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
Words
2 sections9
The words a fable is made of
≈ 4 min
What you'll learn
- Sixteen naming words — the cast and the scenery — furnish nearly every scene in the first book.
- Eight describing words cover the rest, and sit in front of the noun as in English.
- A describing word adds -t in front of an et word and -e once the thing is definite.
- Five small words place everything.
The cast and the scenery — a fable without a fox is not a fable
| en hunden huun“a dog” · en fuglen fuul“a bird” |
| en reven rayv“a fox” · en musen muus“a mouse” · en bjørnen byurn“a bear” |
| en kaninen kah-NEEN“a rabbit” · en ulven uulv“a wolf” · en sauen sa-uu“a sheep” |
| en skogen skoog“a forest” · et treet tray“a tree” · et huset huus“a house” |
| en veien vay“a road” · en solen sool“a sun” · en vinden vin“a wind” |
| en dagen dahg“a day” · en vennen ven“a friend” |
Put the endings on and they are what a story prints: revenRAY-ven“the fox”.
Eight describing words, and five small words that place everything
| storstoor“big” · litenLEE-ten“small” · gammelGAM-mel“old” · nynew“new” |
| godgoo“good” · gladglah“happy” · tristtrist“sad” · snillsnil“kind” |
| iee“in” · påpaw“on” · tiltil“to” · frafrah“from” · medmay“with” |
Nothing changes behind the five placing words — no endings, no extra pieces: i skogenee SKOO-gen“in the forest”. Norwegian says på where English sometimes says “in”, so take each phrase whole.
The same describing word, three coats
en stor hunden stoor huun“a big dog”
et stort huset stoort huus“a big house”
In front of an et word it adds -t.
et stort hus
det store husetday STOO-ruh HUU-suh“the big house”
Once the thing is “the”, a small word joins in front and the describing word takes -e. Read past both.
litenLEE-ten“small”
et lite treet LEE-tuh tray“a small tree” · småsmaw“small — plural”
“Small” is the one that changes its whole body. Learn its shapes as separate words.
This and that — the pointing words, and the noun keeps its ending
| English | an en thing | an et thing |
|---|---|---|
| this | denne revenDEN-nuh RAY-ven“this fox” | dette treetDET-tuh TRAY-uh“this tree” |
| that | den revenden RAY-ven“that fox” | det treetday TRAY-uh“that tree” |
“These” is disseDIS-suh. “That” is the same den and det as in det store huset — “the big house” or “that big house”, the story decides.
Read the phrase, then say what it pictures
- den gamle ulven
A definite thing, so -e — and “old” loses a letter as it takes it.
Show answer +Hide answer −
den gamle ulvenden GAM-luh UUL-ven“the old wolf” - et stort tre i skogen
Show answer +Hide answer −
et stort tre i skogenet stoort tray ee SKOO-gen“a big tree in the forest”