ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ɪɴ ᴍɪɴᴅ:
- This is by no means a complete guide to all the prepositions you’ll ever encounter in the Norwegian language, but merely a collection of the most common ones and how they’re usually used/commonly translated. If you have questions about any prepositions beyond the ones on this list, feel free to ask and I’ll try to cover it in a separate post!
- Some of these words aren’t only prepositions, but have other functions as well (conjunctions, adverbs, etc.), or are a part of a fixed expression, which I won’t go into in this post– so if you feel like you’ve seen some of these words before with completely different meanings/usage/translations, that might be why!
- There are, as always (unfortunately), exceptions, so take the translations with a grain of salt– and feel free to send me an ask if you ever stumble upon one of said exceptions and would like a short explanation to go with it c:
PREPOSISJONER || PREPOSITIONS
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AV ↦ of (something), by (someone).
“Toppen av fjellet.” ↦ “The top of the mountain.”
“Kongen av Norge.” ↦ “The King of Norway.”
“Bordet er laget av tre.” ↦ “The table is made of wood.”
“Boken er skrevet av Jo Nesbø.” ↦ “The book is written by Jo Nesbø.”
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BLANT ↦ among.
“Å være blant venner.” ↦ “To be among friends.”
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ETTER ↦ after.
“Jeg skal gjøre det etter skolen.” ↦ “I’ll do it after school.”
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FOR ↦ for, (adjective) about/of (something).
“Kjøp 3 for 2!” ↦ “Buy 3 for 2!”
“Jeg er lav for alderen.“ ↦ “I’m short for my age.”
“Han ble straffet for forbrytelsen.” ↦ “He was punished for the crime.”
“Det er vanskelig for ham.” ↦ “It’s difficult for him.”
“Det er viktig for meg.” ↦ “It’s important for me.”
“Han er redd for slanger.” ↦ “He’s scared of snakes.”
“Jeg er nervøs for prøven.” ↦ “I’m nervous about the test.”
“Jeg er glad for det.” ↦ “I’m happy about it.”
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FORAN ↦ in front of.
“Han stod foran meg.” ↦ “He stood in front of me.”
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FRA ↦ from.
“Flasken lå 50 meter fra stranden.” ↦ “The bottle lay 50 meters from the beach.”
“Snøen fra i fjor er her fortsatt.” ↦ “The snow from last year is still here."
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FØR ↦ before, prior to.
“Jeg gjorde det før jul.” ↦ “I did it before/prior to Christmas.”
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GJENNOM / IGJENNOM ↦ through.
“Katten hoppet ut gjennom vinduet.” ↦ “The cat jumped out through the window.”
“Vi kom oss gjennom det sammen.” ↦ “We got through it together.”
“Hun kunne ikke høre noe gjennom den høye musikken.” ↦ “She couldn’t hear anything through the loud music.”
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HOS ↦ with (someone), at (someone’s) place
“Jeg er hos Camilla.” ↦ “I’m with Camilla.” / ”I’m at Camilla’s place.”
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I ↦ in, in (place), for (time expression).
*regarding places: if you’re referring to cities and towns; depending on the place in question, either i or på are used. While i is often used with bigger places and på for smaller ones, there’s no specific guideline or rule to which one’s right, so it all boils down to memorization. That being siad, in general i tends to be more common than på.
“Jeg sitter i bilen.” ↦ “I’m sitting in the car.”
“Han ble født i 1995.” ↦ “He was born in 1995.”
“Å dele noe i to.” ↦ “To cut something in two/half.”
“Jeg bor i Norge.” ↦ “I live in Norway.”
“Tyven er i huset.” ↦ “The thief is in the house.”
“Jeg har ventet i to timer.” ↦ “I’ve been waiting for two hours.”
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INNI / INNE I ↦ inside (of).
“Han fant det inni/inne i esken.” ↦ “He found it inside (of) the box.”
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I STEDET FOR / ISTEDENFOR ↦ instead (of).
“Kan vi gå på kino i stedet for museum?” ↦ “Can we go to the cinema instead of the museum?”
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MED ↦ with, by (vehicle).
