The past tense is one of the first things you need to communicate meaningfully in any language — telling stories, describing what happened, explaining your background. In Norwegian, the past tense system is more regular than many learners expect. Once you understand the four verb classes and their past tense patterns, you'll be able to conjugate the majority of Norwegian verbs correctly without consulting a dictionary. This guide covers weak verbs, strong verbs, irregular verbs, and the compound past tenses (perfect and pluperfect) that give you the full range of past expression in Norwegian.
The Foundation: Norwegian Verb Classes
Norwegian verbs are divided into weak verbs (which form the past by adding a suffix) and strong verbs (which form the past by changing the stem vowel, like English sing/sang). The vast majority of Norwegian verbs are weak.
Weak verbs are further divided into classes based on which suffix they use. Understanding the class system is the key to mastering the past tense.
One crucial feature of Norwegian verb conjugation: the verb form is the same for all persons. There is no "I spoke / he spoke / they spoke" distinction — all persons use the same past tense form. This is the same as in Swedish and Danish, and it's a major simplification.
Weak Verbs: Class 1 (-et / -a)
Class 1 is the largest group of Norwegian verbs. These are verbs whose stem ends in more than one consonant, or in a long vowel + consonant. In Bokmål, they take the past tense ending -et (written form) or -a (spoken/informal and also an official Bokmål variant).
Both -et and -a are accepted in Bokmål; -a is the only form in Nynorsk.
Infinitive stem + -et:
- å snakke — snakket — snakka — spoke
- å jobbe — jobbet — jobba — worked
- å høre — hørte — — — heard
- å lese — leste — — — read
- å åpne — åpnet — åpna — opened
- å tenke — tenkte — — — thought
- Vi snakket om det i går. — We talked about it yesterday.
- Hun jobbet hele helgen. — She worked the whole weekend.
Weak Verbs: Class 2 (-te)
Class 2 verbs have stems ending in a single consonant after a short vowel (or specific consonant groups). They take the past tense ending -te (no -et option here).
- å kjøpe — kjøpte — bought
- å reise — reiste — travelled
- å hjelpe — hjalp — helped (irregular — see strong)
- å like — likte — liked
- å stoppe — stoppet — stopped (class 1)
- å flytte — flyttet — moved (class 1)
- å ringe — ringte — called/rang
- å bruke — brukte — used
- å møte — møtte — met
- Jeg kjøpte en ny jakke. — I bought a new jacket.
- De reiste til Bergen i sommer. — They travelled to Bergen this summer.
- Han ringte meg tre ganger. — He called me three times.
Weak Verbs: Class 3 (-dde)
Class 3 verbs have infinitives ending in a stressed long vowel (other than -e). They take the past tense ending -dde:
- å bo — bodde — lived/resided
- å tro — trodde — believed/thought
- å nå — nådde — reached
- å sy — sydde — sewed
- å bety — betydde — meant
- Hun bodde i Oslo i mange år. — She lived in Oslo for many years.
- Jeg trodde han kom. — I thought he was coming.
- Det betydde mye for oss. — It meant a lot to us.
Weak Verbs: Class 4 (-dde / irregular)
Some short verbs with stem ending in a vowel take -dde but with vowel changes or other adjustments. A small group.
Strong Verbs: Vowel Change
Strong verbs form the past tense by changing the stem vowel, with no suffix added (or just a -t in some forms). These are the irregular verbs of Norwegian, and the most common ones need to be memorised. However, they fall into recognisable vowel-change patterns:
Common Vowel Change Patterns
i → ei/a: | Infinitive | Past | Meaning | |------------|------|---------| | å skrive | skrev | wrote | | å bite | bet | bit | | å drikke | drakk | drank | | å finne | fant | found | | å hjelpe | hjalp | helped | | å sitte | satt | sat | | å ligge | lå | lay |
e → a: | Infinitive | Past | Meaning | |------------|------|---------| | å treffe | traff | met/hit | | å velge | valgte | chose |
y → ø: | Infinitive | Past | Meaning | |------------|------|---------| | å flytte | — | moved (class 1) | | å fryse | frøs | froze |
Other vowel changes: | Infinitive | Past | Meaning | |------------|------|---------| | å gå | gikk | went | | å stå | sto/stod | stood | | å se | så | saw | | å ta | tok | took | | å gi | ga/gav | gave | | å få | fikk | got/received | | å bli | ble | became/stayed | | å ha | hadde | had | | å være | var | was/were | | å gjøre | gjorde | did/made | | å si | sa | said | | å vite | visste | knew | | å komme | kom | came | | å slå | slo | hit/struck | | å bære | bar | carried |
The Most Important Irregular Verbs
These are the verbs you will use every single day. Learn them first:
- å være — er — var — to be
- å ha — har — hadde — to have
- å gjøre — gjør — gjorde — to do/make
- å gå — går — gikk — to go
- å komme — kommer — kom — to come
- å si — sier — sa — to say
- å se — ser — så — to see
- å ta — tar — tok — to take
- å gi — gir — ga — to give
- å få — får — fikk — to get
- å bli — blir — ble — to become/stay
- å vite — vet — visste — to know (fact)
- å kunne — kan — kunne — to be able to
- å ville — vil — ville — to want/will
- å skulle — skal — skulle — shall/should
- å måtte — må — måtte — must/had to
- å burde — bør — burde — should/ought to
The Past Participle: Building Block for Compound Tenses
The past participle is the form used in the perfect and pluperfect tenses (combined with har/hadde). It differs from the simple past form and needs to be learned separately.
