ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Norwegian Adjectives</title> <meta name="description" content="Norwegian Grammar. Adjectives"> <link href="http://www.linguata.com/styles/newstyle.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.linguata.com/lightbox/lightbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.linguata.com/lightbox/lightbox.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="header"> <a href="http://www.linguata.com"> <img src="http://www.linguata.com/images/logo.gif" title="Linguata language learning software" border="0" /></a></div> <div id="menuarea"> <div id="menu"> <a href="http://www.linguata.com">Home</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/Languages.html">Languages</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/Ordering.html?language=none">Buy</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/learnnorwegian.html">Learn Norwegian</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/About_Us.html">About</a> </div> </div> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="content"> <div id="threetier" align="center"> </div> <div id="maincentred"> <p> <!- All text goes under here -!> <h1>Adjectives</h1> <BR><BR> <p>Adjectives tell us about the nouns or pronouns with which they are associated. In Norwegian <b>adjectives add  e in the plural</b> and in <b>the definite singular</b>. This applies whether the noun they qualify is masculine, feminine or neuter. </p> In the <b>indefinite singular  t is added when the noun is neuter</b>. Otherwise the adjective retains its basic form. The following table shows this common pattern in action: <BR><BR> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="359">SINGULAR</td><td width="365">PLURAL</td> </tr> </center> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="80"><b>Indefinite</b></td> <td width="80"><b></b></td><td width="80"><b>Definite</b></td><td width="80"><b></b></td> <td width="80"><b>Indefinite</b></td> <td width="80"><b></b></td><td width="80"><b>Definite</b></td><td width="80"><b></b></td> </tr> <td><i>en dyr bil</i></td> <td>an expensive car</td><td><i><b>den</b> dyr<b>e</b> bilen</i></td><td>the expensive car</td> <td><i>dyr<b>e</b> biler</i></td> <td>expensive cars</td><td><i><b>de </b>dyr<b>e </b>bilene</i></td><td>the expensive cars</td> </tr> <td><i>ei god kone</i></td> <td>a good wife</td><td><i><b>den</b> god<b>e</b> kone</i></td><td>the good wife</td> <td><i>god<b>e</b> koner</i></td> <td>good wives</td><td><i><b>de</b> god<b>e</b> konene</i></td><td>the good wives</td> </tr> <td><i>et stor<b>t </b>hus</i></td> <td>a big house</td><td><i><b>det</b> stor<b>e</b> huset</i></td><td>the big house</td> <td><i>stor<b>e</b> hus</i></td> <td>big houses</td><td><i><b>de </b>stor<b>e</b> husene/ husa</i></td><td>the big houses</td> </tr> </table> </center> <BR><BR> <dl> <b>Note:</b> <br/> <dd>1. When an adjective is applied to a definite noun it has to be preceded by a definite article and suffixed with an <i> e</i>. In the table above <i>dyr +bilen </i>becomes <i>den dyre bilen </i>(stem <i>dyr+e</i>). This is referred to as a  double definite . <br/><br/><small>(The definite articles - <i>den </i>(m/f singular), <i>det</i> (neut. sing.) and <i>de </i>(m/f/n plural) - are also used as the demonstratives  that ,  those ).</small> <br/><br/> <dd>2. Singular indefinite adjectives are unchanged, i.e. stem forms, except for the neuter which usually adds a <i> t.</i><br/><br/> <dd>3. In other situations, i.e. where adjectives precede plural nouns or singular definite nouns, <i>-e </i>is added to the stem.<br/><br/> <dd>4. Naturally there are exceptions to the above guidelines. Some of the commoner ones are: <small> <ul> <li>a) Adjectives ending in <i> ig</i>, <i> lig </i>and <i> sk </i>do not add <i> t </i>in the neuter singular( except for a very few monosyllables ending in <i> sk</i> such as <i>fersk</i> 'fresh' and <i>falsk</i> 'false'. <li>b) Adjectives such as <i>moderne </i>'modern' which already end in <i> e </i>do not modify. <li>c) Some monosyllabic adjectives ending in a stressed vowel e.g. <i>blå </i>'blue', <i>grå </i>'grey' take a double <i> t </i>in the neuter singular - <i>blått, grått</i> - but do not change in the plural. Others, like <i>ny </i>'new', follow this pattern but do add <i> e </i>in the plural '<i>nytt, nye</i>'. <li>d)<i> Bra </i>'good' does not change. <li>e) <i> Liten </i>'little' is irregular: <i>liten lita lite </i>(m/f/n indefinite sing.) <i>lille </i>(m/f/n definite sing.) <i>små </i>(definite and indefinite plural): <table border="0"> <td width="100"><i>en litten gutt</i></td> <td width="100">a little boy</td><td width="100"><i>ei lita jente</i></td><td width="100"> a