Seventh lesson

Today we will talk about an adjective, adjektiv in Norwegian.

In the seventh lesson – leksjon nummer sju – we're visiting Jan again: Vi er på besøk hos Jan. Come over to us, we are going to learn many new things. Today we will talk about the adjective, adjektiv in Norwegian. Let's begin!

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notes

Notes   

• - Hei alle sammen! God kveld! Hello to you all, nice to meet you for the seventh time with norwegianABC.com lessons! How are you doing? Går det bra? Ja! Me and Ema -
• - Hallo hallo alle sammen!
• - We are chomping at the bit to begin our lesson, which is as fun and special as any other lesson of ours! You can learn Norwegian anywhere and anytime. Isn't it cool, Ema?
• - Ja, det er veldig bra.

Today, in the seventh lesson – leksjon nummer sju – we're visiting Jan again: Vi er på besøk hos Jan. Come over to us, we are going to learn many new things .

Today we will talk about the adjective, adjektiv in Norwegian. An adjective is a part of language, marking a peculiarity, and answering the question “WHAT is … like?”. Let's say: he is cheerful, she is beautiful, they are angry.

In Norwegian an adjective is combined with a noun - it says WHAT that thing or a person / animal is like.

We will learn to compare them in our future lessons. But that will be later. Now let's learn some of the most popular adjectives.

Good, tasty

  god

Gentle, kind, good, right

  fin

Bad, poor, worthless

  dårlig

Handsome, beautiful

  vakker

Hard, tough

  vanskelig

Kind, handsome, beautiful, charming

  deilig

Cozy

  koselig

Angry

  sint

Warm

  varm

Cold

  kald

Kind, gentle, kind-hearted

  snill

Expensive

  dyr

Cheap

  billig

Big

  stor

New

  ny

Old

  gammel

Modern

  moderne

White

  hvit

Black

  svart

Blue

  blå

Green

  grønn

Red

  rød

Yellow

  gul

Brown

  brun

Grey

  grå

Adjektiv, or an “adjective”, acts this way in a sentence:
1. Goes as a nominal part of a predicate.
2. Goes as an attribute. You say it sounds complicated? Let's look at the examples, and everything will become clear at once.

Let's explore the first case, when an adjective goes as a nominal part of the predicate in a sentence. You'll probably ask me, what is that nominal part of the predicate? The nominal part consists of inflective word in a compound predicate, meaning a feature of a person or a thing. Let's say, food is delicious. IS DELICIOUS. ER GOD. The word “god” certainly has several meanings: kind, precious. In this case: delicious. Maten er god.

If a noun, which we combine with an adjective, is of feminine or masculine gender, we use the common form we can see in the vocabulary, for instance: Maten er god.

An adjective is combined to a noun with the verb „å være” or „å bli”, as in a sentence we have mentioned already: maten er god. ,,Er“ is a present tense of the verb ,,å være“. Maten er god.

Lise er vakker.

Lisa is pretty.

Jan er sint.

Jan is angry.

Well, yes, Jan is angry, because Lisa didn't come tonight. So, the name Lisa is of feminine gender, and Jan – of masculine gender.

If an adjective is combined with a noun of neuter gender, we will add the ending “-t” to the main adjective form.

For instance, a noun of neuter gender “et hus”. How do we say “The house is big”? Huset er stort. Huset – is a marking form of a noun “et hus”. We'll talk about it soon:

Huset er stort.

The house is big.

Here's an example. Jeg må tenke litt... Hmhm... Ja.

Eplet er modent.

The apple is ripe.

A form of an adjective in neuter gender can be used as an adverb also. That is, answering the question “how”, for instance:

Lise synger pent.

Lisa sings nicely.

  pen

nice

  pent

nicely

• - Lise synger veldig pent.

Now let's talk about how we're going to use an adverb in plural.

When making plurals, you need to add the ending -e to all the genders of an adjective.

For instance:

God

gode

Vi er gode.

We are good.

God

he/she is good

Gode

they are good

Bilene er nye.

The cars are new.

Ny

new in singular

Nye

new in plural

Posene er røde.

The bags are red.

