Nice Weather!

In my last blog post I went through the main pattern and exceptions for adjectives in indefinite form in Norwegian You know, phrases like, en fin bil (a nice car) et fint eple (a nice apple).

This time we will look at adjectives in definite form.  

How do you say: “the great summer weather in Oslo” ? You may not think the weather was that great, but at least you will, after reading this post, learn to say it correctly.  

 

The main pattern

So let’s start with the main pattern – it is quite simple and it goes like this:

• In definite form, adjectives standing in front of a noun get an “e”.
• If the adjective is “fin” it becomes “fine”, regardless of what gender the noun is.

 

Masculin:

fine bilen (the nice car)

Feminine:

fine boka/boken (the nice book)

Neautral:

fine eplet (the nice apple)

 

Even if the noun is in plural (flertall) the adjective stays the same in the definite:

fine bilene fine bøkene fine eplene

 

Easy? Sure, but don’t forget the definite article

If the noun following the adjective is masculin or feminine, you add the article “den” in front of the adjective. If you are dealing with a neutral noun, you must add the article “det”. If your noun is in definite plural, add the article “de” in front of the adjective.

Your adjective phrases should look like this:

Masculine/feminine definite	Neutral definite	Plural definite
Den fine bilen	Det fine eplet	De fine bilene
Den fine stolen (chair)	Det fine bordet (table)	De bordene (tables)
Den fine stuen/stua(living room)	Det fine soverommet (bedroom)	De fine soverommene (bedrooms)

 

Exceptions

Yes, there are exceptions, there always are. But keep calm – there are not too many, and are easy to remember:

 

• Some adjectives do not get an “e” in the definite.

blå grå rosa

  As you can see, they all end in a vowel.

Masculine/feminine definite	Neutral definite	Plural definite
Den blå bilen (The blue car)	Det blå huset (The blue house)	De blå bilene (The blue cars)
Den rosa stolen (The pink chair)	Det rosa bordet (The pink table)	De rosa bordene (The pink tables)
Den grå stuen/stua (The grey living room)	Det grå soverommet (The grey bedroom)	De grå soverommene (The grey bedrooms)

• Some adjectives always stay the same no matter the form of the noun

 

Here are some of the most common ones:

bra (good)

sky (shy)

annerledes (different)

direkte (direct)

ekstra (extra)

gratis (free)

moderne (modern)

spennende (exiting)

stille (quiet)

 

• Adjectives ending in “er”, “el” and “en”:

The last letter and the plural “e” ending trade places

Sliten (tired)

voksen (adult)

vakker (beautiful)

gammel (old)

spinkel (thin)

 

Masculine/feminine definite	Neutral definite	Plural definite
Den slitne mannen (The tired man)	Det slitne barnet (The tired child)	De slitne mennene (The tired men)
Den voksne damen/dama (The grownup woman)	Det voksne mennesket (The grownup human)	De voksne meneskene (The grownups (humans))
Den vakre hagen (The beautiful garden)	Det vakre huset (The beautiful house)	De vakre husene(The beautiful houses)
Den gamle kommoden (The old dresser)	Det gamle skapet (The old closet)	De gamle skapene (The old closets)
Den spinkle gutten (The thin/gangly boy)	Det spinkle barnet(The thin/gangly child)	De spinkle guttene(The thin/gangly boys)

 

Notice that the adjectives ending with “er,”en or “el” with a double consonant before the “e” loses one when the “e” and the last letter switch places. This is because we in Norwegian try to avoid three consonants in a row.  

So how do you say «The great summer weather in Oslo»?  

 

A few clues:

• the noun summer weather is a neutral noun.
• summer weather is written and pronounced as one word in Norwegian

 

Still not sure?  

(Hvor ble det av…) *det fine sommerværet i Oslo*