Adverbs are used to modify adjectives, verbs, clauses and other adverbs. This lesson explains the many uses of adverbs and how to use them in sentences.

Grammar Review

Sentence structure

While most Norwegian sentences use the subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, like English does, Norwegian does have the V2 (verb second) rule. If an adverbial phrase or subordinate clause is at the front of the sentence, the subject and the verb have to switch places (this is called “inversion”) so that the verb stays in the second position.

	Eksempel	English
SVO	Markus besøkte moren sin i går.	Markus visited his mother yesterday.
SVO	Nora hadde på seg en genser siden det var kaldt.	Nora wore a sweater since it was cold.
V2	I går besøkte Markus moren sin.	Yesterday, Markus visited his mother.
V2	Siden det var kaldt, hadde Nora på seg en genser.	Since it was cold, Nora wore a sweater.

If a sentence has more than one verb, the second verb will be in a nonfinite form (e.g. å finne). If the sentence has inversion, then the subject will come between the finite (i.e. conjugated) verb and the nonfinite verb.

	Eksempel	English
SVO	Oliver begynte å jobbe i en ny jobb i går.	Oliver began working at a new job yesterday.
SVO	Ella prøvde å lære spansk siden kjæresten hennes var fra Spania.	Ella tried to learn Spanish since her boyfriend was from Spain.
V2	I går begynte Oliver å jobbe i en ny jobb.	Yesterday, Oliver began working at a new job.
V2	Siden Ellas kjæreste var fra Spania, prøvde hun å lære spansk.	Since Ella’s boyfriend is from Spain, she tried to Learn Spanish.

Verb Conjugation

Conjugating present tense of verbs in Norwegian is fairly simple. Most present tense verbs just add an -r to the end of the infinitive.

Infinitive	Present	English	Infinitive	Present	English
Å tegne	Tegner	Draws / Drawing	Å spille	Spiller	Plays / Playing
Å besøke	Besøker	Visits / Visiting	Å snakke	Snakker	Talks / Talking

There are some exceptions / irregulars:

Infinitive	Present	English	Infinitive	Present	English
Å kunne	Kan	To be able to	Å måtte	Må	To have to
Å skulle	Skal	To have to; to be going to	Å ville	Vil	To want
Å være	Er	To be	Å vite	Vet	To know

Past tense conjugation is a bit more difficult, however there are some guidelines (but keep in mind there are exceptions).

If the verb ends with a double consonant, consonant cluster, or voiced plosive (b / d), past tense will end in -et.
If the verb ends in a single consonant (except v / b / d), past tense ends in -te.
If the verb ends with v or diphthong, the past tense ends in -de.
If the verb has only one syllable with a long vowel, past tense ends in -dde.

Rule Number	Infinitive	Past Tense	English
1	Å snakke	Snakket	Talked
1	Å ønske	Ønsket	Wished
2	Å lære	Lærte	Learned
2	Å kjøpe	Kjøpte	Bought
3	Å leve	Levde	Lived
3	Å pleie	Pleide	Used
4	Å bo	Bodde	Lived

For future tense, typically the present tense verb is used with a time adverbial to clarify it is a future action. (Note: There are ways to form future sentences using modals; that is covered in a more in-depth lesson).

Eksempel	English
Sofie kjører til Oslo i morgen.	Sofie is driving to Oslo tomorrow.
Filmen kommer ut neste uke.	The film comes out next week.

Adjective Basics

	Singular Indefinite		Plural Indefinite
	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Masculine	En rød genser	A red sweater	Røde gensere	Red sweaters
Masculine	En svart ravn	A black raven	Svarte ravner	Black ravens
Feminine	Ei rød vogn	A red wagon	Røde vogner	Red wagons
Feminine	Ei svart kråke	A black crow	Svarte kråker	Black crows
Neuter	Et rødt skjerf	A red scarf	Røde skjerf	Red scarves
Neuter	Et svart ekorn	A black squirrel	Svarte ekorn	Black squirrels

When the noun is in the definite form, the adjective takes an -e ending (like in the plural indefinite above).

