In Norwegian, adjectives must always agree with the number and gender of the noun. The plural form of the adjective is the same across all genders. The adjective also has two declensions: indefinite and definite. Unfortunately, there are many irregulars.
Indefinite Form
When using the indefinite form (en/ei/et; i.e. “en bil,” “ei bok,” etc), the adjective does not change when the noun is masculine or feminine gender (en / ei) but gets a -t ending if the noun is neuter (et) and an -e ending in plural in all three genders.
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En stor bil | A big car | Store biler | Big cars |
Fem. | Ei stor hytte | A big cabin | Store hytter | Big cabins |
Neut. | Et stort hus | A big house | Store hus | Big houses |
Most adjectives decline the same way as “stor” does, which there are only 3 forms.
Stor - only used in the indefinite singular form for masc/fem nouns.
Stort - only used in the indefinite neuter singular form
Store - used in all other forms
Definite Form
In the definite form, the adjective almost always takes an -e ending:
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Den store bilen | The big car | De store bilene | The big cars |
Fem. | Den store hytta | The big cabin | De store hyttene | The big cabins |
Neut. | Det store huset | The big house | De store husene | The big houses |
The adjective declines the same as they do in the indefinite, when the adjective is predicative (i.e. after the noun).
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Bilen er stor | The car is big | Bilene er store | The cars are big |
Fem. | Hytta er stor | The cabin is big | Hyttene er store | The cabins are big |
Neut. | Huset er stort | The house is big | Husene er store | The houses are big |
The definite form of the adjective is used in a number of ways in Norwegian:
After the definite article (den/det)
After the demonstrative pronoun (den/denne/dette)
After the possessive pronoun (min/mitt, etc)
After the genitive -s
After første, siste, neste, samme
Certain prepositional phrases
In some cases before a noun without a preceding article, usually when the adjective is part of a proper name or an expression of address.
| Rule | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
After definite article | Den fine bilen. | The pretty car. |
After the demonstrative pronoun | Den / denne fine bilen. | That/this fine car. |
After the possessive pronoun* | Min lille venn | My little friend |
Mitt store eple | My big apple | |
After the genitive -s | Pers nye hatt. | Per’s new hat. |
After første, siste, neste, samme | Neste offentlige møte. | The next public meeting. |
Certain prepositional phrases | Hele dagen | The whole day |
Midt på lyse dagen | In broad daylight | |
Ut av løse luften | Out of thin air | |
Before a noun without a preceding article when the adjective is part of a proper name or an expression of address. | Gamle Norge | Old Norway |
Kjære barn | Dear child |
*Note: exception to this rule: mitt eget hus; min egen bil
Irregular Rules
1. If an adjective has a short stressed vowel followed by a single consonant, the consonant is doubled when the noun is plural, in the indefinite form:
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En tom boks | An empty box | Tomme bokser | Empty boxes |
Fem. | Ei tom hytte | An empty cabin | Tomme hytter | Empty cabins |
Neut. | Et tomt hus | An empty house | Tomme hus | Empty houses |
BUT it is doubled in the definite form in both singular and plural:
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Den tomme boksen | The empty box | De tomme boksene | The empty boxes |
Fem. | Den tomme hytta | The empty cabin | De tomme hyttene | The empty cabins |
Neut. | Det tomme huset | The empty house | De tomme husene | The empty houses |
2. If the adjective ends in an å, it takes a -tt ending if the noun is singular neuter (et), and the -e ending is optional if the noun is plural, in the indefinite form:
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En grå bil | A grey car | Grå(e) biler | Grey cars |
Fem. | Ei grå hytte | A grey cabin | Grå(e) hytter | Grey cabins |
Neut. | Et grått hus | A grey house | Grå(e) hus | Grey houses |
AND it is also optional in the definite form
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Den grå(e) bilen | The grey car | De grå(e) bilene | The grey cars |
Fem. | Den grå(e) hytta | The grey cabin | De grå(e) hyttene | The grey cabins |
Neut. | Det grå(e) huset | The grey house | De grå(e) husene | The grey houses |
3. If the adjective ends in -el, -en, -er, then you drop the “e” that is in the stem before adding an -e at the end if the noun is plural in the indefinite form, and a double consonant will become single:
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En gammel mann | An old man | Gamle menn | Old men |
En åpen dør | An open door | Åpne dører | Open doors | |
Fem. | Ei gammel kvinne | An old woman | Gamle kvinner | Old women |
Ei åpen hytte | An open cabin | Åpne hytter | Open cabins | |
Neut. | Et gammelt hus | An old house | Gamle hus | Old houses |
Et åpent hus | An open house | Åpne hus | Open houses |
BUT In the definite form, the “e” is dropped from the stem, and an -e is added to the end in both singular and plural:
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Den gamle mannen | The old man | De gamle mennene | The old men |
