Nouns are the building blocks of vocabulary, and in Norwegian, every noun carries a grammatical gender that affects how it is used in sentences. For learners coming from English — a language that has abandoned grammatical gender almost entirely — this is one of the first hurdles to overcome. Norwegian has up to three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), though how many you need to actively use depends on which written standard and dialect you're working with. This guide explains the gender system fully, covers definite and indefinite articles, and walks through plurals and declension — everything you need to handle Norwegian nouns with confidence.
The Norwegian Gender System
Norwegian nouns belong to one of three grammatical genders:
- Masculine (hankjønn)
- Feminine (hunkjønn)
- Neuter (intetkønn)
In Nynorsk and most spoken dialects, all three genders are actively used. In standard Bokmål as written by many newspapers and publishers, masculine and feminine are often merged into common gender (felleskjønn), effectively creating a two-gender system.
This means:
- If you're learning Nynorsk: learn all three genders
- If you're learning Bokmål: you can start with two genders (common and neuter) and add the feminine later for more natural speech
For this guide, we'll cover all three genders, noting where the two-gender system applies.
Indefinite Articles
The indefinite article ("a/an") varies by gender:
- Masculine — en — en mann — a man
- Feminine — ei — ei jente — a girl
- Neuter — et — et barn — a child
In two-gender Bokmål, feminine nouns often take en instead of ei:
- en jente (Bokmål common) or ei jente (Nynorsk / spoken Norwegian)
Both are correct in Bokmål. Ei is more common in speech and is mandatory in Nynorsk.
Definite Articles: Suffixes
Like the other Scandinavian languages, Norwegian attaches the definite article ("the") as a suffix to the end of the noun:
- Masculine — en mann — -en — mannen (the man)
- Feminine — ei jente — -a — jenta (the girl)
- Neuter — et barn — -et — barnet (the child)
In two-gender Bokmål, feminine nouns may also take -en:
- jenten (Bokmål common form) or jenta (spoken/Nynorsk)
Neuter nouns ending in a vowel take -t instead of -et:
- et eple (an apple) → eplet (the apple)
Further examples:
Masculine:
- en hund → hunden (the dog)
- en dag → dagen (the day)
- en bil → bilen (the car)
- en gutt → gutten (the boy)
Feminine:
- ei bok → boka (the book)
- ei sol → sola (the sun)
- ei natt → natta (the night)
- ei dør → døra (the door)
Note: ei bok / boka — book is feminine in Norwegian, unlike in English where "book" has no gender.
Neuter:
- et hus → huset (the house)
- et barn → barnet (the child)
- et land → landet (the country)
- et år → året (the year)
Noun Gender: How to Know Which Is Which
Unfortunately, there are no complete rules for predicting a Norwegian noun's gender. The best approach is to learn each noun with its gender. However, some patterns help:
Usually Masculine
- Most nouns referring to male people and male animals: en far (father), en bror (brother), en okse (ox)
- Days, months, and seasons: en mandag, en januar, en vinter
- Most nouns ending in -er (agent nouns): en lærer (teacher), en baker (baker)
- Nouns ending in -else: en følelse (feeling)
- Nouns ending in -het: en frihet (freedom), en mulighet (possibility)
- Nouns ending in -ning: en mening (opinion), en regjering (government)
- Nouns ending in -ion/-sjon: en nasjon (nation), en stasjon (station)
Usually Feminine
- Nouns referring to female people and female animals: ei mor (mother), ei søster (sister), ei ku (cow)
- Many abstract nouns: ei tid (time), ei kraft (force), ei ånd (spirit)
- Most nouns ending in -ing that are not agent nouns: ei samling (collection), ei åpning (opening)
Note: Many nouns that are feminine in speech appear as masculine in formal Bokmål writing. This is a deliberate stylistic choice by some publishers.
Usually Neuter
- Verbal nouns (infinitive used as noun): et arbeid (work), et møte (meeting)
- Nouns ending in -eri: et bakeri (bakery), et bibliotek (library) — wait, this ends in -ek; et bakeri is a better example
- Nouns ending in -skap (often): et vennskap (friendship), et ekteskap (marriage)
- Nouns ending in -ium: et laboratorium
- Many short monosyllabic nouns: et ord (word), et rom (room), et brev (letter), et lys (light)
- Countries and place names (often): et land (country/land), Norge (Norway) — treated as neuter in expressions like det vakre Norge
These are tendencies. A dictionary always shows the gender.
Plurals
Norwegian nouns have several plural endings depending on the noun's gender and syllable structure.
