Norwegian Noun Declension Patterns

Norske substantivbøyninger

Complete declension paradigms for Norwegian Bokmål nouns, covering masculine, feminine, and neuter genders with regular and irregular examples.

masculine (en-nouns)

hankjønn

Standard Pattern

Indef. Sing.

en {noun}

Def. Sing.

{noun}en

Indef. Pl.

{noun}er

Def. Pl.

{noun}ene

Regular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
gutt	en gutt	gutten	gutter	guttene	boy
bil	en bil	bilen	biler	bilene	car
stol	en stol	stolen	stoler	stolene	chair
dag	en dag	dagen	dager	dagene	day
venn	en venn	vennen	venner	vennene	friend
by	en by	byen	byer	byene	city
time	en time	timen	timer	timene	hour
hund	en hund	hunden	hunder	hundene	dog
skole	en skole	skolen	skoler	skolene	school
telefon	en telefon	telefonen	telefoner	telefonene	telephone

Irregular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
mann	en mann	mannen	menn	mennene	man*
bror	en bror	broren	brødre	brødrene	brother*
far	en far	faren	fedre	fedrene	father*
fot	en fot	foten	føtter	føttene	foot*
sønn	en sønn	sønnen	sønner	sønnene	son*
bok	en bok	boken/boka	bøker	bøkene	book*

* mann: Vowel change in plural (a → e)

* bror: Vowel change + consonant change in plural

* far: Vowel change + consonant change in plural

* fot: Vowel change in plural (o → ø)

* sønn: Regular plural, but note: alternative form 'sønner'

* bok: Vowel change in plural (o → ø); both en/ei gender accepted in bokmål

feminine (ei-nouns)

hunkjønn

Standard Pattern

Indef. Sing.

ei {noun}

Def. Sing.

{noun}a

Indef. Pl.

{noun}er

Def. Pl.

{noun}ene

Regular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
jente	ei jente	jenta	jenter	jentene	girl
avis	ei avis	avisa	aviser	avisene	newspaper
hytte	ei hytte	hytta	hytter	hyttene	cabin
dør	ei dør	døra	dører	dørene	door
klokke	ei klokke	klokka	klokker	klokkene	clock/watch
bygd	ei bygd	bygda	bygder	bygdene	village/countryside
seng	ei seng	senga	senger	sengene	bed
øy	ei øy	øya	øyer	øyene	island
sol	ei sol	sola	soler	solene	sun
gate	ei gate	gata	gater	gatene	street

Irregular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
ku	ei ku	kua	kuer/kyr	kuene/kyrne	cow*
tå	ei tå	tåa	tær	tærne	toe*
mor	ei mor	mora	mødre	mødrene	mother*
datter	ei datter	dattera	døtre	døtrene	daughter*
hånd	ei hånd	hånda	hender	hendene	hand*
natt	ei natt	natta	netter	nettene	night*

* ku: Alternative plural form 'kyr/kyrne' (older form)

* tå: Vowel change in plural

* mor: Vowel change + consonant change in plural

* datter: Vowel change in plural (a → ø)

* hånd: Vowel change in plural (å → e)

* natt: Vowel change in plural (a → e)

neuter (et-nouns)

intetkjønn

Standard Pattern

Indef. Sing.

et {noun}

Def. Sing.

{noun}et

Indef. Pl.

{noun} (no change for monosyllabic)

Def. Pl.

{noun}a / {noun}ene

Regular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
hus	et hus	huset	hus	husene/husa	house
barn	et barn	barnet	barn	barna	child
bord	et bord	bordet	bord	bordene/borda	table
glass	et glass	glasset	glass	glassene/glassa	glass
eple	et eple	eplet	epler	eplene	apple
kontor	et kontor	kontoret	kontorer	kontorene	office
vindu	et vindu	vinduet	vinduer	vinduene	window
fjell	et fjell	fjellet	fjell	fjellene/fjella	mountain
tog	et tog	toget	tog	togene/toga	train
språk	et språk	språket	språk	språkene/språka	language

Irregular Examples

Word	Indef. Sing.	Def. Sing.	Indef. Pl.	Def. Pl.	English
øye	et øye	øyet	øyne	øynene	eye*
øre	et øre	øret	ører	ørene	ear*
kne	et kne	kneet	knær	knærne	knee*
tre	et tre	treet	trær	trærne	tree*
sted	et sted	stedet	steder	stedene	place*
ben/bein	et ben/bein	benet/beinet	ben/bein	bena/beina	bone/leg*

* øye: Irregular plural ending -ne

* øre: Regular -er plural despite being neuter

* kne: Irregular plural

* tre: Irregular plural with -r ending

* sted: Takes -er plural despite monosyllabic neuter

* ben/bein: Both spellings accepted in bokmål

Tips for Learning Norwegian Noun Genders

1Most Norwegian nouns are masculine (en-nouns) — when in doubt, guess masculine.
2Many feminine nouns can also be treated as masculine in bokmål (ei/en bok → boken/boka). This is called 'valgfritt kjønn'.
3Neuter monosyllabic nouns often have no change in indefinite plural (et hus → hus, et barn → barn).
4Multi-syllable neuter nouns usually take -er in plural (et eple → epler, et kontor → kontorer).
5The definite plural of neuter nouns can end in -a (informal/conservative bokmål) or -ene (standard): barna/barnene.
6Family nouns are commonly irregular: far→fedre, mor→mødre, bror→brødre, søster→søstre, datter→døtre.
7Nouns ending in -else are always masculine: en opplevelse, en følelse, en forståelse.
8Nouns ending in -het are always masculine: en mulighet, en sannhet, en frihet.