The Purpose Of This Ebook
The purpose of this ebook is to help you understand about verbs and their usage in the Norwegian language.
This information is collected from a list of tutorials provided on my blog. The information is consolidated into an ebook for your conveience.
I hope this ebook helps you improve your understanding of verbs in the Norwegian language.
Kevin Rodrigues http://norsk.rkevin.com
http://norsk.rkevin.com
Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Introduction
A verb tells something about what is happening or the action taken. Associated with a verb is the tense of the verb. Norwegian verbs can use one of four tenses: presens, preteritum, futurum and perfektum. Infinitiv But before we can start learning about verbs with tenses let us look at the infinitiv form of the verb. The infinitiv form is the dictionary form of the verb. So whenever you read verbs in a dictionary you will find them in this form. Below are some verbs in their infinitive form.
Norwegian English
å lese to read
å reise to travel
å kjøpe to shop
å lage to make
å sparke to kick
å gjøre to do
å gå to go
å feire to celebrate
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian Presens (Present Tense)
A Norwegian verb in the presens could indicate something that: 1) is happening now. 2) which happens often. 3) which happens always.
Note that the presens form is created by adding an r to the infinitiv as below.
Infinitiv Presense Example English
å lese lese r Han leser nå. He reads now.
å reise reise r Hun reiser i dag. She travels today.
å kjøpe kjøpe r Jeg kjøper is akkurat nå. I buy ice cream just now.
å lage lage r Han lager middag nå. He makes dinner now.
å sparke sparke r De sparker fotball nå. They kick football now.
å gjøre gjø r Hun gjør leksene sine nå. She does her lessons now.
å gå gå r Vi går på ski i dag. We go to ski today.
å feire feire r De feirer i Italia nå. They celebrate in Italy now.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian Preteritum (Past Tense)
A Norwegian verb in the preteritum indicates something that has already happened.
Note that the preteritum form is created by adding a te to the infinitiv as below. Also note that it is necessary to specify the time when using preteritum (e.g. yesterday, one week ago, etc).
Infinitiv Preteritum Example English
å lese les te Han leste i går . He read yesterday.
å reise reis te Hun reiste i går. She traveled yesterday.
å kjøpe kjøp te Jeg kjøpte is i går. I bought ice cream yesterday.
å lage lag et Han laget middag i går også. He made dinner yesterday also.
å sparke spark et De sparket fotball i går også. They kicked football yesterday also.
å gjøre gj orde Hun gjorde leksene sine før hun gikk. She did her lessons before she went.
å gå g ikk Vi gikk på ski før en uke siden. We went to ski a week ago.
As you can see above, there are a few exceptions to the “rule” of adding te to the infinitiv.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian Futurum (Future Tense)
A Norwegian verb in the futurum indicates something that will happen in the future.
Note that the futurum form is created by adding a skal before the infinitiv as below.
Infinitiv Futurum Example English
å lese skal lese Han skal lese i morgen. He shall read tomorrow.
å reise skal reise Hun skal reise om en time. She shall travel in an hour.
å kjøpe skal kjøpe Jeg skal kjøpe is. I shall buy icecream.
å lage skal lage Han skal lage middag. He shall prepare dinner.
å sparke skal sparke De skal sparke fotball. They shall kick football.
å gjøre skal gjøre Hun skal gjøre leksene sine. She shall do her lessons.
å gå skal gå Vi skal gå på ski. We shall go for skiing.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian Perfektum (Past Tense)
A Norwegian verb in the perfektum indicates something that has happened in the past. But it is different from the preteritum that also indicates past tense. It is different because we use perfektum when we don’t tell when the action occurred.
Note that the perfektum form is created by adding a har before the infinitiv and a t at the end as below.
Infinitiv Perfektum Example English
å lese har lest Han har lest . He has read.
å reise har reist Hun har reist . She has travelled.
å kjøpe har kjøpt Jeg har kjøpt is. I have bought.
å lage har laget Han har laget middag. He has prepared dinner.
å sparke har sparket De har sparket fotball. They have kicked football.
å gjøre har gjort Hun har gjort leksene sine. She has done her lessons.
å gå har gått Vi har gått på ski. We have gone for skiing.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian Groups of Norwegian Verbs
Gruppe 1
Verbs in group 1 have preteritum ending in et and perfektum ending in et.
