Copyright: Norwegian Translator ® 1995 Crandol Software


Contents
Norwegian Grammar Contents...

The purpose of the grammar help is to assist you in basic

grammatical syntax when using the translator.

Click the underlined text for more information on the topic.

Verbs

Nouns

Adjectives

Pronouns


Verbs

The program lists conjugation of verbs according to five categories:

infinitive	(to drive)
imperative	(drive!)
present	(drives)
past	(drove)
past perfect	(have driven)

Note:  Norwegian does not change endings according to person or number,
       therefore...

am	have
are	  =	er	has	    =	har
is

I drive	  = 	jeg kjører	she writes  = 	hun skriver
he drives =  	han kjører	they write  =  	de skriver

The verb in infinitive in Norwegian most often ends with -e, as in "kjøre" and "snakke" ("drive" and "speak" in English).

The imperative, the commanding sense, is made by simply omitting the -e, as in "kjør" and "snakk," different from English in which the corresponding words would be the same as the infinitive ("drive" and "speak").

The present tense ends with -r or -er.  To distinguish that present tense is being used, we have listed all English translations of verbs in present tense as 3rd person singular.

Example: "kjører" = "drives."  Therefore you will frequently have instances which are grammatically incorrect, like "I drives" or "they drives."

Make sure that you check your document for grammatical consistency after the translation is completed.  The past tense in Norwegian most often ends with -te or -et, as in "kjørte" or "snakket." The past perfect tense most often ends with -t or -et, as in "har kjørt" or "har	snakket."

Note:  Where the past and the past perfect are identical, as in the Norwegian word "elsket" (English "loved") only the past perfect is listed in the database.

A special case is continuing verbs in English, which do not have a proper equivalent in Norwegian.  "She was smiling" becomes "Hun smilte" ("She smiled") in Norwegian.


Nouns

The four categories of nouns:

singular indefinite	(a boy)
singular definite	(the boy)
plural indefinite	(boys)
plural definite	(the boys)

Every noun in Norwegian will belong to either of three genders:

masculine
feminine
neutral

In the database almost every noun is listed in singular indefinite, with its proper gender.

Singular...

The indefinite article "a" in English is:

"en"	masculine     	en gutt = a boy
"ei"	feminine	  	ei jente = a girl
"et"	neutral	  	et hus = a house

The definite article "the" in English is always put at the end of the noun in Norwegian:

"-en"	masculine	gutten  = the boy
"-a"	feminine	jenta	 = the girl
"-et"	neutral	huset	 = the house

The database has been programmed to add the appropriate definite article in translation.

(One confusing aspect of Norwegian grammar stems from the many dialects and the language changes during the last century; that some
nouns are being used in both masculine 	and feminine.  As a general
rule, the masculine gender is being used mostly when speaking
the more conservative "bokmål.")

Examples are "solen" or "sola" ("the sun"), and "klokken" or
"klokka" ("the watch," also "the time" as in "Hvor mye er klokka?" =
"What time is it?").  Both genders are considered to be equally
grammatically correct.  The commentary box will note some of the most
common of these nouns.  Of course you are free to change the database
to the kind of Norwegian with which you are the most comfortable.)

Plural...

Plural indefinite:

"-er"	masculine	gutter = boys
"-er"	feminine	jenter = girls
"-"	neutral	hus = houses

Plural definite:

"-ene"	masculine	guttene = the boys
"-ene"	feminine	jentene = the girls
"-ene"	neutral	husene = the houses

Note:  That some neutral nouns in plural end in "-a," as in "barna" = "the children."

For the purposes of this program only a few nouns have been listed in plural (indefinite); these are the ones which change vowel from singular to plural.

Examples are "mor"("mother") which changes to "mødre" ("mothers"), and ("duck") changes to "ender"("ducks"), and "bonde"("farmer") changes to "bønder" ("farmers").


Adjectives

Adjectives in Norwegian change their endings according to the gender of the noun which they are describing.

When the noun is singular and indefinite:

"-"	  masculine	en gul blomst = a yellow flower
"-"	  feminine	ei gul dør = a yellow door
"-t"	  neutral	et gult hus = a yellow house

Note: That when the adjective ends with a vowel, such as "blå" ("blue"), a double consonant is added.

Example: 	"-tt," as in "et blått hus" = "a blue house."

When the noun is singular and definite:

"-e"	  masculine	den gule blomsten = the yellow flower
"-e"	  feminine	den gule døra = the yellow door
"-e"	  neutral	det gule huset = the yellow house

When the noun is plural and indefinite:

"-e"	  masculine	gule blomster = yellow flowers
"-e"	  feminine	gule dører = yellow doors
"-e"	  neutral	gule hus = yellow houses

When the noun is plural and definite:

"-e"	  masculine	de gule blomstene = the yellow flowers
"-e"	  feminine	de gule dørene =  the yellow doors
"-e"	  neutral	de gule husene = the yellow houses

Adjectives are compared by adding the endings "-ere" in compative
and "-est" in superlative. Some adjectives change vowel in comparison;
these are noted in the commentary box.


Pronouns

Personal, reflexive and possessive...

Singular:

1st. person:    "jeg"   =   "I"   (subj.)
                "meg"   =   "me"  (obj.) or "myself"
                "min"   =   "my"  (sing. masc. and fem.)
                "mitt"  =   "my"  (singular neutral)
                "mine"  =   "my"  (plural)

2nd. person:    "du"    =   "you" (subj.)
                "deg"   =   "you" (obj.) or "yourself"
                "din"   =   "your"(sing. masc. and fem.)
                "ditt"  =   "your"(singular neutral)
                "dine"  =   "your"(plural)

3rd. person:    "han"   =   "he"  (subj.)
masculine:      "han"   =   "him" (obj.) ("ham" = "himself")
                "seg"   =   "himself"
                "hans"  =   "his" (possessive)

3rd. person:    "hun"   =   "she" (subj.)
feminine:       "henne" =   "her" (obj.) or "herself"
                "seg"   =   "herself"
                "hennes"=   "her" (possessive)

3rd. person:    "den"   =   "it"  (subj. and obj.)
neutral:        "det"
                "dens"  =   "its" (possessive)
                "dets"
                "sin"   =   "its" (noun in masculine or feminine.)
                "sitt"  =   "its" (noun in neutral)
                "sine"  =   "its" (noun in plural)

"Det" is applied when referring to a noun in neutral; "den" when
referring to a thing (inanimate object, such as a car) in masculine or
feminine gender.

Plural:
1st. person:    "vi"    =   "we" (subj.)
                "oss"   =   "us" (obj.)         "ourselves"
                "vår"   =   "our" (noun in m. or f.)
                "vårt"  =   "our" (noun in neutral)
                "våre"  =   "our" (noun in plural)

2nd. person:    "dere"  =   "you" (subj.)
                "dere"  =   "you" (obj.)        "yourselves"
                "deres" =   "your"(possessive)

3rd. person:    "de"    =   "they"(subj.)
                "dem"   =   "them"(obj.)        "themselves"
                "deres" =   "their"(possessive)
                "sine"  =   "their"

 The reflexive pronoun in 3rd. person singular and plural is "seg;"
 the reflexive possessive pronoun likewise only in 3rd. person singular
 and plural is "sin," "sitt" and "sine."