Norway has two official written standards for the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk. For most learners coming from outside Norway, this comes as a surprise — and a reasonable question follows immediately: which one should I learn? To answer that well, you need to understand what the two standards actually are, where they came from, how they differ, and how Norwegians themselves relate to them today. This article covers all of that.
A Language with Two Written Standards
The existence of two written Norwegian standards is not simply a matter of regional dialect. It reflects a deep historical and political conflict about Norwegian national identity, especially in the period following centuries of Danish rule.
Norway was in a union with Denmark from 1380 to 1814. During this time, the written language used in administration, church, and literature was Danish. When Norway gained a degree of independence in 1814 and full independence in 1905, Norwegians faced a question that had cultural weight beyond mere linguistics: what should Norwegian writing look like?
Two answers emerged, championed by different movements and reformers.
The Origins of Bokmål
Bokmål (literally "book language") evolved from Dano-Norwegian — the written Danish that educated urban Norwegians had used for centuries, but gradually adapted with Norwegian pronunciations, words, and forms. It was long called Riksmål (national language) and remains most closely connected to the speech of Oslo and other urban centres.
The linguist and poet Knud Knudsen (1812–1895) was an early champion of gradually Norwegianising the Danish writing system to reflect how educated urban Norwegians actually spoke. Later, the language received the name Bokmål and has undergone several official spelling reforms (in 1907, 1917, 1938, 1959, and 2005).
Today, Bokmål is by far the more widely used of the two standards. Roughly 85–90% of Norwegians use Bokmål as their primary written form. It is the language of most Norwegian newspapers, television, books, and online content.
The Origins of Nynorsk
Nynorsk (literally "New Norwegian") was created from scratch by the linguist and self-taught philologist Ivar Aasen (1813–1896). Aasen was born in a rural area of western Norway and was deeply concerned that written Norwegian was simply Danish with a Norwegian accent — not a genuine expression of the Norwegian language as spoken by ordinary people across the country.
Starting in the 1840s, Aasen travelled across Norway collecting dialects, particularly from rural western and inland regions that had been less influenced by Danish. He synthesised these into a coherent written standard, which he called Landsmål (language of the land). It was later renamed Nynorsk.
Nynorsk was intended to represent the "authentic" Norwegian speech of the countryside, as opposed to the urban Dano-Norwegian of the elite. It draws heavily on dialects from western Norway (Vestlandet) and inland regions.
Today, Nynorsk is the primary written form for approximately 10–15% of Norwegians, primarily in western Norway. It is also used in some newspapers, in radio and television broadcasting (NRK is required by law to have a certain percentage of Nynorsk content), and in literature.
How Norwegian Schools Handle the Two Standards
All Norwegian students in the public school system must learn both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The one you use as your primary written standard depends on which municipality you're schooled in — around 4% of municipalities use Nynorsk as the primary form in schools, mostly in western Norway.
Students take exams in both standards, though one is designated their "main form" and the other their "secondary form" (sidemål). This dual requirement is a source of some controversy among Norwegians — many students find learning two written standards a burden, and there have been persistent political debates about whether to make Nynorsk optional.
Key Differences Between Bokmål and Nynorsk
1. Definite Article Suffixes
This is one of the most immediately visible differences. Norwegian has three grammatical genders — masculine, feminine, and neuter — but Bokmål in its most common usage has largely merged masculine and feminine into common gender (using -en for both).
Nynorsk fully preserves all three genders:
- Masculine — en mann (a man), mannen (the man), mannen (the man)
- Feminine — ei jente (a girl), jenta (the girl), jenta (the girl)
- Neuter — et barn (a child), barnet (the child), barnet (the child)
In Bokmål, many speakers and writers use -en for both masculine and feminine nouns (treating them as common gender). Nynorsk requires the feminine -a ending for feminine nouns and uses ei as the indefinite article.
In spoken Norwegian, most dialects preserve the feminine gender — it's really only in formal or written Bokmål that it tends to disappear.
2. Indefinite Articles
- Bokmål — en, en (or ei in informal/radical Bokmål), et
- Nynorsk — ein, ei, eit
Nynorsk uses ein/ei/eit, which are closer to the spoken forms found across many Norwegian dialects.
3. Personal Pronouns
Some pronouns differ notably between the two standards:
- I — jeg, eg
- We — vi, vi
- They — de, dei
- You (plural) — dere, de/dokker
- She — hun, ho
- It (common) — den, han/ho
- It (neuter) — det, det
The Nynorsk forms are generally closer to West Norwegian dialects.