Weak verbs — past participle:
- 1 — snakke — snakket/a — snakket
- 1 — lese — leste — lest
- 2 — kjøpe — kjøpte — kjøpt
- 2 — ringe — ringte — ringt
- 3 — bo — bodde — bodd
- 3 — tro — trodde — trodd
Strong verbs — past participle (often ends in -et or -t with a different vowel):
- skrive — skrev — skrevet
- drikke — drakk — drukket
- finne — fant — funnet
- sitte — satt — sittet
- se — så — sett
- ta — tok — tatt
- gå — gikk — gått
- gi — ga — gitt
- bli — ble — blitt
- gjøre — gjorde — gjort
- si — sa — sagt
- være — var — vært
- ha — hadde — hatt
- komme — kom — kommet
The Perfect Tense (Presens Perfektum)
The perfect tense describes a past action with current relevance, or asks about experience. It is formed with:
har + past participle
- Jeg har snakket med ham. — I have spoken with him.
- Hun har aldri vært i Norge. — She has never been in Norway.
- Har du lest den boken? — Have you read that book?
- Vi har nettopp spist middag. — We have just eaten dinner.
- De har bodd her i fem år. — They have lived here for five years.
Simple Past vs. Perfect
The distinction works similarly to English:
- Simple past (snakket) — used for events clearly completed in the past, often with a specific time: Jeg snakket med ham i går. (I spoke with him yesterday.)
- Perfect (har snakket) — used when the time is unspecified, or the result is still relevant: Jeg har snakket med ham. (I have spoken with him.)
In practice, especially in spoken Norwegian, the perfect is used more broadly and the distinction is not always strict.
The Pluperfect Tense (Preteritum Perfektum)
The pluperfect (past before the past) is formed with:
hadde + past participle
- Jeg hadde allerede spist da han kom. — I had already eaten when he arrived.
- Hun hadde glemt nøklene sine hjemme. — She had forgotten her keys at home.
- De hadde bodd der i ti år før de flyttet. — They had lived there for ten years before they moved.
The pluperfect is straightforward — simply substitute hadde for har.
Passive Past Forms
Norwegian forms the passive past in two main ways:
-s passive (past tense):
- Boken ble skrevet av ham. — The book was written by him.
- Møtet ble avholdt i går. — The meeting was held yesterday.
Bli + past participle:
- Han ble sett på torget. — He was seen in the square.
- Vinduet ble knust. — The window was broken.
Practical Tips for Mastering the Norwegian Past Tense
Learn the three principal parts of each verb. For every new verb, note: infinitive, simple past, past participle. This gives you everything you need for all past tenses.
Start with Class 1 (-et/-a). It covers the majority of Norwegian verbs and all new verbs that enter the language. Mastering snakket/snakket, jobbet/jobbet gives you the largest payoff fastest.
Learn the top 20 strong verbs by heart. The most common strong verbs (være, ha, gå, komme, se, ta, gi, få, bli, gjøre, si, vite) appear in almost every conversation. Drilling these as vocabulary will make them automatic.
Notice that simple past and past participle often differ. Don't confuse drakk (drank — simple past) with drukket (drunk — past participle). Using the wrong form in a compound tense (har drakk instead of har drukket) is a common error.
Use authentic Norwegian audio. NRK podcasts, TV series, and films expose you to the past tense in natural contexts, helping you absorb the patterns through listening as well as study. Lykke til!