Lessons for English speakers
Learn to read Norwegian
A short, active path into reading Norwegian: three extra letters and the silent ones, nine real words decoded before any grammar, why the verb sits second in a statement, how “the” hides on the end of the noun, and two short fables before your first book.
13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 44 min with everything
12
Once upon a time, and the words that hold a paragraph together
≈ 2 min
What you'll learn
- Det var en gang …day vahr en gang is the traditional opening of a Norwegian folk tale.
- Nine joining words hold a paragraph together.
- Norwegian prints speech inside pointed marks, «like this».
- After a quoted line the doing word comes before the speaker.
Once upon a time…
Det var en gang …
day vahr en gang
Word for word, “it was one time”. The traditional opening of a Norwegian folk tale.
Nine joining words
| English | Norwegian | English | Norwegian |
|---|---|---|---|
| and | ogaw“and” | but | menmen“but” |
| then | såsaw“then” | because | fordifor-DEE“because” |
| now | nånaw“now” | again | igjenee-YEN“again” |
| very | veldigVEL-dee“very” | also | ogsåOS-saw“also” |
| one day | en dagen dahg“one day” |
så, nå and en dag take slot one, so the doing word comes next and the doer after it: Så kom bjørnen.saw kom BYUR-nen“Then the bear came.” After og and men the count restarts: whatever comes next takes slot one. After fordi the doer comes first.
How Norwegian prints speech
“Good day,” said the fox.
«God dag», sa reven.goo dahg, sah RAY-ven
Pointed marks, both opening outward, with the comma outside the closing one. After a quotation the doing word comes before the speaker, as in “said the fox”.
“Why?” asked Mina.
«Hvorfor?» spurte Mina.VOOR-for, SPUUR-tuh MEE-nah
A question mark stays inside, and then no comma is needed.
Open a tale, and hear who spoke
- Det var en gang en liten mus.
The fairy-tale opening.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Det var en gang en liten mus.day vahr en gang en LEE-ten muus“Once upon a time there was a small mouse.” - Så gikk hunden hjem.
Something other than the doer took slot one.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Så gikk hunden hjem.saw yik HUUN-en yem“Then the dog went home.”