Common Plural Endings
Masculine nouns:
- Many take -er: en mann → menn (irregular), en bil → biler (cars), en gutt → gutter (boys)
- Some take -er with stem vowel change: en mann → menn (men), en fot → føtter (feet), en tann → tenner (teeth)
Feminine nouns:
- Many take -er: ei jente → jenter (girls), ei bok → bøker (books — with vowel change)
- Some take -er : ei dør → dører (doors)
Neuter nouns:
- Short neuter nouns (one syllable) are unchanged in the indefinite plural: et hus → hus (houses), et barn → barn (children), et år → år (years)
- Longer neuter nouns take -er: et vindu → vinduer (windows), et møte → møter (meetings)
Summary of Plural Patterns
- Masculine — en bil — biler
- Masculine (change) — en mann — menn
- Feminine — ei jente — jenter
- Feminine (change) — ei bok — bøker
- Neuter (short) — et hus — hus
- Neuter (long) — et vindu — vinduer
Definite Plural
The definite plural is formed by adding -ene to the indefinite plural (or to the noun's base for unchanged plurals):
- biler — bilene — the cars
- menn — mennene — the men
- jenter — jentene — the girls
- bøker — bøkene — the books
- hus — husene — the houses
- barn — barna / barnene — the children
- vinduer — vinduene — the windows
- dager — dagene — the days
Note: Short neuter nouns in the definite plural can take -ene or (in some words) -a: barna / barnene (the children) — both are used.
Nouns After Adjectives: Using the Free-standing Definite
When an adjective precedes a noun in the definite form, Norwegian uses a free-standing definite article (den, det, de) before the adjective, in addition to the noun's own definite suffix. This is the same "double definiteness" feature seen in Swedish.
- Masculine/Feminine (singular) — den — den store mannen (the big man)
- Neuter (singular) — det — det gamle huset (the old house)
- Plural (all genders) — de — de unge jentene (the young girls)
The adjective always takes the -e ending in definite contexts:
- den røde bilen — the red car
- det nye huset — the new house
- de gamle mennene — the old men
- den vakre jenta — the beautiful girl
Compound Nouns
Norwegian (like all Scandinavian languages and German) forms compound nouns by combining two or more words into one. The gender of the compound is determined by the last element:
- en hund (dog) + et hus (house) = et hundehus (doghouse — neuter because hus is neuter)
- en bil (car) + et kjøring → en bilkjøring (car driving — masculine because the last element is masculine)
Compound nouns are written as one word in Norwegian — unlike English, which often separates them or hyphenates them.
Common examples:
- en fotballspiller — a football player
- et barnehage → wait, en barnehage — a kindergarten (hage = garden, masculine)
- et juletre — a Christmas tree (tre = tree, neuter)
- en kaffekopp — a coffee cup (kopp = cup, masculine)
Genitive: Showing Possession
Norwegian forms the genitive (possession) simply by adding -s to the noun, with no apostrophe:
- mannens hatt — the man's hat
- Norges natur — Norway's nature
- bilens farge — the car's colour
- barnas leker — the children's toys
- jentas venner — the girl's friends
This group genitive attaches to the last word of a noun phrase:
- kongen av Norges slott — the castle of the king of Norway
Practical Vocabulary: Common Nouns by Gender
Masculine: en bil (car), en dag (day), en mann (man), en gutt (boy), en hund (dog), en venn (friend), en skole (school), en jobb (job), en film (film), en natt (night — also feminine)
Feminine: ei jente (girl), ei bok (book), ei sol (sun), ei dør (door), ei tid (time), ei bygning (building), ei gate (street), ei hand (hand), ei hytte (cabin)
Neuter: et hus (house), et barn (child), et år (year), et land (country), et ord (word), et rom (room), et brev (letter), et møte (meeting), et bord (table), et vindu (window)
Tips for Learning Norwegian Noun Gender
Always learn the article with the noun. Write en bil, ei bok, et hus — never just bil, bok, hus. The article is part of the word.
Start with masculine and neuter. If you're learning Bokmål, masculine/common and neuter cover the vast majority of written usage. Feminine can be added as your proficiency grows.
Notice patterns in word endings. While not absolute, the -het, -else, -ning, -ion patterns for masculine and -skap, -eri patterns for neuter are reliable starting points.
Use Nynorsk resources to reinforce feminine gender. Even if you're primarily learning Bokmål, encountering Nynorsk texts helps you see the three-gender system in operation, which matches how most Norwegians actually speak.
Practise plurals in definite form. Getting the definite plural right (bilene, husene, jentene) takes repetition. Use Norwegian audio and try to produce definite plurals in conversation whenever possible. Lykke til!