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 Nouns and Articles</title> <meta name="description" content="Norwegian nouns and articles."> <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>Norwegian Nouns and Articles</h1> <BR><BR> <p><b>Nouns</b>, the names of things, can alter words linked with them, in particular words such as verbs and adjectives that provide information about them. Such changes vary between different languages. In Norwegian the main changes reflect the noun s gender, its number and its  particularity .</p> <p><b>Gender</b>: Norwegian nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Over half of all nouns are masculine, less than a quarter are feminine and the rest are neuter. Feminine nouns have a curious status: in most cases (there are a few exceptions  see below for some examples) they can be treated as masculine according to the inclination of the speaker.</p> <p><b>Number</b>: Most nouns have a singular and a plural form, depending whether or not the noun refers to one or more than one item.</p> <p><b> Particularity </b>: A noun has  particularity if it is singled out in some way, in which case it takes the <b>definite</b> form, indicated by  the in English and a suffix in Norwegian. If it is not singled out it takes the indefinite form, signalled in English in the singular by the <b>indefinite</b> article,  a or  an , and <i>en ei</i> or <i>et </i>in Norwegian.</p> <BR><BR> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="682"<b>MASCULINE &nbsp;(<i>-en </i> Nouns)</b></td> </tr> </center> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="338">SINGULAR</td><td width="338">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 bil</i></td> <td>a car</td><td><i>bilen</i></td><td>the car</td> <td><i>biler</i></td> <td>cars</td><td><i>bilene</i></td><td>the cars</td> </tr> <td><i>en stol</i></td> <td>a chair</td><td><i>stolen</i></td><td>the chair</td> <td><i>stoler</i></td> <td>chairs</td><td><i>stolene</i></td><td>the chairs</td> </tr> <td><i>en vei</i></td> <td>a road</td><td><i>veien</i></td><td>the road</td> <td><i>veier</i></td> <td>roads</td><td><i>veiene</i></td><td>the roads</td> </tr> </table> </center> <BR><BR> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="682"<b>FEMININE &nbsp;(<i>-ei</i> Nouns)</b></td> </tr> </center> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="338">SINGULAR</td><td width="338">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>ei klokke</i></td> <td>a clock</td><td><i>klokka</i></td><td>the clock</td> <td><i>klokker</i></td> <td>clocks</td><td><i>klokkene</i></td><td>the clocks</td> </tr> <td><i>ei kone</i></td> <td>a wife</td><td><i>kona</i></td><td>the wife</td> <td><i>koner</i></td> <td>wives</td><td><i>konene</i></td><td>the wives</td> </tr> <td><i>ei tante</i></td> <td>an aunt</td><td><i>tanta</i></td><td>the aunt</td> <td><i>tanter</i></td> <td>aunts</td><td><i>tantene</i></td><td>the aunts</td> </tr> <td><i>*ei jente</i></td> <td>a girl</td><td><i>jenta</i></td><td>the girl</td> <td><i>jenter</i></td> <td>girls</td><td><i>jentene</i></td><td>the girls</td> </tr> <td><i>*ei ku</i></td> <td>a cow</td><td><i>kua</i></td><td>the cow</td> <td><i>kuer</i></td> <td>cows</td><td><i>kuene</i></td><td>the cows</td> </tr> </table> </center> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<small>*Feminine forms only allowed.</small> <BR><BR> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="742"<b>NEUTER &nbsp;(<i>-et </i> Nouns)</b></td> </tr> </center> <center> <table border="1"> <tr> <td width="368">SINGULAR</td><td width="368">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>et bilde</i></td> <td>a picture</td><td><i>bildet</i></td><td>the picture</td> <td><i>bilder</i></td> <td>pictures</td><td><i>bildene/bilda</i></td><td>the pictures</td> </tr> <td><i>et hus</i></td> <td>a house</td><td><i>huset</i></td><td>the house</td> <td><i>hus</i></td> <td>houses</td><td><i>husene/husa</i></td><td>the houses</td> </tr> <td><i>et land</i></td> <td>a land/country</td><td><i>landet</i></td><td>the land</td> <td><i>land</i></td> <td>lands</td><td><i>landene/landa</i></td><td>the lands</td> </tr> <td><i>et problem</i></td> <td>a problem</td><td><i>problemet</i></td><td>the problem</td> <td><i>problemer</i></td> <td>problems</td><td><i>problemene/problema</i></td><td>the problems</td> </tr> <td><i>et år</i></td> <td>a year</td><td><i>året</i></td><td>the year</td> <td><i>år</i></td> <td>years</td><td><i>årene/åra</i></td><td>the years</td> </tr> </table> </center> <small> <dl> <b>Note:</b> <br/> <dd>1) Most monosyllabic neuter nouns (and a few others) do not change in the indefinite plural. <dd>2) There is an alternative definite plural in <i> a</i> for many neuter nouns. <dd>3) A number of nouns do not conform to the above patterns in the plural. Irregular forms include <b>stem changes</b>: <i>ei/en bok  bøker </i>(a book  books), <i>en far  fedre </i>(a father  fathers); <b>loss of unstressed vowel</b>: <i>en onkel  onklene </i>(an uncle  uncles), <i>en støvel  støvler </i>(a boot  boots); <b>lack of indefinite plural form</b>: <i>en feil  feil </i>(a mistake  mistakes), <i>ei/en mil  mil </i>(a mile  miles). </dl> </small> <br/> <h2>Nouns and  Particularity </h2> <p>The tables above illustrate the most obvious form of particularity i.e. when the noun is preceded by the definite article in English or has the definite suffix in Norwegian. </p> <p>Perhaps because the Norwegian definite marker occurs as a suffix, it can be found in expressions about particular items where English has no use or need for the definite article e.g. where the possessor follows the possessed: <i>bilen hans</i>  his car, <i>huset mitt </i> my house. (Note that there is also a more formal, less colloquial way of expressing possession which takes the same form as the English: <i>hans bil, mitt hus</i>). </p> <p>Demonstratives such as  this and  that also usually require a definite ending in the noun that follows them: <i>denne/den bilen </i> this/that car, <i>disse/de bilene</i>  these/those cars; <i>dette/det huset </i> this/that house, <i>disse/de husene </i> these/those houses. </p> <br> <small><h3>References and Recommended Reading</h3></small> <small><p>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> </p> <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> <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>