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

Verbs and stories

3 sections

The verbs a story runs on, now and then

≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

A Norwegian verb has one form for everybody — no endings for I, you, he or they, ever.
In the present, most verbs end in -r; a few very common ones do not.
Books narrate in the one-word past: var, gikk, komvahr, yik, kom.
Ordinary verbs make that past with -et or -te; the common old ones change their vowel.
Four helper words — kan, vil, må, skalkan, vil, maw, skahl — put a second verb behind them with no åaw.
A bare verb on its own is an order: Kom!kom“Come!”

A handful of doing words carry a whole fable, and Norwegian gives them nearly free: a verb never changes for who is doing it. Jeg seryay sair“I see”, de serdee sair“they see”.

The story verbs, now and then

Now	Then
sierSEE-er“says”	sasah“said”
spørspurr“asks”	spurteSPUUR-tuh“asked”
svarerSVAH-rer“answers”	svarteSVAR-tuh“answered”
sersair“sees”	såsaw“saw”
erair“is”	varvahr“was”
gårgawr“goes”	gikkyik“went”
kommerKOM-mer“comes”	komkom“came”
fallerFAL-ler“falls”	faltfalt“fell”
løperLUR-per“runs”	løplurp“ran”
sitterSIT-ter“sits”	sattsat“sat”
heterHAY-ter“is called”	hethayt“was called”

Cover the right column and guess. Watch såsaw: it is “saw”, and also “then” at the start of a line.

Two kinds of past, told apart at a glance

å snakkeaw SNAK-kuh“to speak”

snakketSNAK-kuh“spoke”

On an ordinary doing word, -et or -te means the past — å høreaw HUR-uh“to hear” gives hørteHUR-tuh“heard”.

å kommeaw KOM-muh“to come”

komkom“came”

The common old verbs change their vowel and add nothing, as English does in “sing” and “sang”.

The four helper words, and the verb behind them

English	Norwegian
can	kankan“can”
will, want to	vilvil“wants to”
must, have to	måmaw“must”
shall, is going to	skalskahl“shall”

A helper takes slot two, and the second verb follows it bare, with no åaw: Jeg kan se reven.yay kan say RAY-ven“I can see the fox.” Alone it is å seaw say“to see”. Strip the ending off and you have an order, with no doer: Kom!kom“Come!”

Now, then, and who is doing it

Reven så fuglen.
The past of “sees”.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Reven så fuglen.RAY-ven saw FUU-len“The fox saw the bird.”
Vi kan gå til skogen.
A helper, then a bare verb.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Vi kan gå til skogen.vee kan gaw til SKOO-gen“We can go to the forest.”