Den åpne døren | The open door | De åpne dørene | The open doors | |
Fem. | Den gamle kvinna | The old woman | De gamle kvinnene | The old women |
Den åpne hytta | The open cabin | De åpne hyttene | The open cabins | |
Neut. | Det gamle huset | The old house | De gamle husene | The old houses |
Det åpne huset | The open house | De åpne husene | The open houses |
4. A double consonant is reduced to a single consonant before the neuter -t in the indefinite form.
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En trygg bil | A safe car | Trygge biler | Safe cars |
Fem. | Ei trygg hytte | A safe cabin | Trygge hytter | Safe cabins |
Neut. | Et trygt hus | A safe house | Trygge hus | Safe houses |
5. Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel usually take a -tt ending in neuter singular in the *indefinite form.
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En ny bil | A new car | Nye biler | New cars |
Fem. | Ei ny hytte | A new cabin | Nye hytter | New cabins |
Neut. | Et nytt hus | A new house | Nye hus | New houses |
*Note: Some exceptions are: bra (good), sky (shy), sjalu (jealous), kry (proud)
BUT Only a single -t is added in neuter form when the adjective ends in a diphthong, in the indefinite form.
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En grei bil | A decent car | Greie biler | Decent cars |
Fem. | Ei grei hytte | A decent cabin | Greie hytter | Decent cabins |
Neut. | Et greit hus | A decent house | Greie hus | Decent houses |
6. And then we have the adjective “little”….which kind of does its own thing.
Indefinite:
Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
Masc. | En liten hund | A little dog | Små hunder | Little dogs |
Fem. | Ei lita jente | A little girl | Små jenter | Little girls |
Neut. | Et lite hus | A little house | Små hus | Little houses |
Definite:
| Gender | Singular | English | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masc. | Den lille hunden | The little dog | De små hundene | The little dogs |
Fem. | Den lille jenta | The little girl | De små jentene | The little girls |
Neut. | Det lille huset | The little house | De små husene | The little houses |
The following adjectives do not inflect for number or gender.
Certain adjectives which end in a stressed vowel.
Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English |
Bra | Good | Slu | Sly | Lilla | Lilac |
Troende | Faithful | Ru* | Rough | Sky* | Shy |
Sjalu* | Jealous | Sta* | Stubborn | Edru* | Sober |
*Note: In the ordbok, the -e ending is optional for these words.
Ex: Den edru(e) mannen The sober man
Et bra bilde A good picture
Eslene er sta(e) The mules are stubborn
Adjectives which end in an unstressed -e.
Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English |
Øde | Deserted | Sovende | Sleeping | Bedre* | Better |
Stille | Quiet | Syngende | Singing | Penere* | Prettier |
Steinete | Stony | Gående | Walking | Mindre* | Smaller |
*Note: These words are comparatives; most (if not all) comparatives end in an unstressed -e and therefore do not inflect.
Ex: Et øde område a deserted area
Et sovende barn a sleeping child
Mannen var stille the man was quiet
Some adjectives ending in -s.
Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English | Norwegian | English |
Stakkars | Poor | Gratis | Free | Nymotens | Newfangled |
Avsides | Remote | Felles | Mutual | Forgjeves | In vain |
Innvortes | Internal |
Ex: Stakkars folk! poor people
Et gratis måltid a free meal
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Resources:
Exercise 1: Fill in the blank
Copy/Paste into a separate document before answering.
En (grå) ___________ elefant spiste eplet.
Den (rask) __________ kvinnen løper mye.
Det (gammel) __________ huset er (stygg) ______.
De (brun) _______ kattene dine er (søt) ______.
De (ung) ________ hundene jager hverandre.
Bryllupet var (vakker) __________.
(Rød) _____ epler smaker bedre enn (grønn) _______ epler.
Min (stakkars) _______ kone er syk igjen.
Jeg fant et (trygg) ______ skjulested.
Det (dum) ______ barnet hadde på seg en (stor) _______ hatt.
Hannibal lager (fantastisk) __________ måltider.
Exercise 2: Write 5 sentences
One indef. singular
One def. singular
One plural
And at least 2 sentences with irregulars