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

Verb lookup: the shapes, the two-word past, and orders

Optional lookup · ≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

Open this when a verb shape blocks you; neither reading needs it.
A Norwegian verb has five shapes in total, and one of them serves every person.
The two-word past with harhahr is common in speech and letters; fables mostly use the one-word past.
An order is the bare stem, with no ending and no doer.
A verb ending in -s is usually the passive: something is done to the thing, by nobody named.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Both readings use only the shapes the main path already gave you. Open this when a verb will not resolve, and then go back to reading.

The five shapes of one ordinary verb

Shape	Norwegian	Where you meet it
the bare stem	snakksnak	orders: “speak!”
with “to”	å snakkeaw SNAK-kuh“to speak”	after another verb, and in dictionaries
now	snakkerSNAK-ker“speaks”	every person, always the same
then	snakketSNAK-kuh“spoke”	the one-word past a story is printed in
with harhahr	har snakkethahr SNAK-kuh“has spoken”	the two-word past

The -et verbs use one shape for the last two rows, so snakketSNAK-kuh does double duty. The -te verbs and the old ones do not: hørteHUR-tuh“heard” against har hørthahr hurt“has heard”, komkom“came” against har kommethahr KOM-muh“has come”.

I saw the fox.

Jeg har sett reven.

yay hahr set RAY-ven

Two words, and it is the past Norwegians reach for in conversation. It means very nearly what Jeg så reven.yay saw RAY-ven means. It is simply not what a printed fable uses, which is why the main path teaches the one-word past. The second word carries the meaning.

More past forms, for looking up

English	Norwegian	English	Norwegian
got	fikkfik“got”	became	bleblay“became”
found	fantfant“found”	gave	gagah“gave”
flew	fløyfloy“flew”	stood	stostoo“stood”
ate	spisteSPIS-tuh“ate”	drank	drakkdrak“drank”
slept	sovsawv“slept”	knew	vissteVIS-tuh“knew”
took	toktook“took”	lived	boddeBOOD-duh“lived”

Orders, and the -s that means nobody is named

å kommeaw KOM-muh“to come”

Kom!kom“Come!”

An order is the bare stem: no ending, no doer, exactly as in English.

å seaw say“to see”

Se på meg!say paw may“Look at me!”

se påsay paw together is “look at”. Norwegian pairs verbs with small words the way English does with “look up” and “run away”.

Boken selges.BOO-ken SEL-ges

“The book is sold.”

An -s stuck on a verb takes the doer out of the picture. You only have to recognise it; a fable barely uses it.