Rød

red in singular

Røde

red in plural

Husene er hvite.

The Houses are white.

Hvit

white in singular

Hvite

white in plural

Et hus is a noun in neuter gender. But in plural we add an ending -e, in the same way as in feminine and masculine genders: husene er hvite.

Oh, the doorbell is ringing!

• - Hei! God kveld! Kom inn. Ema, Lise er her. Ema, det er Lise.

Oh, what a surprise! Lisa came over to visit us.

• - Hei, Lise. Hyggelig å hilse på deg. Jeg heter Ema.
• - Hei, Emma. Det er hyggelig å treffes. Unnskyld meg. Jeg kommer for sent.

Lisa is sorry that she came too late. She says:

  unnskyld meg

forgive me, sorry

  unnskyld

sorry

Jeg kommer for sent.

I'm coming too late.

• - Nei, det går bra. Er du sulten, Lise? Vil du ha noe å spise?

Det går bra.

Everything is fine.

Er du sulten?

Are you hungry?

Vil du ha noe å spise?

Would you like something to eat?

• - Jaja, Lise, er du sulten? Vil du ha noe å spise?
• - Ja, jeg er sulten. Jeg vil gjerne ha noe å spise. Ååh, det er et fint hus! Jan, det lukter godt!
• - Hm. Hm. takk, Lise.

You've probably understood – Lisa said, that the house is nice: det er et fint hus. An adjective in the sentence is used as an attribute in this case. We'll talk about it soon. Besides, as you remember, today we have been talking about a case when a form of an adjective in neuter gender can be used as an adverb. That is, answering the question “how?”. For instance, as Lisa has just said: det lukter godt.

  å lukte.

to smell

Er du sulten?

Are you hungry?

Vil du ha noe å spise?

Would you like something to eat?

God – an adjective, meaning “good”. Det lukter godt – it smells nice. How does it smell? Nice – godt. And how do we say – it smells awfull? Det lukter vondt.

Det lukter godt.

It smells nice.

Det lukter vondt.

It smells awfull.

Let's study the second variation of adjective usage, when it goes as an attribute in a sentence. For instance: det er ei gammel dør – it is an old door (an attribute is a part of a sentence, marking a feature of a thing).

We say an adjective between the indefinite / definite article of a noun and the noun – ei gammel dør. Det er ei gammel dør.

And how can we combine an adjective and a noun? Simply, in the same way as the first case. If an adjective is combined with a noun of feminine or masculine gender, its main form as it is shown in the vocabulary, will stay.For instance:

Ei gammel dør

old door

En gammel mann

an old man

When combining an adjective with a noun of neuter gender, we can just add the ending “-t”.

Et gammelt bilde

an old picture

Et gammelt dikt

an old poem

I'll give you more examples of when an adjective is combined with a noun of feminine or masculine gender, not changing the adjective form:

De har en grønn bil.

They have a green car.

Jan synger en norsk sang.

Jan is singing a Norwegian song.

Let's repeat a case with a noun of neuter gender. Let's say, we have: et hus. Do you remember, what did Lisa recently say after coming to us today? Det er et fint hus – It's a nice house. Since et hus is a noun in neuter gender, we add “-t” to the main form of an adjective “fin” - fint? This way, right? Bra! Nice work!

Let's listen to more examples and repeat:

Vi kjøper et gult bord.

We are buying a yellow table.

Det er et fint sted.

It is a nice place.

Hun spiser et rødt eple.

She is eating a red apple.

By the way, students, we usually talk big about you in this way: fint. Think, what is this? And yes! The adjective fin + the ending “-t” - fint: the form of neuter gender is used as an adverb, which answers a question “how”. Fint! Right!

Let's go back to the adjective, adjektiv.

In plural, when an adjective goes as an attribute in a sentence, there's no need to use any article. We just add the ending “-e” to the main form of an adjective. For instance: single et stort eple – plural store epler.

Vi kjøper store epler.

We buy big apples.

Lise synger italienske sanger.

Lisa sings Italian songs.

Uff, let's relax and sum it up. If a noun is of feminine or masculine gender – we leave the same form of an adjective as it is in the vocabulary. If it is of neuter gender – we add -t. If it is plural – we add-e. Simple! Enkelt!

