Demonstratives: This and That

01

this, these: denne, dette, disse

• denne - masculine and feminine: denne boken (this book)
• dette - neuter: dette huset (this house)
• disse - plural: disse buksene (these trousers)

• Denne boken er gammel.

  This book is old.

• Dette vannet er kaldt.

  This water is cold.

• Hvor lange er disse buksene?

  How long are these trousers?

02

that, those: den, det, de

• den - masculine and feminine: den mannen (that man)
• det - neuter: det bandet (that band)
• de - plural: de båtene (those boats)

These are the same words that mean "it", "they" and "the" in front of an adjective; when they mean "that", they carry stress.

• Den mannen løper med hunden sin.

  That man is running with his dog.

• Jeg kjenner ingen sanger fra det bandet.

  I don't know any songs by that band.

• De båtene er veldig dyre.

  Those boats are very expensive.

03

The Noun Keeps Its Ending

Unlike English, Norwegian uses the definite noun after a demonstrative, so "this house" is literally "this the-house".

• Kan du tegne dette treet?

  Can you draw this tree?

04

With an Adjective

An adjective between the demonstrative and the noun takes -e.

• Denne gamle boken er min.

  This old book is mine.

• Kjøpte du disse røde ballongene?

  Did you buy these red balloons?

05

Standing Alone

Without a noun the demonstratives mean "this one", "these" and so on.

• Hvor mye koster disse?

  How much do these cost?

• Jeg tar denne.

  I'll take this one.

06

dette er and det er

To introduce or point something out, dette er (this is) and det er (that is, it is) are used whatever the gender or number of what follows.

• Dette er en mann.

  This is a man.

• Er dette onkelen din?

  Is this your uncle?

07

In Speech: denne her, den der

Everyday speech often adds her (here) or der (there) to make the pointing clearer.

• Jeg vil ha den der.

  I want that one there.