and dates Note that Norwegians
use comma as the decimal sign, for instance 12,000 means 12
(specified with three decimal places) not 12 thousand, whereas
12.000 means 12 thousand. Norwegians use both 24 and 12 hour
system, spoken often 12 hour system and 24 hour system in writing.
Norwegians don't use PM/AM to indicate morning or afternoon. Dates
can be abbrivated in a number of ways, but the order is always
DATE-MONTH-YEAR, for instance 12.07.08 is July 12, 2008.
Other notable features:
- Unlike some Germanic neighbors, in Norwegian the definite
article is postfixed (a suffix) while the indefinite article is a
separate word like in english (a house = et hus; the house =
huset).
- Verbs are not conjugated according to the person.
- Capital letters reserved for names of persons or places as well
as beginning of sentences.
- Norwegian has three unique vowels: æ, ø, å (more below)
- Norwegian has less french/latin words than English, but still
enough "international" words (adopted from English, French or
Latin) that are understandable for most visitors. For instance:
information = informasjon, telephone = telefon, post = post,
tourist = turist, police = politi.
- Unlike English, Norwegian words are compounded to form
new nouns. There is in principle no limit to the number of
new nouns that can be created, unless these are "decomposed" some
of these may not be found in dictionaries or phrasebooks.
Pronunciation Guide
Norwegian spelling is pretty simple and regular (compared to,
say, English), but like most real languages, it is unfortunately
not completely regular.
Vowels
Each vowel can be pronounced either as "long" or "short". A
"short" vowel will almost always be followed by a double consonant
(i.e. two similar consonants, such as ll or tt). A long vowel is
not.
For example, in Norwegian "it" will be pronounced as in
eet, whereas "itt" will be pronounced as English
it.
(There are some exceptions to this rule: if the consonant
is followed by another consonant, it does not always need to be
doubled to make the vowel short.)
The Norwegian vowels are pronounced in almost the same way as in
German. The Norwegian alphabet has three letters more than the
English alphabet, vowels æ (Æ), ø (Ø), and å (Å). Here's the full
list:
- a
- like 'a' in "father"
- e
- like 'e' in "where" (but like æ if it is followed by an
'r')(some exceptions, see below)
- i
- like 'i' in "pin"
- o (short)
- mostly like 'o' in how the British say "Ox", rendering it a
short 'å'; but in a few cases simply a short "oo", just like a
short 'u'
- o (long)
- similar to 'oo' in "fool"
- u
- (long) similar to "ewwwww!"
- u
- (short) same sound as a long 'o' only short (much like
the English "put")
- y
- like 'i' in "pin" (but narrower; y doesn't correspond to any
sound in English. English speakers may have difficulty
distinguishing Norwegian's i and y. It's similar to German ü or
French u.) Halfway between "ee" and "ewwww".
- æ
- like 'a' in "mad"; almost always long. A short "ær" sound is
spelled 'er'.
- ø
- like 'u' in how the British say "burn" ("bu:n"). One starts
with e and rounds one's lips to produce ø.
- å
- like 'o' in how the British say "lord" (Note: in older texts or
names written as "aa"); it is long unless followed by a double
consonant.
The letters 'o' and 'u' may give you the most trouble. Some
examples to help clarify:
- egg (egg or edge) has a short "e" because of the
double consonant;
- elg (moose) also has a short "e"; the 'lg' qualifying
as a doubling;
- ed (oath) has a long "e";
- er (is) has a long "æ", as does her (here)
and der (there).
- erke (arch) has a short "ær";
- eller (or) starts with a short "e" and ends in a short
unaccented 'er' where the "e" is reduced to a short "uh" --
"EL-uhr";
- fil (file) has a long 'i' ("ee" in English);
- fille (rag) has a short 'i';
- komme (to come) has a short "å" sound ("aw!");
- for (for) also has a short "å" sound; therefore -
- fôr (animal feed or food) is often given the ^ accent
to convey its long "oo";
- mor (mother), jord (earth), and sol
(sun) all have a long "oo" (the 'd' in jord is
silent);
- hjort (deer) has a short "å" sound;
- onkel (uncle) has a short "oo" very similar to a
Scouse pronunciation;
- kum (manhole) has a short "oo" just like 'onkel' (an
'-mm' ending is not allowed);
- jul (xmas) has a long 'u' ("ewww");
- ugle (owl) has a short 'u' (like "ewh!");
- ære (honor) has a long 'æ'
- Some exceptions: The following words have a long "e" despite
the 'er' convention:
- ber, ler, ser, skjer,
ter -- note that these are present-tense forms of verbs
that end in -e: be, le, se,
skje, te.
- flere and mer also have a long "e" (not
"æ").
- b
- like 'b' in "book"
- c
- like 'c' in "cat" (mostly foreign words, no function in
Norwegian)
- ch
- same as 'k' or 'kk' (Christian = "kristian"; Bache =
"bakke")
- d
- like 'd' in "dog", silent at end of syllable or at end of word.
