6 Grammar

6 Grammar

DEMONSTRATIVES

Demonstratives specify objects as well as distance to the objects.

  • Denne and den is used with singular masculine and feminine nouns. 
  • Dette and det is used with singular neuter nouns. 
  • Disse and de is used with plural nouns. 

Note that the nouns following the demonstratives take the definite form: denne bilen etc.

  Close  Remote 
Masculine  denne koppen  this cup  den koppen  that cup 
Feminine  denne døra  this door  den døra  that door 
Neuter  dette glasset  this glass  det glasset  that glass 
Plural  disse koppene  these cups  de koppene  those cups 

VERBS

Infinitive

In Chapter 2 we learnt about the infinitive marker å:

Hyggelig å hilse på deg.  Nice to meet you.  
Dina begynner å bli trøtt.  Dina is beginning to get tired.  


In addition, some expressions with prepositions are followed by å + infinitive:

for å  in order to  Dina går til disken for å bestille. 
å ha lyst til  want/would like to  Dina har lyst til å kjøpe klær. 


Auxiliary verbs without main verb (expressions of motion)

The infinitive marker å is not used after auxiliary verbs (see Chapter 3).

When an auxiliary verb is followed by an expression of motion, the main verb can be left out. It is common to do so when the main verb is gå (walk), dra (go) or reise (travel):

Hun skal reise til Paris   →  Hun skal til Paris.  She is going to Paris.  
Nå må de gå tilbake.   →  Nå må de tilbake.  Now, they must go back.  

ADJECTIVES

In Chapter 5 we learnt the main pattern for adjectives: Most adjectives end in -t in the neuter and -e in the plural.

Attributive form

Singular  Plural 
Masculine  Feminine  Neuter 
en brun stol  ei brun seng  et brunt bord  brune stoler/senger/bord 
a brown chair  a brown bed  a brown table  brown chairs/beds/tables 


Predicative form

Singular  Plural 
Masculine  Feminine  Neuter   
Stolen er brun  Senga er brun  Bordet er brunt  Stolene/sengene/bordene er brune 
The chair is brown  The bed is brown  The table is brown  The chairs/beds/tables are brown 


There are however some other patterns for adjectives as well:

Other patterns

Masculine  Feminine  Neuter  Plural 
en ny kjole  ei ny lue  et nytt bord  nye klær 
One-syllable adjectives ending in a stressed vowel take -tt in the neuter (ny - new).
en billig kjole  ei billig lue  et billig bord  billige klær 
Adjectives ending in -ig take no –t in the neuter (billig - cheap).
en tysk kjole  ei tysk lue  et tysk bord  tyske klær 
Adjectives denoting nationalities ending in -sk take no -t in the neuter (tysk - German).
en praktisk kjole  ei praktisk lue  et praktisk bord  praktiske klær 
Foreign adjectives ending in -isk take no -t in the neuter (praktisk - practical).
en moderne kjole  ei moderne lue  et moderne bord  moderne klær 
Adjectives ending in -e take no -t in the neuter (moderne - modern).
en grønn kjole  ei grønn lue  et grønt bord  grønne klær 
Most adjectives with a double consonant drop one consonant before -t (grønn - green).


Liten og annen

Liten (small) and annen (other) are irregular adjectives:

Attributive form

Singular  Plural 
Masculine  Feminine  Neuter 
en liten bil  ei lita bok  et lite bord  små biler/bøker/bord 
a small car  a small book  a small table  small cars/books/tables 
en annen bil  ei anna bok  et annet bord  andre biler/bøker/bord 
another car  another book  another table  other cars/books/tables 


Predicative form

Singular  Plural 
Masculine  Feminine  Neuter 
Bilen er liten  Boka er lita  Bordet er lite  Bilene/bøkene/bordene er små 
The car is small  The book is small  The table is small  The cars/tables/scarves are small 


Annen (other) is not used in predicative form.