Asking Questions

01

Yes/No Questions: Verb First

To ask a question that can be answered with yes or no, swap the subject and the verb.

• Du sover.

  You are sleeping.

• Sover du?

  Are you sleeping?

• Har du paraply?

  Do you have an umbrella?

• Kan du hjelpe meg?

  Can you help me?

02

Answering: ja, nei and jo

ja means yes and nei means no. To contradict a negative question, Norwegian uses a third word, jo: it means "yes, on the contrary".

• Har du ikke jobb? Jo, det har jeg.

  Don't you have a job? Yes, I do.

• Kommer du ikke? Nei, jeg kommer ikke.

  Aren't you coming? No, I am not.

03

Question Words

• hva - what
• hvem - who
• hvor - where
• hvordan - how
• hvorfor - why
• når - when
• hvilken, hvilket, hvilke - which

The question word comes first, then the verb, then the subject.

• Hva heter du?

  What is your name?

• Hvordan har du det?

  How are you?

• Hvorfor gjorde du det?

  Why did you do that?

• Når skjedde det?

  When did it happen?

04

hvor + Adjective: How Much, How Old

hvor also means "how" in front of an adjective or a quantity word.

• Hvor mye koster dette?

  How much does this cost?

• Hvor gammel er hun?

  How old is she?

• Hvor stor er denne t-skjorten?

  How big is this T-shirt?

05

Which: hvilken, hvilket, hvilke

"Which" changes with the noun after it: hvilken for masculine and feminine nouns, hvilket for neuter nouns and hvilke for plurals.

• Hvilken dag er det i dag?

  Which day is it today?

• Hvilket rom er ditt?

  Which room is yours?

• Hvilke språk snakker du?

  Which languages do you speak?

06

Prepositions at the End

A preposition that belongs to the question word goes to the end of the question, as it often does in English.

• Hvor kommer du fra?

  Where do you come from?

• Hva hører du på?

  What are you listening to?

07

When the Question Word Is the Subject

If hva or hvem is itself the subject, the verb simply follows it.

• Hvem synger?

  Who is singing?

• Hva skjedde?

  What happened?

08

Questions Inside a Sentence

After verbs like vite (know) or fortelle (tell), a question becomes part of a larger sentence. The subject then comes before the verb, and when hva or hvem is the subject, som is added after it.

• Jeg vet ikke hvor jeg la dem.

  I don't know where I put them.

• Kan du fortelle meg hvordan jeg kommer til sentrum?

  Can you tell me how I get to the centre?

• Fortell meg hva som er galt.

  Tell me what is wrong.