Let's learn several exceptions in making adjectives:

If an adjective has the ending -ig or -sk, and there is a noun of neuter gender, the ending will remain the same in this case: -ig, -sk.

For instance, a cheap picture will be: et billig bilde. We don't say: et billigt bilde, we say et billig bilde.

Et billig bilde

a cheap picture

Another example: et vanskelig spørsmål.   et spørsmål – a noun of neuter gender, meaning “question”,   vanskelig – an adjective “difficult”. According to the common rule, we should add an ending “t” to the adjective, but we are smart already and we know – if an adjective has the ending “-ig”, there's no need to do this. We don't say: et vanskeligt spørsmål. The correct way is this: Et vanskelig spørsmål.

If there is an adjective with the ending -sk, let's say: praktisk – practical, we won't add the ending -t to a noun of neuter gender.

For instance: han har et praktisk spørsmål – he has a practical question. We don't say: et praktiskt spørsmål, we say – et praktisk spørsmål.

Here are some more examples, where when combining an adjective with a noun of neuter gender, we won't add the ending “t” to it.

There are many adjectives related to nationality: tysk – German, norsk – Norwegian, engelsk – English, italiensk – Italian, polsk – Polish, and so on. Attention, if we combine them with a noun of neuter gender, we won't add the ending -t!

For instance: et engelsk eple – we don't say et engelskt, we say - et engelsk eple; et norsk eple, et polsk eple, and so on.

• - Lise, vil du ha et rødt norsk eple? Lise, vil du ha et rødt norsk eple? Lisa, do you want a red Norwegian apple?
• - Ja takk, gjerne det.

Oh yes, thank you. With pleasure, says Lisa. Ja takk, gjerne det.

Let's go back to the adjectives that don't give up to the rule, and are used together with a noun in neuter gender. They get the ending -t, though they have the ending -sk. But we are not going to give up, either, and learn them, right? Let's begin.

  falsk

false

Et falskt problem

a false problem

Falske problemer

false problems

  fersk

fresh

Et ferskt eple

a fresh apple

Ferske epler

fresh apples

  frisk

healthy

Et friskt liv

a healthy lifestyle

Friske liv

healthy lifestyles

  rask

fast

Et raskt forslag

a fast offer

Raske forslag

fast offers

How are you doing? Do you repeat the rules enough times, so you master it? Relax, do it in a place comfortable to you. Sing the new information, if you like. Some people use this language learning method: they try to recover a rule by writing it down immediately or by practicing with a friend or a family member. And some people master it best when being alone. Do experiments, and find your own method together with norwegianABC.com.

Let's go back to the exceptions of adjectives.

Some adjectives which end in -t or -d in the main form, don't end in -t in neuter gender.

Et fremmed sted

a foreign place

Et solid valg

a solid choice

If an adjective ends with a double consonant, for instance, stygg – disgusting, the consonant in neuter gender is usually made single before the suffix -t.

  stygg

disgusting

Et stygt sted

a nasty place

Stygge steder

nasty places

  grønn

green

Et grønt eple

a green apple

Grønne epler

green apples

If an adjective ends in -m, for instance, dum – stupid, this -m will usually be doubled before the ending -e (if a vowel before -m is pronounced briefly).

  dum

stupid

Et dumt spørsmål

a stupid question

Dumme spørsmål

stupid questions

  langsom

long

Et langsomt farvel

a long farewell

Langsomme farvel

long farewells

Adjectives, which end in -el, -en or -er, don't have unstressed -e in their weakest form.

En sulten gutt

a hungry boy

Sultne gutter

hungry boys

Et gammelt hus

an old house

Gamle hus

old houses

En sliten maler

a tired painter

Slitne malere

tired painters

Et vakkert barn

a beautiful child

Vakre barn

beautiful children

Let's take a short break between exceptions. There are some breaks at school, too, right? We'll tell an interesting fact about Norway in each of them. Want it? Ja! We'll call such breaks „Fakta om Norge“ – Facts about Norway. Attention, did you notice, that a word “facts” sounds a bit different in plural, we don't add the ending -er here?