	Singular Definite		Plural Definite
	Norwegian	English	Norwegian	English
Masculine	Den røde genseren	The red sweater	De røde genserne	The red sweaters
Masculine	Denne svarte ravnen	This black raven	Disse svarte ravnene	These black ravens
Feminine	Den røde vogna	The red wagon	De røde vognene	The red wagons
Feminine	Denne svarte kråka	This black crow	Disse svarte kråkene	These black crows
Neuter	Det røde skjerfet	The red scarf	De røde skjerfa	The red scarves
Neuter	Dette svarte ekornet	This black squirrel	Disse svarte ekornene	These black squirrels

Adverbs

Adverbs are used to either modify, amplify, or diminish.

Modify
They can be used to modify either a verb, adjective, a clause, or another adverb.

What it modifies	Example sentence	Adverb	What it is modifying	English
Verb	Faren min løper fort.	fort	løper	My father runs fast.
Adjective	Emilie er ekstremt smart.	ekstremt	smart	Emilie is extremely smart.
A clause	Filip arbeider ofte sent.	ofte	arbeider sent	Filip often works late.
Adverb	Hun løper utrolig fort.	utrolig	fort	She runs incredibly fast.

Amplify
Adverbs that amplify, strengthen the meaning of an adjective or another adverb. Many adverbs that are derived from adjectives act as amplifiers.

Adverb	English	Example sentence	What it is amplifying	English
Helt	Entirely, completely	Koppen er helt full.	full	The cup is entirely full
Mye	Very; much	Maja tegner mye bedre enn meg.	bedre	Maja draws much better than me.
Altfor	Far too	Jeg har bodd her altfor lenge.	lenge	I have lived here for far too long.
Fryktelig	Dreadfully; terribly	Det var en fryktelig kjedelig film.	kjedelig	It was a dreadfully boring film.

Diminish
Adverbs that diminish, lessen or weaken the meaning of an adjective or another adverb.

Adverb	English	Example sentence	What it is diminishing	English
Litt	A little	Kan du snakke litt tregere?	tregere	Can you speak a little slower?
Nok	Enough	Har du nok mat å spise?	mat	Do you have enough food to eat?
Nesten	Almost	Han vant nesten konkurransen.	vant	He almost won the competition.

Adverbs describe how often the action (being described) occurred and the speaker’s attitude about what is being said.

	Example	Adverb	English
Manner	Tor løper fort.	fort	Tor runs fast.
Time	Tor løper ofte.	ofte	Tor runs often.
Place	Tor løper ute.	ute	Tor runs outside.
Degree	Tor løper svært fort.	svært	Tor runs very fast.

Sentence adverbs express a condition that is related to the entire sentence.

Example	Adverb	English
Jeg skal ikke lese i dag.	ikke	I will not read today
Jeg skal kanskje lese i dag.	kanskje	I will maybe read today.
Jeg må dessverre lese i dag.	dessverre	I have to read today, unfortunately.
Jeg vil gjerne lese i dag.	gjerne	I would like to read today.
Jeg skal sannsynligvis lese i dag.	sannsynligvis	I probably will read today.

Types of Adverbs

There are two major types of adverbs: Simple adverbs and adverbs that are derived from other words.

Simple Adverbs:

Adverb	English	Adverb	English
Alltid	Always	Da	When; then; as
Aldri	Never	Ellers	Otherwise
Der	There	Ikke	Not
Her	Here	Kanskje	Perhaps
Bare	Only	Litt	A little; somewhat
Mye	Very; much	Nok	Enough; probably
Nesten	Almost	Nå	Now
Ofte	Often	Akkurat	Exactly
Sikkert	Probably; surely	Egentlig	Really
Også	Also	Altså	Therefore
Sannelig	Certainly	Imidlertid	However
Sjelden	Rarely	Ennå	Yet
Nettopp	Just	Nylig	Recently
Neppe	Hardly	Nær	Near; close
Slik	So	Hvorledes	In what way (rarely used)

Adverbs derived from other words

Many adverbs are derived from adjectives by adding a -t to the singular form. In many cases, this means it is identical to the neuter gender singular form of the adjective.

