Possessives: Forms and Placement

01

The Forms

The forms change with the gender and number of the thing owned, not with the owner.

• my: min (masculine), mi (feminine), mitt (neuter), mine (plural)
• your (one person): din, di, ditt, dine
• our: vår, vår, vårt, våre
• his, her, their, your (several people): hans, hennes, deres - these never change

A feminine noun can also take the masculine form: boka mi and boken min are both correct.

• Dette er vennen min.

  This is my friend.

• Dette er huset mitt.

  This is my house.

• Pennene mine er veldig gamle.

  My pens are very old.

• Hunden hennes er veldig søt.

  Her dog is very cute.

02

After the Noun: the Usual Place

The normal place for a possessive is after the noun. The noun then takes its definite ending.

• Datamaskinen din er der borte.

  Your computer is over there.

• Datteren vår går på universitetet.

  Our daughter goes to university.

• Barna deres er veldig bråkete.

  Their children are very noisy.

03

Before the Noun: Emphasis

A possessive in front of the noun stresses whose it is, or sounds a little more formal. The noun then has no ending.

• Mitt førsteinntrykk er at hun er veldig smart.

  My first impression is that she is very smart.

• Er dette din beste venn?

  Is this your best friend?

• Vennligst aksepter min unnskyldning.

  Please accept my apology.

04

With an Adjective

After the noun, the possessive simply follows, and the adjective needs the front article. Before the noun, the possessive replaces the article.

• Den gamle klokken min er ødelagt.

  My old watch is broken.

• Min gamle klokke er ødelagt.

  My old watch is broken.

05

Family Words

With the words for close family, the noun often keeps its base form after the possessive, especially mor (mother) and far (father).

• Mor vår er fortsatt ung.

  Our mother is still young.

• Moren min heter Lisa.

  My mother is called Lisa.

06

deres: Your or Their

deres belongs both to dere (you, several people) and to de (they), so it means "your" or "their" depending on the situation.

• Er foreldrene deres hjemme?

  Are your parents at home?

• Jeg kan alle sangene deres.

  I know all their songs.

07

Parts of the Body

With parts of the body Norwegian usually leaves the possessive out and uses the definite noun, where English says "my" or "your".

• Jeg brakk armen.

  I broke my arm.

• Jeg har vondt i magen.

  My stomach hurts.

08

Standing Alone: Mine, Yours

Without a noun the same forms mean "mine", "yours" and so on.

• Boken er min.

  The book is mine.

• Er huset ditt?

  Is the house yours?

09

His Own: sin

When "his", "her" or "their" refers back to the subject of the same clause, Norwegian uses sin, si, sitt or sine instead of hans, hennes or deres.

• Den mannen løper med hunden sin.

  That man is running with his dog.