(In eastern dialects d, t, and n are pronounced with the tongue
touching the front teeth, producing a "flatter" sound than in
English)
- f
- like 'f' in "face"
- g
- like 'g' in "good", but like 'y' in "yes" before i or j, silent
at the end of some words
- h
- like 'h' in "hat", silent before j or v
- j
- like 'y' in "yes"
- k
- like 'k' in "keep", but like 'ch' in German "ich" before i or j
(IPA:
[ç])
- l
- like 'l' in "late" (some variation, see below)
- m
- like 'm' in "mouse"
- n
- like 'n' in "nice"
- p
- like 'p' in "push"
- q
- like 'q' in "quick" (mostly foreign words)
- r
- like 'r' in "feather" (many different variations ranging from
Spanish to French sounding, in west Norway typically powerfully
pronounced)
- s
- like 's' in "sun", unless followed by an 'l' or following an
'r' when it becomes "sh"
- t
- like 't' in "top"; silent at the end of the word "det" and in
determinate neuter nouns (e.g. "huset")
- rt
- a quick rap of the tongue, starting with the tip upward behind
the hard palate (start saying "tch" but stop before you get to the
"sh"); no native English equivalent (but heard in some Indian
accents)
- v
- like 'v' in "viper"
- w
- most often, like 'v'; the letter only appears in names (e.g.
Waldemar, Wenche, or the unit Watt); other than that, it may appear
in foreign loan words and names where the pronunciation generally
follows the original language (see below for more examples)
- x
- like 'x' in "box" (mostly foreign words); words with this sound
are generally spelled with 'ks' ('x' has no real function in
Norwegian)
- z
- like 'z' in "zipper" (officially), but usually pronounced like
's' in "sun" (mostly foreign words, no function in Norwegian)
More on the letter L: There are three basic
ways of pronouncing the letter 'L'. Generally speaking, if you
stick with #1 or #2 below, you will never be misunderstood. #3
typically appears in eastern dialects but even there it may be
considered informal and is avoided by many. The consonants b, f, g,
k, and p, plus the vowel 'ø' take either L #1 or #3 as outlined
further below, and the vowel 'å' takes L #2 or #3. (Note that this
is an unoffical numbering.)
- L #1: a thin-sounding 'l' where the tip of the
tongue is on the hard part of the palate, not touching the front
teeth, and slightly farther back than in English;
- L #2: a thicker, flatter sounding 'l' with the
tip of the tongue firmly against the back of the front teeth;
- L #3: a flap of the tongue with the tip
farther back in the mouth than with an 'r'.
(Some dialects use a 4th pronunciation where the middle of the
tongue is on the soft palate; as a novice you should probably
disregard this)
L #1 is what you will hear in the beginning of
words: Lillehammer, lakk, lese,
ligge, lomme, løpe...
- - after 'i' and 'y' (both short and long): ille,
spill, vil, vill, hvil,
fil, fille, fyll, fylle,
syl, sylte...
- - after short 'u': full, gull, hull,
kull, null, pulje, tull,
rulle...
- - after 'e': fjell, fjel, sel,
tele, telefon, vel...
- - after short 'yk': sykle, Myklebost...
- - after 'g' or 'k' if followed by a long 'e': glede,
klebe...
- - after 't': atlas, Atle
- - after 'd': middel, midler, seddel,
sedler...
- - after 'r' (the 'r' becomes silent): farlig,
Berlin, berlinerkrans, særlig,
herlig...
- - after some 'ø's (long or short): føle,
følge, føll, sølv,
Sølve...
- - after 's' (note that the 's' then becomes "sh"):
- slag, slakk, slepe, slegge,
slik, slikke, slips, slott,
sluke, slukke, slutte, slør,
slåss, rasle, rusle,
vesle...
- - in the words vafler, vaflene (plural of
vaffel) and gafler, gaflene (pl. of
gaffel)
L #2 is heard after 'a' (short or long):
ball, sal, tall, falle,
gal, kalle...
- - after all short "å" sounds, including the short 'o' which is
like "å": Dolly, Holmenkollen, olje,
rolle, troll, volleyball...
- - after long 'å': bål, mål, Pål,
stål, Ståle, stråle,
såle...
L #3 is applied somewhat irregularly but is
often heard after long 'u': jul, fugl (the 'g' is
silent here), smule, bule...
- - after some long 'o's (single syllable words or unaccented
second syllable): bol, gol, skole,
sol, sole, stol, stoler...
- - after some long 'ø's: høl, søle,
Bøler, pøl, døl, fjøl,
køl, møl...
- - after short vowel + 'g': øgle, trygle,
ugle (the 'g' is not silent), smugle,
juggel (the 'u' is short and the 'e' unaccented)...
- - after short vowel + 'k': nøkler,
tråkle
- - and after b, most f's, g's, k's, and p's :
blad, bli, bly, blå,
fly, flue, glad...
- blekk, flagg, flink, fløte,
gløppe, glass, klippe (meaning "to
cut"), klubb, klump, plukke,
plagg, plass...
- (all of the preceding examples of L #3 can also take L
#1)
- - after 'æ': pæle, sæle, fjæl,
gæli, tæl, tæle
- (these never take L #1 but are rather replaced by other forms
that do: pele, sele, fjel,
galt, tel, tele)
- - in the word 'dårlig'
- - overlapping the use of L #2 for the following
words (i.e. you may hear either one, with little or no
consistency):
- mål, måle, kål, såle,
stål (but not the name Ståle), trål,
tråle, tral, tåle, påle (but
not the name Pål)
- Certain factors have a softening effect on the 'l' in
'kl' and 'pl' combinations. Look for long 'a' or 'o',
words of non-Germanic origin, or stress on the second or third
syllable. The following examples all have L #1 and should never
take L #3:
- klar, klarinett, klassisk,
klor, kloroform, plassére,
plast, plastikk...
