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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
8

“The” is an ending, and “my” comes after the thing

≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
  • Two words for “a”: enen and etet — and each naming word keeps the one it has.
  • There is no separate word for “the”. It is stuck on the end of the noun.
  • The ending matches the “a” word: en gutten guut → guttenGUUT-ten.
  • Norwegian puts “my” and “his” after the thing, and the thing keeps its “the” ending.

English says “a house”, “the house”. Norwegian says “a house”, house-the — “the” is a syllable glued to the end. No rule decides which noun takes which little word: store it glued on, the way Norwegian children do.

The two little words, and the ending each one turns into

A …… the
en gutten guut“a boy”guttenGUUT-ten“the boy”
en jenteen YEN-tuh“a girl”jentenYEN-ten“the girl”
et huset huus“a house”husetHUU-suh“the house”

en words take -en, et words take -et, whose t is silent. Most nouns are en words, so guess en when in doubt.

Where “my” goes

my house
huset mittHUU-suh mit“my house”
The owner word comes after the thing, and the thing keeps its “the” ending — word for word, “house-the my”. This is the ordinary order.
minmeen · mittmit
musen minMUU-sen meen“my mouse” · huset mittHUU-suh mit
“My” wears the coat of the little word the noun owns: min for an en word, mitt for an et one. din, dittdeen, dit“your” match it, while hanshans“his” and hennesHEN-nes“her” never change: treet hansTRAY-uh hans“his tree”.
Mina’s house
Minas husMEE-nahs huus“Mina’s house” · revens haleRAY-vens HAH-luh“the fox’s tail”
A named owner goes in front with -s and no apostrophe, and the thing owned drops its “the” ending.

Peel the ending, then place the owner

  1. skogen

    Take off the last two letters.

    Show answer +
    skogenSKOO-gen“the forest”
  2. How would a Norwegian ordinarily say “my tree”?

    tre is an et word.

    Show answer +
    treet mittTRAY-uh mit“my tree” — the thing first, keeping its ending.
  3. jenten og musen
    Show answer +
    jenten og musenYEN-ten aw MUU-sen“the girl and the mouse”