Verbs: Perfect and Pluperfect

01

Forming the Past Participle

For regular verbs the participle follows the past tense closely. The four groups give four endings:

• snakket → har snakket (has spoken)
• spiste → har spist (has eaten)
• prøvde → har prøvd (has tried)
• bodde → har bodd (has lived)

So the -et verbs keep -et, and the others drop the final -e of the past tense: -te becomes -t, -de becomes -d, -dde becomes -dd. The irregular verbs have participles of their own, often ending in -tt or -et:

• gå → gått, se → sett, gi → gitt, ta → tatt
• få → fått, være → vært, ha → hatt, bli → blitt
• komme → kommet, skrive → skrevet, drikke → drukket
• si → sagt, gjøre → gjort, vite → visst

02

Experiences: Ever and Before

The perfect tense is the natural way to say that something has happened at some point in your life, without saying when.

• Jeg har vært i Frankrike før.

  I have been to France before.

• Har du hørt dette bandet?

  Have you heard this band?

03

A Result You Can See Now

It also describes a past action whose result is still in place.

• Jeg har fått nok!

  I have had enough!

• Han har glemt nøkkelen.

  He has forgotten the key.

04

Up to Now

For something that started in the past and still continues, Norwegian uses the perfect with i plus a length of time, where English says "for". In a negative sentence the length of time takes på.

• Jeg har hatt den gamle klokken min i ti år.

  I have had my old watch for ten years.

• Jeg har ikke sett deg på ni år!

  I haven't seen you for nine years!

05

Where ikke Goes

ikke (not) stands between har and the participle. In a question the subject comes in that same slot, straight after har.

• Vi har ikke spist ennå.

  We haven't eaten yet.

• Har du sett ferdig filmen?

  Have you finished watching the film?

06

Perfect or Past?

Once a definite time in the past is named, the perfect is no longer possible and the simple past takes over. English draws the line in the same place.

• Jeg har vært syk.

  I have been ill.

• Jeg var syk i går.

  I was ill yesterday.

07

The Pluperfect: had done

hadde (had) with the participle places an event before another past event, exactly like the English "had done". It also appears in conditions about the past.

• Da jeg kom hjem, hadde de spist.

  When I came home, they had eaten.

• Hvis du hadde fortalt meg det, ville jeg ha gitt deg penger.

  If you had told me, I would have given you money.

08

ha After Other Verbs

After a modal verb or after å, the perfect uses the infinitive ha.

• Klokka mi må ha stoppet.

  My watch must have stopped.

• Hendene mine gjør vondt etter å ha jobbet på en gård.

  My hands hurt after working on a farm.

09

er with Verbs of Movement

A few verbs that describe moving or changing, such as komme and reise, may also take er instead of har. Both are correct, and har is the more common choice.

• Han er kommet hjem.

  He has come home.

• Han har kommet hjem.

  He has come home.