-
- The vowel 'i' influences 'f', 'k', and 'p' in the same
way and usually gives them L #1 (although L #3 is sometimes
heard):
- flid, flittig, klima,
klippe (meaning "cliff"), plikt...
-
- Some words that belong in "high society" are
ideally given L #1 in the eastern dialects even if conventional
wisdom would expect L #3: flygel, klimpre
- The following words usually have L #1 even in eastern
dialects: glede, gløde,
nitroglyserin, globoid
More on the letter W: "Watt" as a unit is
pronounced like "vatt" but the name James Watt would still be
pronounced as in English; "William" can sound like "Villiam" or the
English "William" depending on his nationality; "Wien", being
(linguistically) German, is pronounced "veen".
- ei
- like 'a' in Cockney or Australian pronunciation of "babe"
(æ-i)
- ai
- like 'i' in "pine" (a-i)
- au
- similar to 'ow' in "how" (æ-u)
- oi
- like 'oy' in "boy" (å-y)
- øy
- like the 'u' in "burn" followed by the 'y' in "yet" (ø-y)
- sj
- like 'sh' in "shirt"
- skj
- like 'sh' in "shirt"
- kj
- like 'ch' in the german word "ich"
- hj
- like 'y' in "yes"
- gj
- like 'y' in "yes"
- hv
- like 'v' in "victory"
- lj
- the 'l' is silent if in the beginning of a word (e.g. "ljå":
"yaw")
- gn
- like 'ain' in "rain"
- aa
- old form of 'å'
The letter 'j' often disappears if either of the letter
combinations 'skj', 'kj' or 'gj' is used in front of diphthongs.
There is also a convention that the letter 'j' cannot be followed
by an 'i' or 'y'. Examples:
-
- skøyte (skate) is "shøite";
- kylling (chicken) is "chylling";
- kiste (coffin) is "chisste";
- gi (to give) is "yee" [note that 'gir' as the present
tense of "gi" is pronounced "yeer" but the word for "gear" is still
pronounced "geer" even though it is also spelled 'gir']
- de
- (the bokmål word, meaning "they") : like "dee" in "deer"
(just as a whole word)
- De
- (meaning "you" in a formal setting): same pronunciation as
'de'
- jeg
- (the bokmål word, meaning "I") : like "Ya" in "Yale" or
"yay"
- og
- (the bokmål and nynorsk word for "and") : the 'g' is
silent if the word is unstressed (thus pronounced the same as "å");
"awg" if stressed.
[Note that many Norwegians struggle with the grammatical
difference between "å" and "og" because of their similar
pronunciation]
Phrase list
Basics
Bokmål, followed by nynorsk:
- Good morning.
- God morgen. (goo moh-ohrn) - God morgon. ("Go'
Morgon")
- Good evening.
- God kveld. (goo kvel)
- Good night (to sleep)
- God natt. (goo naht)(with a short 'a')
- Hello. (formal)
- God dag.
This greeting that can be used at most occasions (except funerals)
and times of day.
- Hello. (informal)
- Hei. (hay)("hæy")
- How are you?
- Hvordan går det? (voord-ahn gawr deh?) Korleis går
det? ("kor-læis gohr deh')
- Fine, thank you.
- (Jo) takk, bare bra. (yoo tak, bar-e brah) (Jau) takk,
bærre brah ("Jauh tak, bere brah")
- What is your name?
- Hva heter du? (Vah he-ter du) Kva heiter du? ("Kvah
hæi-ter du")
- My name is ______ .
- Jeg heter ______ . (yei he:h-t'r _____ .) Eg heiter
("eg hei-ter")
- Nice to meet you.
- Hyggelig å treffe deg. (Hygg-e-li å treff-e dei)
Hyggjeleg å møte deg ("Hyggj-eleg å mø-te deg")
- Please.
- Vær så snill. (...)(you may hear "væh shaw snil")
- Thank you.
- Tusen takk. (...)
- You're welcome.
- Bare hyggelig. (Bar-e hygg-e-li)
More like the english: my pleasure Berre hyggjeleg ("ber-e
hyg-eleg")
- Yes.
- Ja. (ya)
- Yes (in reply/opposition to a no in a
discussion).
- Jo. (yoo) Jau. ("Ja-u")
- No.
- Nei. (naye)("næi")
- Excuse me. (getting attention)
- Unnskyld (meg). (Unn-shill mei) Orsak meg ("Or-sak
meg")
- Excuse me. (begging pardon)
- Unnskyld (meg). (Unn-shill mei) Orsak meg ("Or-sak
meg")
- I'm sorry. (for a slight mistake)
- Beklager (be-klag-er) Beklagar ("Be-kla-gar")
- I'm sorry. (I really didn't mean it)
- Jeg beklager så mye (Jei be-klag-er så mye) Eg er lei
for det ("Eg er leih for det")
- I'm sorry.
- Jeg er lei meg. (Jei ær lei mei)
Not used nearly as often as in english, this sincerely means you
are sorry, or can even be interpreted to mean you are sad (usually
not associated with guilt). Eg er lei meg ("Eg er leih megh")
- Goodbye
- Ha det bra! (Ha de bra) Farvel ("far-vel")
- Goodbye (informal)
- Hade! (Ha-de)
- It was nice seeing/meeting you. Goodbye.
