Adjectives: Agreement

01

The Three Forms

• masculine and feminine: plain form - en stor bil (a big car)
• neuter: -t - et stort hus (a big house)
• plural: -e - store biler, store hus (big cars, big houses)

• Jeg har en stor familie.

  I have a big family.

• Vi har et viktig møte på onsdag.

  We have an important meeting on Wednesday.

• Jeg trenger nye klær.

  I need new clothes.

02

After the Verb Too

The same endings appear when the adjective comes after er (is) or blir (becomes) and describes the subject.

• Bilen er stor.

  The car is big.

• Huset er stort.

  The house is big.

• Bilene er store.

  The cars are big.

• Været er kaldt.

  The weather is cold.

03

The Definite Form: Always -e

After "the", "this", "that" or a possessive in front of the noun, the adjective takes -e for every gender and number.

• Den gamle datamaskinen min er treg.

  My old computer is slow.

• Se, dette er det nye huset mitt.

  Look, this is my new house.

• Han er min beste venn.

  He is my best friend.

04

Neuter Forms Without an Extra -t

Some adjectives cannot take the -t, and their neuter form is the same as the plain form.

• ending in -ig: et hyggelig hus (a nice house)
• ending in -sk: et norsk ord (a Norwegian word)
• ending in -t already: et interessant spørsmål (an interesting question)

• Det er et hyggelig hus.

  It is a nice house.

• Været er fantastisk.

  The weather is fantastic.

05

Small Changes in Spelling

An adjective that ends in a stressed vowel doubles the t. A double consonant becomes single before -t.

• ny → nytt, blå → blått
• grønn → grønt, snill → snilt, trygg → trygt

• Jeg trenger et grønt skjerf.

  I need a green scarf.

• Flyging er trygt.

  Flying is safe.

Adjectives ending in -el, -er and -en drop the e before the -e ending.

• gammel → gamle, vakker → vakre, åpen → åpne

• Pennene mine er veldig gamle.

  My pens are very old.

• Er dere åpne?

  Are you open?

06

Adjectives That Never Change

Some adjectives have only one form: bra (good), gøy (fun), and those ending in -e, such as spennende (exciting), neste (next) and moderne (modern).

• Det er en bra film.

  It is a good film.

• Dansing er gøy.

  Dancing is fun.

07

liten and annen

liten (small) is irregular in every form: en liten bil, ei lita jente, et lite hus, små biler, den lille bilen. annen (other) has the forms en annen, et annet and andre.

• Hun kjører en veldig liten bil.

  She drives a very small car.

• Kjøkkenet er så lite.

  The kitchen is so small.

• Jeg vil reise til et annet land.

  I want to travel to another country.