Language/Norwegian-bokmal/Grammar/Basic-sentence-structure

Norwegian Bokmål → Grammar → Basic sentence structure

As a Norwegian Bokmål teacher of 20 years, I'm excited to guide you through the basics of constructing sentences in Norwegian Bokmål. This lesson is part of the "Complete 0 to A1 Norwegian Bokmål Course," which is tailored to complete beginners and will take you step-by-step to the A1 level.

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Comparatives and Superlatives & Personal Pronouns.

Sentence Structure

The basic sentence word order in Norwegian Bokmål is subject-verb-object (SVO). This means that the subject comes first, followed by the verb, and then the object. Let’s look at an example:

• Norwegian Bokmål: Jeg spiser et eple.
• Pronunciation::yay spee-ser et e-pleh
• English: I eat an apple.

In this example, "jeg" (I) is the subject, "spiser" (eat) is the verb, and "et eple" (an apple) is the object.

Here is another example:

• Norwegian Bokmål: Katten drikker melk.
• Pronunciation: kaht-ten drik-ker melk
• English: The cat drinks milk.

In this example, "katten" (the cat) is the subject, "drikker" (drinks) is the verb, and "melk" (milk) is the object.

Remember to always use the correct word order when constructing basic sentences in Norwegian Bokmål.

Interrogative and Negative Sentences

To construct interrogative sentences (questions) in Norwegian Bokmål, you simply invert the subject and verb order. Take the following example:

• Norwegian Bokmål: Spiser du et eple?
• Pronunciation: spee-ser due et e-pleh ?
• English: Are you eating an apple?

Notice that the subject "du" (you) and verb "spiser" (eat) have switched places from the declarative sentence.

To create negative sentences in Norwegian Bokmål, simply add "ikke" (not) after the verb. Here is an example:

• Norwegian Bokmål: Jeg spiser ikke et eple.
• Pronunciation: yay spee-ser ikke et e-pleh
• English: I am not eating an apple.

Notice that in Norwegian Bokmål, "ikke" comes after the verb.

Examples

Here are some examples of basic sentence structures in Norwegian Bokmål:

Norwegian Bokmål	Pronunciation	English
Jeg spiser en banan.	yay spee-ser en ba-naan	I eat a banana.
Hunden løper fort.	hun-den lør-per forr	The dog runs fast.
Han ser på TV.	han ser paah tee-veh	He watches TV.
De synger en sang.	deh sing-ger en sang	They sing a song.

Remember to always have the subject, verb, and object in the correct order in a basic sentence in Norwegian Bokmål.

Now that you've learned the basics of constructing sentences in Norwegian Bokmål, let's move on to the next level and explore nouns and adjectives in Norwegian Bokmål.

Other Lessons

• Nouns
• Conditional Mood
• Academic writing and research skills
• Plurals
• Definite and indefinite forms of nouns
• Negation
• Advanced sentence structure and syntax
• Relative clauses
• Formal writing and communication
• Future Tense