- (bm) Det var hyggelig å treffe deg. Ha det bra! (De var
hygg-e-li å treff-e dæi. Ha de bra!)
(nn) Det var hyggjeleg å treffe deg. Ha det bra! (De var
hyg-yeh-lehg aw treff-eh dehg. Hah deh bra!
- I can't speak norwegian.
- Jeg/eg snakker/snakkar ikke/ikkje norsk. (Jei snakk-er
ikk-e nåsjk)
- I only know a little norwegian.
- Jeg/eg kan bare/berre litt norsk (Jei kan ba-re litt
nåsjk)
- Excuse me. Do you know how to speak English?
- Unnskyld, kan du snakke engelsk? (Unn-skyll, kan du snakk-e
eng-elsk?)
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- Er det noen/nokon som kan snakke engelsk her? (Ær de no-en
såm kann snakk-e eng-elsk hær?)
- Help!
- Hjelp! (Yelp!)
- Good morning.
- God morgen/morgon. (Go må-årn)
See hello above
- Good evening.
- God kveld. (Go kvell)
See hello above
- Good night.
- God natt. (Go natt)
Never used as a greeting, unless you you want to make a joke. This
is potentially troublesome. If you must greet someone at night, use
Hallo, Hei, or Hyggelig å møte deg (Nice
to meet you), or even God dag (even though it's in the
middle of night).
- Good night (to sleep)
- God natt. (Go natt)
- I don't understand (you).
- Jeg forstår [deg] ikke/ikkje. (Jei forst-år [dei]
ikk-e)
- Where is the toilet/bathroom?
- Hvor/Kvar er toalettet? (Vor ær toa-lett-et?)
- May I borrow your pen?
- Kunne jeg/eg låne pennen din? (Kuhn-ne jæi lå-ne pennen
din?)
- Are there any good sights in the area?
- Finnes/Finst det noen/nokon gode severdigheter/sjåverdegheiter
i området? (Fin-nes deh non god-he seværdi-het-er i
åm-råde)
- You are not Norwegian unless you know five names for different
textures of snow
- Man/Ein er ikke/ikkje norsk med mindre man/ein kan
navngi/namngje fem typar snø. (Mann ær ikke nåshk me mindre
mann kann navnji femm typ-er snø)
- Are they joking about these prices?
- Skal jeg/eg tolke disse/dei her prisene/prisane som en/ein
spøk? (Skall jei tålke dis-se pris-ene såmm en spøk)
- Where can I purchase a viking helmet?
- Hvor/Kvar kan jeg/eg kjøpe en/ein vikinghjelm? (Vohr kann
jei ch[german: Chemie]ø-pe en vi-kingyelm)
- Does this bus take me to Hafrsfjord?
- Kjører denne bussen til Hafrsfjord? (ch[german: Chemie]ører
den-ne buss-en til Hafrs-fjoord?)
- My Norwegian blue parrot is unfortunately dead!
- Min norskblå papegøye er dessverre død! (Min nåsjk-blå
pape-gøje ær dess-værre død)
- No, it isn't. It's just pining for the fjords!
- Nei, slett ikke! Den bare lengter etter fjordene! (Næi
slett ikke. Denn bar-eh lengt-er etter fjord-ene)
- Leave me alone (please).
- Kan du (være så snill å) la meg være alene.
(...)
Note: være så snill å means be so kind as to,
directly translated, but there are no direct replacement for
please. The english word is sometimes used if said imparatively or
beggingly.
- Don't touch me!
- Ikke rør meg! (...)
- I'll call the police.
- Jeg ringer politiet. (...)
Note: This really means dial the police on the phone. Since there
aren't many street cops in Norway, if it's really an emergency, it
would make more sense to simply cry Hjelp! (Help), and
hope a random person will come to your rescue.
- Police!
- Politi! (...)
See above...
- Stop! Thief!
- Stopp tyven! (...)
- I need your help.
- Jeg trenger din hjelp. (...)
Might sound too strong. See below for a more reasonable
alternative...
- May I ask you for a little assistance?
- Kan jeg spørre deg om litt hjelp
- It's an emergency.
- Det er et nødstilfelle. (...)
- I'm lost.
- Jeg har gått meg bort. (...)
Even though this is under the problems section, this
phrase comes out sounding like you have wandered the woods for days
without food or rest, having no idea where you are or where to go
(in which case it would be obvious anyway). Either that, or you're
5 year old, in which case getting lost from your parents is equally
serious. See below for a more reasonable alternative. More neutral
is "Jeg har gått meg vill"
- Can you tell me where I am?
- Kan du si meg hvor jeg er? (...)
- Can you tell me the way to ___?
- Kan du si meg veien til ___? (...)
- I lost my ___.
- Jeg har mistet ___ [min (sg. m./f.)/mitt (sg. neu.)/mine
(pl.)]. (...)
While almost any kind of carry-on item can be called bag in
English, in Norwegian it means a duffle bag. You usually have to be
more specific, here are a few alternatives, as part of this
sentence, you should also read the part in parenthesis to get the
grammar right.