“Jeg snakket med Ole.” ↦ “I talked with Ole.”
“Smørbrød med ost.” ↦ “Sandwich with cheese.”
“Jeg dro til øya med båt.” ↦ “I went to the island by boat.”
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MELLOM ↦ between.
“Du må velge mellom disse to.” ↦ “You have to choose between these two.”
“Kom mellom klokken 3 og 4.” ↦ “Come between 3 and 4 o’clock.”
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MOT / IMOT ↦ towards, against.
“Å kjøre mot byen.” ↦ “To drive towards the city.”
“Gå mot strømmen.” ↦ “Go against the stream.”
“Å advare mot noe.” ↦ “To warn against something.”
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NED ↦ down.
“Han gikk ned trappa.” ↦ “He walked down the stairs.”
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OPP ↦ up.
“Han løp opp bakken.” ↦ “He ran up the hill.”
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OPPOVER ↦ upwards.
“Ballongen steg oppover.” ↦ “The balloon floated upwards.”
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OPPÅ / OPPE PÅ ↦ on (top of).
“Boken er oppå bordet.” ↦ “The book is on (top of) the table.”
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OVENFOR / OVER ↦ above.
*not to be confused with overfor. *over is more commonly used, while ovenfor can end up sounding old-fashioned in a lot of cases. If you’re unsure, it’s better to just use over, but it’s nice to know the meaning of ovenfor in case you ever stumble across it. Keep in mind that only over can also be translated as “over” in regards to something ending (”det er over.” ↦ “it’s over.”).
“Du kan lese mer om dette i teksten ovenfor/over.” ↦ “You can read more about this in the text above.”
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OVERFOR ↦ opposite, in relation to.
*not to be confused with ovenfor.
“De stod overfor hverandre.” ↦ “They stood opposite each other.”
“Følelsene mine overfor det temaet er kompliserte.” ↦ “My feelings in relation to that subject are complicated”
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PÅ ↦ on, at, in (city/town).
“Boken er på bordet.” ↦ “The book is on the table.”
“Han bor på en øy.” ↦ “He lives on an island.”
“Kan vi møtes på mandag?” ↦ “Can we meet on Monday?”
“Han er på politistasjonen.” ↦ “He’s at the police station.”
“Jeg er på skolen.” ↦ “I’m at school.”
“Hun bor på Sunnmøre.” ↦ “She lives in Sunnmøre.”
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PÅ GRUNN AV ↦ because of, due to.
"Hun kunne ikke komme på grunn av dårlig vær.” ↦ “She couldn’t come due to bad weather.”
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RUNDT ↦ around.
“Jeg har et skjerf rundt halsen.” ↦ “I have a scarf around my neck.”
“Å reise rundt.” ↦ “To travel around.”
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SIDEN ↦ since.
“Jeg har ikke sett deg siden i fjor.” ↦ “I haven’t seen you since last year.”
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TIL ↦ to (someone/somewhere), (number) more, (possessive).
“De dro til England.” ↦ “They went to England.”
“Hun ga eplet til Ole.” ↦ “She gave the apple to Ole.”
“Jeg hadde to bøker, og kjøpte tre til.” ↦ “I had two books, and bougt three more.”
“Dette er moren til Hanne.” ↦ “This is Hanne’s mom.”
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UANSETT ↦ regardless of.
“Alle slapp inn, uansett alder.” ↦ “Everyone got in, regardless of age.”
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UNDER ↦ under, below, during.
“Det er under 0 grader.” ↦ “It’s below 0 degrees.”
“Å jobbe under visse omstendigheter.” ↦ “To work under certain conditions.”
“Under krigen.” ↦ “During the war.”
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UNNTATT ↦ except (from).
“Alle unntatt Ole drakk te.” ↦ “Everyone except Ole drank tea.”
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UTENFOR ↦ outside (of).
“Han ventet utenfor porten.” ↦ “He waited outside (of) the gate.”
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VED SIDEN AV ↦ beside, next to.
“Biblioteket ligger ved siden av skolen.” ↦ “The library is beside/next to the school.”