	Norwegian	English	Example	English
Adverb	Vakkert	Beautifully	Moren min synger vakkert.	My mom sings beautifully.
Adjective	Vakkert	Beautiful	Språket er vakkert.	The language is beautiful.
Adverb	Godt	Well	Kattene leker godt sammen.	The cats play well together.
Adjective	Godt	Well, good	Sønnen min er et godt barn.	My son is a good child.
Adverb	Høyt	Loudly	Hun skrek høyt.	She screams loudly.
Adjective	Høyt	Loud	Hun ga et høyt skrik.	She gave a loud shriek.
Adverb	Langt	Far	Vennen min bor langt unna.	My friend lives far away.
Adjective	Langt	Long	Han hadde et langt tau.	He had a long rope.

NOTE: If an adjective does not take a -t ending in the indefinite neuter gender singular form, then it will not take a -t ending when it is used as an adverb.

	Eksempel	English
Adjective	Det er et billig leketøy.	It is a cheap toy
Adverb	Produktet var billig laget.	The product was cheaply made.

Some adverbs can be used to make comparisons.

Basic	English	Comparison	Superlative
Fort	Fast	Fortere	Fortest
Pent	Pretty	Penere	Penest
Sakte	Slow	Saktere	Saktest
Ofte	Often	Oftere	Oftest
Stygt	Ugly	Styggere	Styggest
Sjeldent	Rare	Sjeldnere	Sjeldnest
Høyt	High	Høyere	Høyest

There are some adverbs that are irregular when making comparisons:

Basic	English	Comparison	Superlative
Bra	Good	Bedre	Best
Dårlig	Bad	Verre	Verst
Mye	Much	Mer	Mest
Lite	Little	Mindre	Minst

Location and Motion Towards

Among those adverbs that denote place, there are some that have two distinct but parallel forms:

The base form (without -e): used to indicate motion (whether actual, imagined, or implied) towards a place.
The expanded form (with -e): used to indicate location, rest, or movement within a location or area.

Motion Towards	English	Location	English
Inn	Inside; in	Inne	In; inside; indoors
Ut	Out; outside	Ute	Out; outside; outdoors
Opp	Up; upstairs	Oppe	Upstairs
Ned	Down; downstairs	Nede	Downstairs
Bort	Away	Borte	Away
Hjem	Home(ward)	Hjemme	(at) home
Frem	Forward	Fremme	At the destination

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

	Example	Adverb	English
Motion towards	Han vil gå hjem i morgen.	hjem	He will go home tomorrow.
Motion towards	Han klatret opp i et tre.	opp	He climbed up into a tree.
Location	Han er ikke hjemme i dag.	hjemme	He is not home today.
Location	Fuglene sitter oppe i treet.	oppe	The birds are sitting up in the tree.

Adding Adverbs

When adding adverbs to a sentence, such as “ikke,” word order becomes a little more tricky.

If the adverb is in the main clause:

SVO - The adverb is placed after the finite (i.e. conjugated) verb.
V2 - The adverb is placed after the subject.

	Eksempel	English
SVO	Jeg kjøpte ikke en frakk i dag.	I did not buy a coat today.
V2	I dag kjøpte jeg ikke en frakk.	Today, I did not buy a coat.

If the adverb is in the subordinate clause, the adverb comes before the finite verb, regardless of whether there is inversion.

	Eksempel	English
SVO	Jeg kjøpte en frakk, siden den ikke var dyr.	I bought a coat since it was not expensive.
V2	Siden den ikke var dyr, kjøpte jeg frakken.	Since it was not expensive, I bought the coat.

If the sentence contains a compound verb (i.e. har brukt; har besøkt, etc),

SVO - The adverb comes after the finite verb in the compound.
V2 - The subject comes after the finite verb of the compound, followed by the adverb, then the second verb in the compound.

	Eksempel	English
SVO	Jeg har ikke brukt den nye frakken min ennå.	I have not used my new coat yet.
V2	Siden det var deilig ute, hadde jeg ikke tatt med meg frakken min.	Since it was nice outside, I had not brought my coat (with me).

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Resources:

Exercise: Write 3 sentences with simple adverbs and 2 sentences with adverbs derived from adjectives (found on pg 7).