* luggage = baggasje(n)
* suitcase = koffert(en)
* backpack = ryggsekk(en)
* duffle bag = bag(en)
* shoulder bag = skulderveske(-a)
* handbag = håndveske(-a)
* plastic bag = plastikkpose(n)
* computer bag = data bag(en)
* handbag = håndveske(-a)
* wallet = lommebok(a)
* child/children = barn(et)/barn(a) (I certainly hope not)
* cell phone = mobiltelefon (-en)
- I'm sick/ill.
- Jeg er sjuk. (...)
- I've been injured.
- Jeg har blitt skadd. (...)
- I've contracted an injuriy.
- Jeg har fått en skade. (...)
- I need a doctor.
- Jeg trenger (å få treffe) en lege. (...)
- May I borrow your phone?
- Kan jeg få låne telefonen din? (...)
- 0
- null (...)
- 1
- en/ein (..)
- 2
- to (...)
- 3
- tre (...)
- 4
- fire (...)
- 5
- fem (femm)
- 6
- seks (sekks)
- 7
- sju (...)
Another variant (below) also in common use. New system
- 7
- syv (...)
Another variant (above) is slightly more common in some age groups
and geographical regions. Old system
- 8
- åtte (...)
- 9
- ni (...)
- 10
- ti (...)
- 11
- elleve (ell-ve)
- 12
- tolv (tåll)
- 13
- tretten (...)
- 14
- fjorten (...)
- 15
- femten (...)
- 16
- seksten (seis-ten)
- 17
- sytten (søtt-en)
- 18
- atten (...)
- 19
- nitten (...)
- 20
- tjue (kju-e)
Note: Used in new counting system (see below)
- 20
- tyve (...)
Note: Used in old counting system (see below)
21 and on
Larger numbers than twenty can be written several ways in
Norwegian. Sometimes each word is written separately. Sometimes
hyphens are used. And sometimes, the whole number is written as one
large word; there are two ways of counting from 21-99.
New counting system
The new counting is what most people use nowadays. And
probably what they would consider using to someone having problems
understanding. This is what you should learn.
- 21
- tjue en (kju-e en)
- 22
- tjue to (...)
- 23
- tjue tre (...)
Old counting system
The old counting system is slightly more illogical, but
still quite a few people use it. Its popularity increases with the
age of the speaker. Most people will probably revert to the new
counting system if they realize the speaker is not fluent in
norwegian, but here it is for completeness (In English this system
has been used in the past, but a change analogous to the
new system in Norwegian occurred a long time ago, so few
realise this now, although the reminders exist in the teen
numbers and the Four and twenty blackbirds nursery
rhyme).
- 21
- en og tyve (en å tyv-e)
- 22
- to og tyve (to å tyv-e)
- 23
- tre og tyve (...)
- 30
- tredve (old system)
- 30
- tretti (...) (new system)
Regardless of counting
system
- 40
- førti (...)
- 50
- femti (...)
- 60
- seksti (...)
- 70
- sytti (...)
- 80
- åtti (...)
- 90
- nitti (...)
- 100
- (ett) hundre (...)
- 121
- (ett) hundre og 21 (100 å 21)
- 200
- to hundre (...)
- 300
- tre hundre (...)
- 1000
- ett tusen (...)
- 1021
- ett tusen og 21 (ett tu-sen å 21)
- 1100
- ett tusen ett hundre / elleve hundre (ett tu-sen ett
hun-dre / ell-ve hun-dre)
- 1121
- ett tusen ett hundre og 21 (...)
- 2000
- to-tusen (...)
- 1,000,000
- en million (en milli-on)
- number _____ (train, bus, etc.)
- nummer _____ (tog, buss, etc) (nomm-er)
- half
- halv (hall)
- less
- mindre (minn-dre)
- more
- mer (...)
- now
- nå (...)
- later
- seinere (...)
- before
- tidligere (tid-li-ere)
- morning
- morgen (må-årn)
- afternoon
- ettermiddag (...)
- evening
- kveld (kvell)
- night
- natt (...)
Clock time
Note that whenever you say one o'clock, you use ett
instead of en.
24h system
The simplest way to say time is to use the 24 hour system.
- 08.00
- klokka åtte null null (...)
- 19.37
- klokka nitten tretti sju (..)
- 01.01
- klokka ett null en (...)
12 hour system
There is no universal AM/PM usage in norway. If people are not
familiar enough with english to understand you saying the time in
english, they will probably not understand AM or PM either. To
disambiguate time, you can look at the section called Time
(morning, evening, etc). It can be hard to choose the correct
preposition/grammar to use for these (which depends a lot on
context, past, future, etc), so the easiest is to simply append it
after having said the time.
The clock-hour can be divided as follows
- 10.00
- klokka 10 (...)
- 10.05
- fem over 10 (femm åv-er ti)
- 10.10
- ti over 10 (...)
- 10.15
- kvart over 10 (...)
- 10.20
- ti på halv 11 (...)
- 10.25
- fem på halv 11 (...)
- 10.30
- halv 11 (hall 11)
- 10.35
- fem over halv 11 (...)
- 10.40
- ti over halv 11 (...)
- 10.45
- kvart på 11 (...)
- 10.50
- ti på 11 (...)
- 10.55
- fem på 11 (...)
Duration
- _____ minute(s)
- _____ minutt(er) (...)
- _____ hour(s)
- _____ time(r) (...)
- _____ day(s)
- _____ dag(er) (...)