little girl</td> <td width="100"><i>et lite barn</i></td> <td width="100">a little child</td><td width="100"><i>mange små gutter, jenter og barn</i></td><td width="100">many little boys, girls and children</td> </table> </small> </ul> <br/> </dl> <h1>Adjectives Formed from Verb Parts</h1> <b>Present Participles</b> <br/><br> These are formed by adding <i> ende</i> to the verb stem: <small><br/><br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>å følge: den følg<b>ende</b> dag </i> (the following day). <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>å sjokkere: sjokker<b>ende</b> nyheter</i> (shocking news). <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i> å imponere: det er imponer<b>ende</b> utsikt fra viduene mine </i> (that is an impressive (lit. impressing) view from my window). </small> <br><br> Present participles can also be used as nouns (and adverbs  see next article): <small> <br/><br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Den rette vedkommende </i> the person concerned (from <i>å vedkomme </i> to concern; <i>rett </i>- right) <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Nynorsktalende </i> Nynorsk speakers (from <i>å tale </i> to speak) </small> <br><br/><b>Past Participles</b> <br><br> These are usually formed by adding <i> et, -t </i>or <i> d</i> to the verb stem*. They agree with the nouns they apply to, i.e. adding <i> e</i> in the definite singular and plural: <small> <br/> <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>en bortkastet bil </i> an abandoned car; <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>et bortkastet hefte </i> a thrown-away notebook; <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>mange bortkastete timer </i> many wasted hours. <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(from <i>å kaste </i>to throw + <i>bort </i>away, off) </small> <br><br> The <i> t </i> may be replaced by <i> d</i> in  weak (regular) forms ending in <i> et</i>: <br/><small>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>mange bortkastede timer</i>; <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>undertegnede </i> the undersigned (from <i>å undertegne </i>to sign) </small> <br><br> With  strong or irregular verbs, past participles ending in <i> et </i>change to <i> ne </i>in the definite and plural when preceding a noun, but retain the <i> et</i> form when they are separated from the noun by a verb: <br/><br/><small>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>de velskrevne bøkene</i>  the well-written books. <br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>de bøkene er velskrevet </i> the books are well-written. </small> <br><br> <small>* See http://www.linguata.com/norwegian/norwegian-verbs.html for examples of past participle formation.</small> <br/><br/> <small><h3>References and Recommended Reading</h3></small> <small>Wikipedia- <i>The Norwegian Language</i> at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language <br/>Louis Janus, <i>Norwegian: Verbs and Essentials of Grammar </i>(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998) <br/>Herbert Svenkerud, <i>Engelsk-Norsk Norsk-Engelsk Ordbok</i> (Oslo: J.W.Cappelens Forlag, 1990)</small> <br><br><br><br> <h2>Related languages</h2> <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/Learn_Danish_Phrases.html">Danish</a>, <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/Learn_Swedish.html">Swedish</a> <BR><BR> <!- No more text goes under here -!> </p> </div> </div> <img src="http://www.linguata.com/images/contentbottom.gif" /><br /> <div id="footer"> <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/words_and_phrases.html" title="Words and phrases in different languages" >WORDS AND PHRASES</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/language_faqs.html" title="Questions and answers on different languages">LANGUAGE FAQS</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/articles/language-learning.html" title="A reference to many world languages" >DICTIONARY OF LANGUAGES</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/articles/pronunciation.html" title="An introduction to the pronunciation of many languages" >PRONUNCIATION</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/articles/general-articles-on-language.html" title="Articles on language and language learning" >ARTICLES</a> | <a href="http://www.linguata.com/articles/history-of-languages.html" title="A brief history on the development of languages" >HISTORY</a>| <a href="http://www.linguata.com/linguata/search.html" title="Search this site" >SEARCH</a> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cetrk.com/pages/scripts/0005/1332.js"> </script> </body> </html>