A handful of words does most of the work in everyday Norwegian: pronouns, prepositions, and the verbs you'll hear in nearly every conversation. This list covers Bokmål, the written standard most learners meet first, and gives you the hundred words worth learning before anything else.
How to use this list
Do not work through this list top to bottom. Read down it and mark only the words you could not have produced yourself. Those are your list. The rest are already yours, and reviewing them is wasted effort better spent on words you actually meet in reading, conversation, or subtitles.
The 100 words
| # | Norwegian | English | In use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | og | and | Jeg liker kaffe og te.I like coffee and tea. |
| 2 | i | in | Boken ligger i sekken.The book is in the bag. |
| 3 | jeg | I | Jeg bor i Oslo.I live in Oslo. |
| 4 | det | it / that | Det regner ute.It's raining outside. |
| 5 | at | that (conjunction) | Jeg tror at han kommer i morgen.I think that he's coming tomorrow. |
| 6 | en | a / an (common gender) | Jeg så en katt i hagen.I saw a cat in the garden. |
| 7 | et | a / an (neuter) | Hun kjøpte et hus i fjor.She bought a house last year. |
| 8 | den | it / that (common gender) | Bilen er rød, den er ny.The car is red, it is new. |
| 9 | til | to | Vi skal reise til Bergen.We're going to travel to Bergen. |
| 10 | er | am / is / are | Han er lærer.He is a teacher. |
| 11 | som | who / which / that | Mannen som bor der er min onkel.The man who lives there is my uncle. |
| 12 | på | on | Boken ligger på bordet.The book is on the table. |
| 13 | de | they | De bor i Trondheim.They live in Trondheim. |
| 14 | med | with | Jeg skal gå med deg.I will walk with you. |
| 15 | han | he | Han spiller fotball hver dag.He plays soccer every day. |
| 16 | av | of / by | Denne boken er skrevet av en norsk forfatter.This book is written by a Norwegian author. |
| 17 | ikke | not | Jeg forstår ikke spørsmålet.I don't understand the question. |
| 18 | der | there | Huset der borte er mitt.The house over there is mine. |
| 19 | så | so / then | Jeg var sulten, så jeg spiste.I was hungry, so I ate. |
| 20 | var | was / were | Festen var veldig hyggelig.The party was very nice. |
| 21 | meg | me | Kan du hjelpe meg?Can you help me? |
| 22 | seg | himself / herself / themselves | Hun kledde seg raskt.She got dressed quickly. |
| 23 | men | but | Jeg vil komme, men jeg har ikke tid.I want to come, but I don't have time. |
| 24 | har | have | Vi har to barn.We have two children. |
| 25 | om | about / if / around | Filmen handler om krigen.The movie is about the war. |
| 26 | vi | we | Vi spiser middag klokken sju.We eat dinner at seven o'clock. |
| 27 | min | my / mine | Dette er min bror.This is my brother. |
| 28 | fra | from | Han kommer fra Sverige.He comes from Sweden. |
| 29 | hva | what | Hva gjør du i kveld?What are you doing tonight? |
| 30 | skal | shall / will | Jeg skal ringe deg senere.I will call you later. |
| 31 | hun | she | Hun jobber på et sykehus.She works at a hospital. |
| 32 | nå | now | Jeg må gå nå.I have to go now. |
| 33 | over | over | Fuglen fløy over huset.The bird flew over the house. |
| 34 | da | then / when | Da jeg var barn, bodde jeg på landet.When I was a child, I lived in the countryside. |
| 35 | ved | by / at | Vi møttes ved stasjonen.We met by the station. |
| 36 | kan | can | Kan du hjelpe meg med dette?Can you help me with this? |
| 37 | noe | something | Jeg trenger noe å drikke.I need something to drink. |
| 38 | vil | want / will | Jeg vil lære norsk.I want to learn Norwegian. |
| 39 | du | you | Hvor bor du?Where do you live? |
| 40 | si | to say | Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal si.I don't know what to say. |
| 41 | når | when | Når kommer toget?When does the train arrive? |
| 42 | være | to be | Det er godt å være hjemme.It's nice to be home. |
| 43 | mye | much / a lot | Vi har mye å gjøre i dag.We have a lot to do today. |
| 44 | etter | after | Vi går på kino etter middag.We're going to the cinema after dinner. |
| 45 | opp | up | Kan du gå opp trappen?Can you go up the stairs? |
| 46 | selv | self / myself | Jeg lagde middagen selv.I made the dinner myself. |
| 47 | hvor | where | Hvor er nøklene mine?Where are my keys? |
