Relative Clauses with 'som' — Norwegian Grammar

A relative clause adds information about a noun: "the man who lives next door", "the shoes that you like". Norwegian uses one word for who, which and that: . It does not change for people or things, for gender or for number.

Jeg har en venn som bor i Oslo.
I have a friend who lives in Oslo.
Dette er Anna som snakker.
This is Anna speaking.

People and Things Alike

The same follows a person, an animal or a thing, singular or plural.

Boken som ligger på bordet, er min.
The book that is lying on the table is mine.
Folkene som bor her, er hyggelige.
The people who live here are nice.

som as the Subject

When is the subject of its clause, it must always be there.

Du er den første som legger merke til det!
You are the first one to notice it!
Jeg kjenner en mann som snakker fem språk.
I know a man who speaks five languages.

som as the Object: Often Left Out

When is the object of its clause, it can be dropped, as "that" can in English.

Velg et par sko som du liker.
Choose a pair of shoes that you like.
Velg et par sko du liker.
Choose a pair of shoes you like.

Prepositions at the End

A preposition that belongs to goes to the end of the relative clause.

Stolen som jeg sitter på, er ny.
The chair that I am sitting on is new.
Det er musikken som jeg hører på.
It is the music I listen to.

Word Order Inside the Clause

A relative clause follows the order of every subordinate clause: short adverbs such as come before the verb.

Det er en film som jeg ikke har sett.
It is a film that I haven't seen.

Those Who: de som

means "those who" and means "the one who" or "whoever".

De som vil, kan bli med.
Those who want to can come along.
Den som venter, får noe.
Whoever waits gets something.

Commas

No comma is needed before when the clause tells which person or thing is meant. When the relative clause stands in the middle of the sentence, a comma closes it before the main verb continues.

Huset som jeg bor i, er gammelt.
The house that I live in is old.

Emphasis: Det er … som

+ noun + picks out one person or thing for emphasis, like English "It is … who".

Det er Anna som har gjort det.
It is Anna who has done it.

hva som and hvem som

In a question built into a sentence, follows (what) or (who) when they are the subject.

Fortell meg hva som er galt.
Tell me what is wrong.
Jeg vet ikke hvem som kommer.
I don't know who is coming.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Norwegian course

4 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 63. A few of them, with the words “Relative Clauses with 'som'” is about in bold:

Du er den første som legger merke til det!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337

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