- _____ week(s)
- _____ uke(r) (...)
- _____ month(s)
- _____ måned(er) (må-ned/månt-er)
- _____ year(s)
- _____ år (...)
Days
- today
- i dag (...)
- yesterday
- i går (...)
- tomorrow
- i morgen (i må-årn)
- this week
- denne uka (...)
- last week
- forrige uke (fårr-je u-ke)
- next week
- neste uke (...)
- Sunday
- søndag (...)
(The week begins on a Monday in Norway, and days are not
capitalised)
- Monday
- mandag (...)
- Tuesday
- tirsdag (...)
- Wednesday
- onsdag (...)
- Thursday
- torsdag (...)
- Friday
- fredag (...)
- Saturday
- lørdag (...)
Months
- January
- januar (...)
- February
- februar (...)
- March
- mars (...)
- April
- april (...)
- May
- mai (...)
- June
- juni (...)
- July
- juli (...)
- August
- august (...)
- September
- september (...)
- October
- oktober (...)
- November
- november (...)
- December
- desember (...)
Writing Time and Date
- Jan 5. 1979
- 5. jan. 1979
- Jan 5. 1979
- 5/1-1979
- black
- svart (...)
- black
- sort (...)
Note: mostly archaic
- white
- hvit (vit) or kvit (kvit)
- gray
- grå (...)
- red
- rød (rø) or raud
- blue
- blå (...)
- yellow
- gul (...)
- green
- grønn (...)
- orange
- orange (o-ransj)
- purple
- lilla (...)
- purple
- fiolett (...)
- brown
- brun (...)
- pink
- rosa (...)
Transportation
Bus and Train
- How much is a ticket to _____?
- Hvor mye koster en billett til _____? (...)
- One ticket to _____, please.
- Kan jeg få en billett til _____. (...)
- Where does this train/bus go?
- Hvor går dette toget/denne bussen? (...)
- Where is the train/bus to _____?
- Hvor finner jeg toget/bussen til _____? (...)
- Does this train/bus stop in _____?
- Stopper dette toget/denne bussen i _____? (...)
- When does the train/bus for _____ leave?
- Når reiser toget/bussen til _____? (...)
- When will this train/bus arrive in _____?
- Når kommer vi fram til _____? (...)
Directions
- How do I get to _____ ?
- Hvordan kommer jeg til _____ ? (...)
- ...the train station?
- ...togstasjonen? (...)
- ...the bus station?
- ...bussholdeplassen? (...)
- ...the airport?
- ...flyplassen? (...)
- ...downtown?
- ...sentrum? (...)
- ...the youth hostel?
- ...ungdomsherberget? (...)
- ...the _____ hotel?
- ... _____ hotel? (...)
- ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British
embassy/consulate?
- ...den amerikanske/kanadiske/australske/britiske
ambassade/konsulat? (...)
- Where are there (a lot) of...
- Hvor kan jeg finne (mange)... (...)
- ...hotels?
- ...hoteller? (...)
- ...restaurants?
- ...restauranter? (res-tu-rang-er)
- ...bars?
- ...barer? (...)
- ...sites to see?
- ...turistattraksjoner? (tu-rist-att-rak-sjo-ner)
- Can you show me ____ on the map?
- Kan du vise meg ___ på kartet? (...)
- street
- gate/vei (...)
- Turn left.
- Snu til venstre. (...)
- Turn right.
- Snu til høyre. (...)
- left
- venstre (venn-stre)
- right
- høyre (høy-re)
- straight ahead
- rett fram/rett framover (...)
- towards the _____
- mot _____ (...)
- past the _____
- forbi _____ (...)
- before the _____
- rett før _____ (...)
- Watch for the _____.
- Se etter _____. (...)
- intersection
- kryss (...)
- roundabout
- rundkjøring (runn-kjø-ring)
- north
- nord (nor)
- south
- sør (...)
- east
- øst (...)
- west
- vest (...)
- uphill
- oppover(bakke) (åpp-åv-er-bakk-e)
- downhill
- nedover(bakke) (ned-åv-er-bakk-e)
Taxi
- Taxi!
- Taxi! (...)
Cultural note: Shouting or whistling for a taxi is considered rude
in Norway, and drivers are likely to ignore you if you do. Wave
your hand at, phone or simply walk up to one with a lighted sign on
the roof.
- Take me to _____, please.
- Kan du kjøre meg til _____. (...)
- How much does it cost to get to _____?
- Hvor mye vil det koste å kjøre til _____? (...)
Note: Unless it's a really long (several hours) and thus
ridiculously expensive drive where you can make a special deal with
the driver, it's gonna cost as much as the meter shows. Expect an
approximate reply if any.
- Take me there, please.
- Kan du kjøre meg dit? (...)
- Do you have any rooms available?
- Har du noen ledige rom? (...)
- How much is a room for one person/two people?
- Hvor mye koster et enkelt/dobbelt-rom? (...)
- Are bedsheets included in the price?
- Er sengetøy inkludert i prisen? (...)
- I would like some bedsheets
- Kan jeg få med sengetøy? (...)
- I don't need/I bring my own bedsheets
- Jeg trenger ikke/Jeg har mitt eget sengetøy (...)
- Does the room come with...
- Har rommet ... (...)
- ...a bathroom?
- ...eget bad? (...)
- ...a telephone?
- ...egen telefon? (...)