4. Verb Infinitives
Bokmål infinitives typically end in -e:
- å snakke (to speak)
- å lese (to read)
- å skrive (to write)
Nynorsk infinitives end in -a (though some have -e in certain verb classes):
- å snakka (to speak)
- å lesa (to read)
- å skriva (to write)
This -a ending is one of the most audible and visible markers of Nynorsk.
5. Past Tense of Weak Verbs
Bokmål typically forms the past tense with -et or -te:
- snakke → snakket (spoke)
- lese → leste (read)
- kjøpe → kjøpte (bought)
Nynorsk uses -a for many weak verbs:
- snakka → snakka (spoke)
- lesa → las (read — this is actually a strong verb)
- kjøpa → kjøpte (bought)
The -a ending in past tense is another distinctive Nynorsk feature.
6. Vocabulary Differences
Some words are simply different between the two standards:
- Now — nå, no
- And — og, og
- Not — ikke, ikkje
- What — hva, kva
- Where — hvor, kvar
- How — hvordan, korleis
- Much/many — mye/mange, mykje/mange
- Little — liten/lite, liten/lite
- To know — å vite, å vita/veta
The negation word is particularly striking: ikke (Bokmål) vs ikkje (Nynorsk). Anyone who has heard Norwegian dialects will notice that ikkje is the form used across much of western and central Norway in speech, while ikke dominates in the east and in formal Bokmål contexts.
Flexibility Within Each Standard
Both Bokmål and Nynorsk are not rigid single forms — each has official optional forms that allow for variation. This was particularly true in the mid-twentieth century, when Norwegian language authorities attempted to gradually merge the two standards into a single form called Samnorsk (Common Norwegian). That project was ultimately abandoned, but it left both standards with considerable internal flexibility.
Bokmål ranges from conservative Bokmål (closer to traditional Riksmål, preferred by urban elites and major newspapers like Aftenposten) to radical Bokmål (with more -a forms and spellings closer to Norwegian dialects).
Nynorsk has also seen reforms and has its own spectrum of more traditional and more modern forms.
Which Should You Learn?
If you are learning Norwegian as a foreign language, Bokmål is almost certainly the better choice for the following reasons:
- The vast majority of written Norwegian material — books, websites, news, subtitles — is in Bokmål.
- Bokmål is the dominant written form in Oslo and most urban centres.
- Language learning resources (apps, courses, textbooks) almost universally teach Bokmål.
- Understanding Bokmål gives you a solid foundation for also understanding Nynorsk texts, since the differences, while real, are not so vast as to make Nynorsk incomprehensible to a Bokmål learner.
That said, there are reasons you might choose to focus on Nynorsk:
- You have personal or family connections to western Norway
- You are particularly interested in Norwegian literature (Nynorsk has a rich literary tradition)
- You want to work in Norwegian local government in a Nynorsk municipality
Either way, learning one will give you useful insight into the other, and Norwegians — who grow up learning both — will appreciate any effort you make in either form.
A Note on Spoken Norwegian
Neither Bokmål nor Nynorsk is a spoken language in the way that, say, standard French is the spoken norm in France. Norwegians speak in dialects, and there is no single universally accepted spoken standard. This is important context for the Bokmål/Nynorsk debate: in speech, the distinction largely disappears, replaced by hundreds of regional dialects.
When watching Norwegian TV or talking to Norwegians, you will hear enormous variety in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. This is normal and accepted. Norwegians are generally proud of their dialects and do not feel pressure to adopt a standard spoken form — a remarkable feature of Norwegian linguistic culture.
Summary
- Origin — Evolved from Dano-Norwegian, Created by Ivar Aasen from rural dialects
- Users — ~85–90% of Norwegians, ~10–15% of Norwegians
- Base dialects — Urban, East Norwegian, Rural, West Norwegian
- Feminine gender — Optional (often merged with masculine), Mandatory
- Infinitive ending — -e, -a
- "Not" — ikke, ikkje
- "I" — jeg, eg
- Weak past tense — -et/-te, -a (for many verbs)
Bokmål and Nynorsk are not two separate languages but two written expressions of the same language — Norwegian. Understanding both, even if you primarily learn one, gives you a richer picture of Norwegian culture, history, and identity. And it gives you a genuine edge if you ever find yourself in the beautiful fjords of western Norway, where ikkje is the word you'll hear everywhere. God læring!