Language/Norwegian-bokmal/Grammar/How-to-Use-Be

Norwegian Bokmål Grammar - How to Use "Be"

Hi Norwegian Bokmål learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will focus on one of the most essential verbs in the Norwegian language - "å være" (to be). Understanding how to properly use "be" is crucial in forming basic Norwegian sentences, and mastering its usage will take you one step closer to becoming fluent in Norwegian. Let's get started!

Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Future tense verbs & Present Tense.

Present Tense

Firstly, let's look at the present tense forms of "å være" (to be):

Norwegian Bokmål	Pronunciation	English
jeg er	yei ehr	I am
du er	doo ehr	you are (singular informal)
han / hun / den er	hahn / hoon / dehn ehr	he / she / it is
vi er	vee ehr	we are
dere er	deh-reh ehr	you are (plural or singular formal)
de er	deh ehr	they are

Here are a few examples to illustrate how to use "å være" in the present tense:

• Person 1: "Jeg er fra Oslo." (I am from Oslo.)
• Person 2: "Åh, så hyggelig! Jeg er også fra Oslo." (Oh, how nice! I am also from Oslo.)

• Person 1: "Hvor er Hilde?" (Where is Hilde?)
• Person 2: "Hun er på jobb." (She is at work.)

• Person 1: "Dere er flinke til å spille piano." (You are good at playing the piano.)
• Person 2: "Takk skal du ha!" (Thank you!)

Remember to match the form of "å være" with the subject of the sentence. For example, "jeg er" for "I am", "du er" for "you are" (singular informal), and "de er" for "they are".

Past Tense

Next, let's take a look at the past tense forms of "å være" (to be):

Norwegian Bokmål	Pronunciation	English
jeg var	yei vahr	I was
du var	doo vahr	you were (singular informal)
han / hun / den var	hahn / hoon / dehn vahr	he / she / it was
vi var	vee vahr	we were
dere var	deh-reh vahr	you were (plural or singular formal)
de var	deh vahr	they were

Here are a few examples to illustrate how to use "å være" in the past tense:

• Person 1: "Hvordan var festen i går?" (How was the party yesterday?)
• Person 2: "Den var veldig morsom." (It was very fun.)

• Person 1: "Var du på kino i går?" (Were you at the cinema yesterday?)
• Person 2: "Ja, jeg var på kino med noen venner." (Yes, I was at the cinema with some friends.)

• Person 1: "I går var vi på fjelltur." (Yesterday we went on a hike.)
• Person 2: "Så gøy! Hvordan var turen?" (How fun! What was the hike like?)

Remember that the past tense of "å være" is used to talk about things that have already happened, while the present tense is used to talk about things that are happening now.

Negation

To create a negative sentence in Norwegian, you simply add "ikke" after the verb. Let's look at a few examples:

• Person 1: "Er du sulten?" (Are you hungry?)
• Person 2: "Nei, jeg er ikke sulten." (No, I am not hungry.)

• Person 1: "Var du på jobb i dag?" (Were you at work today?)
• Person 2: "Nei, jeg var ikke på jobb i dag." (No, I was not at work today.)

• Person 1: "Er boken din interessant?" (Is your book interesting?)
• Person 2: "Nei, den er ikke så veldig interessant." (No, it is not very interesting.)

Word Order

In Norwegian, the word order of a sentence is generally subject-verb-object (SVO). Let's see how "å være" fits into this structure:

• Jeg er lærer. (I am a teacher.)

Here, "jeg" (I) is the subject, "er" (am) is the verb, and "lærer" (teacher) is the object.

• Hun var på kino i går. (She was at the cinema yesterday.)

Here, "hun" (she) is the subject, "var" (was) is the verb, and "på kino i går" (at the cinema yesterday) is the object.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have completed the lesson on how to use "å være" in Norwegian Bokmål! Remember to practice using the examples we have covered, and don't hesitate to reach out to find native speakers and ask them any questions. To improve your Norwegian Bokmål grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website.

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➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Personal pronouns & Gender.

Other Lessons

• Questions
• How to Use Have
• Adjectives
• Future Tense
• Plurals
• Gender
• Nouns
• Conditional Mood
• Give your Opinion