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å bade (to bathe) bader badet har badet
å dusje (to shower) dusjer dusjet har dusjet
å lage (to make) lager laget har laget
å snakke (to speak) snakker snakket har snakket
å danse (to dance) danser danset har danset
å gjette (to guess) gjetter gjettet har gjettet
å vaske (to wash) vasker vasket har vasket
å huske (to remember) husker husket har husket
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Gruppe 2
Verbs in group 2 have preteritum ending in te and perfektum ending in t.
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å lese (to read) leser leste har lest
å låne (to loan) låner lånte har lånt
å lære (to learn) lærer lærte har lært
å svømme (to swim) svømmer svømte har svømt
å begynne (to begin) begynner begynte har begynt
å betale (to pay) betaler betalte har betalt
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Gruppe 3
Verbs in group 3 have preteritum ending in de and perfektum ending in d.
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å bøye (to bend) bøyer bøyde har bøyd
å tøye (to stretch) tøyer tøyde har tøyd
å greie (to manage) greier greide har greid
å prøve (to try) prøver prøvde har prøvd
å behøve (to want) behøver behøvde har behøvd
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Gruppe 4
Verbs in group 4 have preteritum ending in dde and perfektum ending in dd.
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å nå (to reach) når nådde har nådd
å sy (to sew) syr sydde har sydd
å bo (to stay) bor bodde har bodd
å snu (to turn) snur snudde har snudd
å ro (to row) ror rodde har rodd
å skje (to happen) skjer skjedde har skjedd
å snø (to snow) snør snødde har snødd
å så (to sow) sår sådde har sådd
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian More About Preteritum and Perfectum
Let us continue learning about some Norwegian verbs that change vowels in the preteritum and perfektum forms.
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å fortelle (to tell) forteller fortalte har fortalt
å bringe (to bring) bringer brakte har brakt
å følge (to follow) følger fulgte har fulgt
å gjøre (to do) gjør gjorde har gjort
å legge (to lay) legger la har lagt
å rekke (to reach) rekker rakte har rakt
å selge (to sell) selger solgte har solgt
å sette (to set) setter satte har satt
å smøre (to smear) smører smurte har smurt
å velge (to choose) velger valgte har valgt
å spørre (to ask) spør spurte har spurt
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Å være
One of the most common verbs that is used in Norwegian is the verb å være (to be).
Infinitiv Presens Preteritum Perfektum
å være er var har vært
Here are a few examples.
Norwegian English
Jeg liker å være inne i regnvær. I like to be inside in rainy weather.
Jeg er hjemme nå. I am home now.
Jeg var på skolen i går. I was at school yesterday.
Jeg har vært i butikken. I have been to the shop.
Jeg skal være hjemme i morgen. I shall be home tomorrow.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Helping Verbs
Helping verbs are often used when you want to use the future tense of the verb(futurum). Also note that helping verbs cannot be used on their own. They are used to help the main verb.
The helping verbs are as mentioned below:
Infinitive Presens Preteritum
å burde bør (should) burde
å kunne kan (can) kunne
å måtte må (must) måtte
å skulle skal (shall) skulle
å ville vil (will) ville
When we use the helping verb, we use the infinitive form of the main verb without the infinitive marker å.
e.g. Jeg kan (å) snakke litt norsk nå.
Here are a few examples to make things clear.
Norwegian English
Kan jeg få en kopp te? Can I get a cup of tea?
Jeg kan snakke litt norsk nå. I can speak a little Norwegian now.
Jeg kan komme på skolen på mandag. I can come to school on Monday.
Jeg kan ikke komme på tirsdag. I can not come on Tuesday.
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Vil du ha kaffe eller te? Will you have coffee or tea?
Vil du ha en blyant? Will you have a pencil?
Jeg vil gjerne lære norsk. I would like to learn Norwegian.
Vil du lære norsk? Will you learn Norwegian.
Jeg skal gå på norskkurs i morgen. I shall go to Norwegian course tomorrow.
Skal du gjøre lekser? Shall you do lessons?
Du må komme presis! You must come on time!
Du må lære norsk! You must learn Norwegian!
Bør du spise dette? Should you eat this?
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Learn About Verbs in Norwegian
Exception for Helping Verbs
Earlier we learnt that helping verbs cannot be used on their own, but there is an exception to this rule as shown below. See how the verb has been omitted in the sentences below. This is completely correct grammar in Norwegian with certain sentences.
Norwegian English
Jeg skal på norskkurs i morgen. I shall (go) to Norwegian course tomorrow.
