Norwegian for beginners

For tourists visiting Norway, the prospect of a language barrier might be a tad daunting, until they arrive and realise that virtually everyone speaks English. Unless you visit remote valleys or talk exclusively to older inhabitants, you’ll likely never have to worry about not being understood. However, if you do address Norwegians in their native tongue, you’ll find they’re very easily charmed by your attempts.

How to speak Norwegian like the locals There are three extra letters – Æ, Ø and Å – which are essentially other letters mixed: Æ is A and E, Ø is O and E, and Å is A and O. The grammar is quite logical overall, but there are grammatical genders – nouns are either male, female or neutral. Norwegians can be misinterpreted as impolite by tourists or when visiting other countries, as modern-day Norwegian generally lacks phrases of politeness. People, regardless of age, profession or status, are not addressed using titles, like Sir or Madam, only their name. If you want to order coffee, a simple ‘thanks’ suffices – no need for ‘please’. Norwegians do, however, always thank the person responsible for making a meal. It’s considered rude to leave a table without saying ‘takk for maten’ (‘thanks for the food’). (This, of course, does not apply at restaurants or cafés.) Norwegians also apologise a lot, whether it is for disturbing you, bumping into you or interrupting you.

Snakker du norsk?

Hei Hello Hadet bra Goodbye God morgen Good morning God natt Good night Hvordan går det? How are you? Takk for sist Thanks for last time/good to see you again Takk Thanks Unnskyld? Sorry? Jeg snakker ikke norsk I don’t speak Norwegian Snakker du engelsk? Do you speak English? Kan du hjelpe meg? Could you help me? I dag Today I morgen Tomorrow I går Yesterday Hvor finner jeg…? Where can I find the ...? Jeg elsker Oslo! I love Oslo! Hva vil du anbefale? What can you recommend? Hvitvin / Rødvin White wine / Red wine Kaffe Coffee Kan jeg få betale? May I pay, please? Kan jeg få regningen? The check, please En bank A bank Stasjon/ jernbanestasjon Train station Sykehus Hospital Flyplass Airport