A fact

et faktum

Facts

fakta

Et faktum

fakta

OK, so here's the first message of „Fakta om Norge“: we have talked about food more or less in our recent lessons. And so, do you know what Norwegians like? They are frozen pizza lovers! As the statistics say, Norwegians usually eat 20 million frozen pizzas per year, and the absolute favourite here is pizza “Grandiosa”. But our break has just ended. So let's go back to the exceptions of adjectives :)

When an adjective in its basic form ends in a stressed vowel, we add double -tt in its neuter gender (and the vowel gets shorter in pronunciation).

  ny

new

Et nytt hus

a new house

Nye hus

new houses

  fri

free

Et fritt land

a free country

Frie land

free countries

There are some adjectives which are not inflected, in spite of combining with one or another gender or a quantity of a noun.

  bra

good

Ei bra jente

a good girl

En bra gutt

a good boy

Et bra forslag

a good offer

Bra bøker

good books

Bra hus

good houses

Here we can see, that we say “bra” everywhere and anytime, in spite of gender or singular / plural.

The next adjective, to which this rule is valid:

  gratis

free

Ei gratis bok

a free book

En gratis avis

a free newspaper

Et gratis brød

a free bread

Gratis klær

free clothes

  stakkars

poor

Ei stakkars jente

a poor girl

En stakkars gutt

a poor boy

Et stakkars barn

a poor child

Stakkars barn

poor children

The forms of these two adjectives are so incorrect, that we'll have to learn them by heart only. They are often used in daily language, so let's learn them now:

  liten

little

  annen

other

Liten. Singular

Feminine gender: ei lita jente / ei liten jente or: en liten jente – a little girl

Masculine gender: en liten gutt – a little boy

Neuter gender: et lite barn – a little child

Liten. Plural

Små barn – small children

Små jenter – small girls

Små gutter – small boys

Annen. Singular

Feminine gender: ei anna / ei annen jente or: en annen jente – another girl

Masculine gender: en annen gutt – another boy

Neuter gender: et annet barn – another child

Annen. Plural

Andre barn – other children

Andre jenter – other girls

Andre gutter – other boys

I am sure that your heads are spinning already :) Don't get nervous, there seem to be many rules in this lesson, but everything gets simple after adjusting them to the language. An adjective is a part of language which is used in expressing an opinion, impression, or evaluation. So just listen to how Jan and Lisa are chattering, . There are many adjectives in their conversation.

• - Lise, er du mett? / Liza, are you full?
• - Ohh ja, jer er mett. Jan.. Du er veldig snill, Jan. / Oh yes, I'm so full. Jan, you're very kind.
• - Lise, liker du moderne norske sanger? / Lisa, do you like modern Norwegian songs?
• - Ja, jeg liker norske og italienske sanger. Men jeg liker ikke moderne sanger. / Yes, I like Norwegian and Italian songs. But I don't like modern songs.
• - Jeg liker gamle norske sanger. / I like old Norwegian songs.
• - Javel, det er veldig interessant. Lise, vil du ha noe å drikke? Liker du vin? Liker du spansk vin? / Well, that's very interesting. Lisa, would you like something to drink? Do you like wine. Do you like Spanish wine?
• - Ja, jeg liker spansk rødvin. / I like red Spanish wine.
• - Skal vi drikke litt spansk rødvin? / Should we drink some red Spanish wine?
• - Ja! Mmm, den er så bra! / Yes! Mmm, it's so good!

And so, you can hear how many adjectives there are in Jan and Lisa's conversation – they provide our language with colours! Take a look around and say them to your friend, mother, colleague, brother, or anyone who is near:

Du er veldig snill.

You are very kind.

Du er vakker.

You are beautiful.

Jan Dagen er god!

The day is perfect!

Let's learn as many new adjectives as we can, and use them in a positive way to make our mood much better!

• - Well, that's all for today: Ha det bra, vi ses! See you in the next lesson. Hm, I'm still very interested, who's that Lisa. Aren’t you? We'll know everything in the eight lesson! See you! ha det :)
• - Ha det bra alle sammen
• - Det var hyggelig å møtes, vi høres neste gang!