Personal Pronouns

01

The Forms

• jeg - meg (I, me)
• du - deg (you, one person)
• han - ham (he, him)
• hun - henne (she, her)
• den, det - the same as object (it)
• vi - oss (we, us)
• dere - the same as object (you, several people)
• de - dem (they, them)

jeg sounds like "yay", meg, deg and seg rhyme with it, and de is pronounced like "dee".

• Jeg elsker dem, og de elsker meg.

  I love them, and they love me.

• Kan du se meg?

  Can you see me?

02

Object Forms After Verbs and Prepositions

The object form follows a verb that acts on someone, and every preposition.

• Han kjører henne til flyplassen.

  He drives her to the airport.

• Kom og dans med oss.

  Come and dance with us.

• Hva kan jeg gjøre for deg?

  What can I do for you?

In everyday Bokmål han is also used as the object form, alongside ham.

03

du and dere

du addresses one person and dere several. Norwegians say du to everyone, strangers, customers and superiors alike; there is no polite form in everyday use.

• Sover du?

  Are you sleeping?

• Hva gjør dere nå?

  What are you doing now?

04

it: den or det

A thing is den if its noun is masculine or feminine, and det if it is neuter. han and hun are kept for people, and for animals when their sex matters.

• Vi leser en bok. Den er interessant.

  We are reading a book. It is interesting.

• Huset er gammelt. Det er stort.

  The house is old. It is big.

• Hvor er katten? Den er under bordet.

  Where is the cat? It is under the table.

05

man: People in General

man means "one" or "you" in the sense of people in general. Its object form is en.

• Hvordan sier man "takk" på portugisisk?

  How do you say "thanks" in Portuguese?

• Man må øve hver dag.

  You have to practise every day.

06

Where Object Pronouns Go

A short object pronoun comes straight after the verb, and in a simple main clause it comes before ikke.

• Jeg kjenner henne.

  I know her.

• Jeg kjenner henne ikke.

  I don't know her.

With two objects, the person comes first, as in English.

• Jeg gir deg en aspirin.

  I'll give you an aspirin.

07

The Same Forms as Reflexives

The object forms meg, deg, oss and dere also serve as "myself", "yourself" and so on when the action turns back on the subject.

• Jeg føler meg syk.

  I feel ill.