- ...a TV?
- ...TV? (te-ve)
- May I see the room first?
- Kan jeg få se rommet først? (...)
- Do you have anything _____?
- Har du et _____ rom? (...)
- ...quieter
- ...mer stille (...)
- ...bigger
- ...større (...)
- ...cleaner
- ...renere (...)
- ...cheaper
- ...billigere? (...)
- OK, I'll take it.
- OK, jeg tar det. (o-kå, jei tar de)
- I will stay for _____ night(s).
- Jeg blir her _____ natt/netter. (...)
- Can you suggest another hotel?
- Har du et annet hotell å foreslå? (...)
- Do you have a safe?
- Har du en safe? (har du en seif)
- Do you have a locker?
- Har du ett låsbart skap? (...)
- Is breakfast/supper included?
- Er frokost/middag inkludert? (...)
- What time is breakfast/supper?
- Når er det frokost/middag? (...)
- Please clean my room.
- Kan du vaske rommet mitt. (...)
- Can you wake me at _____?
- Kan du vekke meg klokka _____? (...)
- I want to check out.
- Kan jeg få sjekke ut nå?. (...)
- Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars?
- Godtar du amerikanske/australske/kanadiske dollar?
(...)
- Do you accept (British) pounds?
- Godtar du (britiske) pund? (Go-tar du brit-isk-e
punn)
- Do you accept credit cards?
- Godtar du kredittkort? (...)
- Can you change money for me?
- Kan du hjelpe meg å veksle penger? (...)
- Where can I get money changed?
- Hvor kan jeg få vekslet penger? (...)
- Can you change a traveler's check for me?
- Kan du veksle en reisesjekk for meg? (...)
- Where can I get a traveler's check changed?
- Hvor kan jeg få vekslet reisesjekker? (...)
- What is the exchange rate for ___?
- Hva er valutakursen for ___? (...)
- Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?
- Hvor er nærmeste minibank? (...)
ATM = minibank
- A table for one person/two people, please.
- Kan jeg få et bord for en/to personer? (...)
- Can I look at the menu, please?
- Kan jeg får se på menyen? (...)
- Can I look in the kitchen?
- Kan jeg få se kjøkkenet? (...)
Note: This is usually a grave insult. If you feel that bad about
eating there, go somewhere else instead.
- Is there a house specialty?
- Hva er spesialiteten deres? (...)
- Is there a local specialty?
- Er det en lokal rett jeg bør smake på? (...)
- I'm glutenintolerant.
- Jeg er glutenintolerant / Jeg har cøliaki (...)
- I'm a vegetarian.
- Jeg er vegetarianer. (...)
- I don't eat pork.
- Jeg spiser ikke svinekjøtt. (...)
- I only eat kosher food.
- If this is a concern, try another country. Shechita is
forbidden in Norway, and meat needs to be specially imported. Try
to order fresh fish ("fersk fisk") or something vegetarian instead.
Tell the waiter you are an orthodox jew ("ortodoks jøde"), and try
to reach an understanding. You will have to compromise, as
you can't expect the cook to keep a separate set of pans/knives/etc
just for you. If it is a large expensive restaurant, they might be
able to do so, but if you are very pedantic about this, you should
prepare your own food from carefully selected food in grocery
shops.
- I'm on a diet. Can you make it "lite", please? (less
oil/butter/lard)
- Jeg slanker meg. Kan jeg få så lite fett som mulig? (mindre
olje/smør/fett) (...)
- fixed-price meal
- dagens rett (...)
- a la carté
- a la carté (...)
- breakfast
- frokost (...)
- lunch
- lunch (...)
- tea (meal)
- kaffe og kaker (...)
The Norwegian equivalent of tea as a meal is kaffe og kaker –
coffee and cakes. You could of course still order tea, if you
prefer that.
- supper
- middag (...)
- I would like _____.
- Kan jeg få _____. (...)
- I want a dish containing _____.
- Jeg vil ha en rett med _____. (...)
- chicken
- kylling (kjyll-ing)
- beef
- oksekjøtt (...)
- fish
- fisk (...)
- ham
- skinke (...)
- sausage
- pølse (...)
- cheese
- ost (...)
- eggs
- egg (...)
- salad
- salat (...)
- (fresh) vegetables
- (ferske) grønnsaker (...)
- (fresh) fruit
- (fersk) frukt (...)
- bread
- brød (...)
- toast
- ristet brød (...)
- noodles
- nudler (...)
- rice
- ris (...)
- beans
- bønner (...)
- May I have a glass of _____?
- Kan jeg få et glass _____? (...)
- May I have a cup of _____?
- Kan jeg få en kopp _____? (...)
- May I have a bottle of _____?
- Kan jeg få en flaske _____? (...)
- coffee
- kaffe (...)
- tea (drink)
- te (...)
- juice
- juice (jus)
- (bubbly) water
- farris (...)
- water
- vann (...)
- beer
- øl (...)
- red/white wine
- rødvin/hvitvin (rø-vin/vit-vin)
- May I have some _____?
- Kan jeg få litt _____? (...)
- salt
- salt (...)
- (black) pepper
- (sort) pepper (...)
- butter
- smør (...)
- Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server)
- Unnskyld, kelner? (...)
- I'm finished.
- Jeg er ferdig. (...)
- It was delicious.
- Det smakte utmerket. (...)
