Place and Direction: 'hjem' or 'hjemme'

01

The Pairs

• hjem (going home) - hjemme (at home)
• inn (in, going in) - inne (inside)
• ut (out, going out) - ute (outside)
• hit (here, coming here) - her (here, in this place)
• dit (there, going there) - der (there, in that place)
• bort (away, going away) - borte (away, gone)
• opp (going up) - oppe (up there)
• ned (going down) - nede (down there)

02

Movement: the Short Word

After verbs of movement, such as gå, komme, dra and reise, Norwegian uses the short word, the direction.

• Jeg vil dra hjem nå.

  I want to go home now.

• Ja, vennligst kom inn.

  Yes, please come in.

• Kunne du be kelneren komme hit?

  Could you ask the waiter to come here?

• Vi går ut i kveld.

  We are going out tonight.

03

Location: the Longer Word

After verbs that describe being somewhere, such as være, bo, bli and sitte, Norwegian uses the longer word, the place.

• Er foreldrene dine hjemme?

  Are your parents at home?

• Jeg må være hjemme i dag.

  I have to stay at home today.

• Barna leker ute.

  The children are playing outside.

• Jeg blir borte en uke.

  I will be away for a week.

04

here and there

her and der name a place; hit and dit name a destination.

• Jobber du her?

  Do you work here?

• Kom hit!

  Come here!

• Ikke bare sitt der.

  Don't just sit there.

der borte means "over there".

• Datamaskinen din er der borte.

  Your computer is over there.

05

With a Noun

With a noun the same difference is shown by the preposition: til for going to a place, i or på for being there.

• Jeg går til skolen.

  I am walking to school.

• Hun er på skolen.

  She is at school.