#grammatikk

The Infinitive

The infinitive is the ‘to’ form of the verb (‘to eat’). It is unconjugated, meaning it doesn’t pertain to any particular tense or mood. It’s used in largely the same way it’s used in English, with verbs such as å kunne (can), å ville (want), å burde (should) and å må (have to):

Jeg kan spise epler - I can eat apples

Jeg vil spise epler - I want to/will eat apples

Jeg bør spise epler - I should eat apples

Jeg må spise epler - I have to eat apples

Just like English, Norwegian doesn’t have a “future tense” form of a verb, and so it uses the infinitive along with the verbs å skulle (shall) and å ville (will/want), and the phrase kommer til å (going to)

Jeg skal spise epler - I shall eat apples

Jeg kommer til å spise epler - I’m going to eat apples

Note that the ‘å’ is omitted when we use modal verbs such as these!

The infinitive is also used when we use verbs such as å like (to like), å hate (to hate) and å elske (to love):

Jeg liker å spise epler - I like eating apples

Jeg hater å spise epler - I hate eating apples

Jeg elsker å spise epler - I love eating apples

You notice here that the ‘å’ is not omitted in this case.

The Present

To form the present tense we need to find the stem of the verb. The stem is the shortest form of a verb, and is formed by taking the infinitive and removing the å and the final -e. We then form the present by adding -er:

å spise –> remove å and -e –> spis

Add -er: spiser

Some verbs don’t end in an -e. Usually in this case, we just add -r:

å bo –> bo –> bor

å ha –> ha –> har

There are also verbs that are just plain irregular. They’re usually quite common, so you’ll come across them a lot and you’ll end up learning them quite quickly

å være –> vær –> er // å vite –> vit –> vet

While there are two present tenses in English, there is only one in Norwegian :

Jeg spiser epler - I eat apples / I am eating apples

(Technically there are ways to emphasise something is happening right now, but I’m not gonna go into that here)

The Preteritum / Past Tense

This is where our verb types become important. There are four categories of regular verbs in Norwegian, which generally follow these rules:

Category 1 verbs: the stem ends in more than one consonant (eg å snakke –> snakk, å elske –> elsk)

Category 2 verbs: the stem ends in a single consonant (å like –> lik, å bruke –> bruk)

Category 3 verbs: the stem ends in a single -g or -v, or the diphthongs -ei or -øy (å lage –> lag, å leve –> lev, å leie –> lei, å tøye –> tøy)

Category 4 verbs: the stem ends in a stressed vowel (å bo –> bo, å tro –> tro, å snu –> snu)

Some verbs fall into multiple categories, or don’t fall into the category you’d expect for one reason or another, or are just completely irregular. But these rules will get you by for the most part! You can always check the dictionary I linked earlier if you’re stuck :)

They are conjugated thusly:

Category 1 verbs: add -et OR -a to the stem

å snakke –> snakk –> snakket/snakka

å elske –> elsk –> elsket/elska

It doesn’t matter which form you use, although the -et form is more common/accepted/proper (certainly in written bokmål)

Category 2 verbs: add -te to the stem

å spise –> spis –> spiste

å like –> lik –> likte

å lese –> les –> leste

Category 3 verbs: add -de to the stem

å lage –> lag –> lagde

å leve –> lev –> levde

å leie –> lei –> leide

å tøye –> tøy –> tøyde

Category 4 verbs: add -dde to the stem

å bo –> bo –> bodde

å tro –> tro –> trodde

å snu –> snu –> snudde

As you noted, the past tense is used in pretty much exactly the same way it’s use in English:

Jeg spiste epler - I ate apples / I was eating apples

Elsket du ham? - Did you love him?

Hun likte filmen - She liked the film

De leide en leilighet - They rented an apartment

Vi bodde i Kristiansand i fem år - We lived in Kristiansand for five years

Again, the Norwegian past tense covers both the simple past (I did) and the continuous past (I was doing).

The Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is formed of two parts: the present tense of the verb å ha (to have) - har - and the past participle of the verb, which is formed like this:

Category 1 verbs: exactly the same as the preteritum - add -et OR -a to the stem

å snakke –> snakk –> snakket/snakka

å elske –> elsk –> elsket/elska

Category 2 verbs: add -t to the stem:

å spise –> spis –> spist

å like –> lik –> likt

å lese –> les –> lest

Category 3 verbs: add -d to the stem

å lage –> lag –> lagd

å leve –> lev –> levd

å leie –> lei –> leid

å tøye –> tøy –> tøyd

Category 4 verbs: add -dd to the stem

å bo –> bo –> bodd

å tro –> tro –> trodd

å snu –> snu –> snudd

Again, it’s used in almost exactly the same way the present perfect is used in English, and again, it covers both the simple and continuous tenses (to have done / to have been doing):

Jeg har spist epler - I have eaten apples / I have been eating apples

Har du snakket med ham? - Have you spoken to him?

Han har lest den boka før - He has read that book before

Vi har leid denne leiligheten i ti måneder - We have rented this apartment for ten months

De har aldri bodd i Stavanger - They have never lived in Stavanger

The Imperative

The imperative is a grammatical mood used to give commands and instructions and make requests. Most of the time, it is exactly the same as the stem:

Spis epler om du vil leve lenge - Eat apples if you want to live long

Vær så snill - Please (”Be so kind”)

Tro på meg - Believe me

Ta til høyre - Turn right (“Take to the right”)

I hope all this is helpful! I know it’s a bit long (and it still doesn’t cover everything!) - if you have any questions please do let me know, I’m always happy to help :)