- Please clear the plates.
- Kan du ta med tallerknene. (...)
- The check, please.
- Kan jeg få regningen?. (...)
- Do you serve alcohol?
- Serverer dere alkohol? (...)
- Is there table service?
- Kommer dere til bordene? (...)
- A beer/two beers, please.
- Kan jeg få en/to øl? (...)
- A glass of red/white wine, please.
- Kan jeg få et/to glass rødvin/hvitvin? (...)
- A pint, please.
- Kan jeg få en halvliter? (hall-i-ter)
- In a bottle, please.
- Kan jeg få det på flaske? (...)
- _____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer),
please.
- Kan jeg få _____ og _____? (...)
- whiskey
- whiskey (...)
- vodka
- vodka (...)
- rum
- rom (romm)
- water
- vann (...)
- club soda
- club soda (...)
- tonic water
- tonic (...)
- orange juice
- appelsin juice (app-el-sin jus)
- Coke (soda)
- Cola (brus) (...)
- Do you have any bar snacks?
- Har du noe barsnacks? (...)
- One more, please.
- Kan jeg få en til?. (...)
- Another round, please.
- En runde til! (...)
- When is closing time?
- Når stenger dere? (...)
- Do you have this in my size?
- Har du denne i min størrelse? (...)
- How much is this(that)?
- Hvor mye koster denne(den)? (...)
- That's too expensive.
- Det er for dyrt. (...)
- Would you take _____?
- Ville du godtatt _____? (...)
Note: Bargaining or haggling prices will in most cases get you
nothing but puzzled looks and/or angry vendors. The price is on the
tag, and unless the item you want is damaged or highly overpriced
(higher than usual in Norway) haggling will usually not get you
anywhere.
- expensive
- dyrt (...)
- sale
- salg
- special offer
- tilbud
- rabatt
- discount
- cheap
- billig (...)
- I can't afford it.
- Jeg har desverre ikke råd. (...)
- I don't want it.
- Nei, jeg trenger den ikke. (...)
- (I think) You're cheating me.
- (Jeg tror) Du lurer meg. (...)
This is what you would say right before you call the police.
- I'm not interested.
- Desverre, jeg er ikke interresert. (..)
- OK, I'll take it.
- OK, jeg tar den. (...)
- Can I have a bag?
- Kan jeg få en pose? (...)
- Do you ship to ____?
- Kan du sende ting til ___? (...)
- I need...
- Jeg trenger... (...)
- ...toothpaste.
- ...tannpasta. (...)
- ...a toothbrush.
- ...en tannbørste. (tann-bøsj-te)
- ...tampons.
- ...tamponger. (...)
- ...soap.
- ...såpe. (...)
- ...shampoo.
- ...shampoo. (sjam-po)
- ...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)
- ...smertestillende. (f.eks Dispril eller Ibux)
(...)
- ...cold medicine.
- ...hostesaft. (...)
translates back to cough lemonade. If that doesn't come
close to what you need, go to a doctor.
- ...stomach medicine.
- ...???. (...)
Go to a drugstore (norwegian: "apotek"), or doctor (norwegian:
"lege"), and explain your condition.
- ...a razor.
- ...en barberhøvel. (...)
- ...an umbrella.
- ...en paraply. (...)
- ...sunscreen lotion
- ...solkrem (...)
- ...sunblock lotion.
- ...sunblock. (...)
- ...a postcard.
- ...ett postkort. (...)
- ...postage stamps.
- ...frimerker. (...)
- ...batteries.
- ...batterier. (...)
- ...writing paper.
- ...skrivepapir/brevpapir. (...)
- ...a pen.
- ...en penn. (...)
- ...English-language books.
- ...engelske bøker. (...)
- ...English-language magazines.
- ...engelske blader. (...)
- ...an English-language newspaper.
- ...en engelsk avis. (...)
- ...an English-Norwegian dictionary.
- ...en engelsk-norsk ordbok. (...)
- I want to rent a car.
- Kan jeg få leie en bil? (...)
- Can I get insurance?
- Kan jeg få forsikring? (...)
- stop (on a street sign)
- stop (...)
- one way
- enveiskjørt/enveiskjøring (...)
- yield
- vikeplikt (...)
- no parking
- parkering forbudt (...)
- speed limit
- fartsgrense (...)
- gas (petrol) station
- bensinstasjon (...)
- petrol
- bensin (...)
- diesel
- diesel (...)
- I haven't done anything wrong.
- Jeg har ikke gjort noe galt. (...)
- It was a misunderstanding.
- Det var en misforståelse. (...)
- Where are you taking me?
- Hvor tar dere meg? (...)
- Am I under arrest?
- Er jeg arrestert? (...)
- I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian
citizen.
- Jeg er en amerikansk/australsk/britisk/kanadisk statsborger.
(...)
- I demand to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian
embassy/consulate.
- Jeg forlanger å få snakke med den
amerikanske/australske/britiske/kanadiske ambassade/konsulat
(...)
- I want to talk to a lawyer.
- Jeg vil ha en advokat. (...)
- Can I just pay a fine now?
- Kan jeg bare betale boten nå? (...)
Note: Usually you can't. That would mean bribery was accepted. One
exception; public transportation in Oslo (maybe elsewhere too) if
you forgot to buy a ticket.
Norwegian language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Norwegian
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