Passive Voice and Verbs Ending in -s — Norwegian Grammar

A passive sentence puts the focus on what happens rather than on who does it: "The house was sold" instead of "Somebody sold the house". Norwegian has two ways of making the passive, and a group of verbs ends in -s without being passive at all.

bli + Past Participle

The most common passive uses (become) with the past participle. It describes an event, something that happens or happened.

Jeg ble født på mandag.
I was born on a Monday.
Huset ble solgt i fjor.
The house was sold last year.
Bilen blir reparert i morgen.
The car is being repaired tomorrow.

The person who does the action can be added with (by).

Brevet ble skrevet av Anna.
The letter was written by Anna.

The -s Passive

Adding -s to the infinitive also makes a passive. It is typical of rules, instructions and notices, and it often follows a modal verb.

Døren må låses.
The door must be locked.
Det kan gjøres i morgen.
It can be done tomorrow.
Butikken stenges klokka ni.
The shop is closed at nine.

Choosing Between bli and -s

is the natural choice for a single event, and it is the only common choice in the past tense. The -s passive suits general statements, routines and instructions, and it is most at home after a modal verb.

Døren ble låst i går.
The door was locked yesterday.
Døren låses hver kveld.
The door is locked every evening.

er + Past Participle: a State

(is) with a participle does not describe an action but the state that results from one. The participle works like an adjective here.

Butikken er stengt.
The shop is closed.
Kontorstolen min er ødelagt.
My office chair is broken.
Sidene er laget av tynt papir.
The pages are made of thin paper.

Born: er født and ble født

Being born is described both ways. treats it as a fact about a person and is the usual choice for where someone comes from; describes the event itself, often with a date.

Hvor er du født?
Where were you born?
Han ble født i to tusen to.
He was born in 2002.

få + Object + Participle

(get) with an object and a participle says that you have something done for you.

Jeg kan få det levert for fem tusen yen.
I can have it delivered for five thousand yen.

-s Verbs That Are Not Passive

Some verbs only exist with -s, and their meaning is active. These are among the most frequent verbs in everyday speech.

- to exist, there is
- to think, to find (an opinion)
- to sound

Det finnes mange jobber.
There are many jobs.
Jeg synes maten er god.
I think the food is good.
Det høres kjedelig ut.
That sounds boring.

-s for "Each Other"

With a plural subject, the -s form of some verbs means that the people do the action to each other.

Vi sees i morgen.
See you tomorrow.
Vi møtes klokka seks.
We are meeting at six.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Norwegian course

14 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 9. A few of them, with the words “Passive Voice and Verbs Ending in -s” is about in bold:

Du er morsom. Jeg synes du er morsom.
You are funny. I think you are funny.
Lesson 169

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