| 48 | ut | out | Vi går ut i kveld.We're going out tonight. |
| 49 | sier | says | Hun sier alltid sannheten.She always tells the truth. |
| 50 | noen | someone / some | Er det noen hjemme?Is anyone home? |
| 51 | eller | or | Vil du ha kaffe eller te?Do you want coffee or tea? |
| 52 | godt | well / good | Maten smakte veldig godt.The food tasted very good. |
| 53 | gjøre | to do | Hva skal du gjøre i helgen?What are you going to do this weekend? |
| 54 | dette | this (neuter) | Dette er huset mitt.This is my house. |
| 55 | denne | this (common gender) | Denne boken er interessant.This book is interesting. |
| 56 | deres | their / theirs | Dette er deres bil.This is their car. |
| 57 | tid | time | Jeg har ikke tid nå.I don't have time now. |
| 58 | gjennom | through | Vi gikk gjennom parken.We walked through the park. |
| 59 | igjen | again | Kan du si det igjen?Can you say that again? |
| 60 | år | year | Han er tretti år gammel.He is thirty years old. |
| 61 | sin | his / her / its (reflexive) | Hun tok med seg sin bror.She brought her brother along. |
| 62 | bare | only / just | Jeg vil bare hvile litt.I just want to rest a bit. |
| 63 | inn | in (motion) | Kom inn og sett deg.Come in and sit down. |
| 64 | alle | all / everyone | Alle barna lekte i hagen.All the children played in the garden. |
| 65 | mot | against / towards | Han løp mot huset.He ran towards the house. |
| 66 | under | under | Katten sover under bordet.The cat sleeps under the table. |
| 67 | vet | know | Jeg vet ikke svaret.I don't know the answer. |
| 68 | sa | said | Hun sa at hun kom snart.She said that she was coming soon. |
| 69 | veldig | very | Det er veldig kaldt i dag.It's very cold today. |
| 70 | komme | to come | Kan du komme i morgen?Can you come tomorrow? |
| 71 | gå | to go / walk | Vi skal gå til butikken.We're going to walk to the store. |
| 72 | se | to see | Jeg vil gjerne se deg igjen.I would love to see you again. |
| 73 | må | must | Jeg må dra nå.I have to leave now. |
| 74 | blir | becomes | Det blir kaldere i kveld.It's going to get colder tonight. |
| 75 | ble | became | Hun ble veldig glad.She became very happy. |
| 76 | ting | thing | Jeg har mange ting å gjøre.I have many things to do. |
| 77 | liten | small | Han bor i en liten leilighet.He lives in a small apartment. |
| 78 | stor | big | De har et stort hus.They have a big house. |
| 79 | mann | man | Den mannen er læreren min.That man is my teacher. |
| 80 | kvinne | woman | Kvinnen som snakket er advokat.The woman who spoke is a lawyer. |
| 81 | barn | child | Barnet leker i hagen.The child is playing in the garden. |
| 82 | dag | day | Det var en fin dag.It was a nice day. |
| 83 | hus | house | Vi kjøpte et nytt hus.We bought a new house. |
| 84 | by | city / town | Oslo er en fin by.Oslo is a nice city. |
| 85 | land | country | Norge er et vakkert land.Norway is a beautiful country. |
| 86 | verden | world | Han har reist over hele verden.He has traveled all over the world. |
| 87 | liv | life | Hun lever et lykkelig liv.She lives a happy life. |
| 88 | arbeid | work | Han begynner på arbeid klokken åtte.He starts work at eight o'clock. |
| 89 | vann | water | Kan jeg få et glass vann?Can I have a glass of water? |
| 90 | hånd | hand | Han holdt hennes hånd.He held her hand. |
| 91 | øye | eye | Hun lukket det ene øyet.She closed one eye. |
| 92 | hode | head | Jeg har vondt i hodet.My head hurts. |
| 93 | venn | friend | Han er min beste venn.He is my best friend. |
| 94 | familie | family | Jeg tilbringer jul med familien.I spend Christmas with my family. |
| 95 | penger | money | Jeg har ikke nok penger.I don't have enough money. |
| 96 | to | two | Vi har to katter.We have two cats. |
| 97 | tre | three | Klokken er tre nå.It's three o'clock now. |
| 98 | første | first | Dette er min første tur til Norge.This is my first trip to Norway. |
| 99 | siste | last | Dette er den siste boken i serien.This is the last book in the series. |
| 100 | god | good | Ha en god dag!Have a good day! |
The ones English speakers get wrong
Bokmål vs. Nynorsk
Norway has two official written standards, and this list uses Bokmål, the one most learners and most Norwegians actually write. Nynorsk uses different word forms for many of these same words, for example 'eg' instead of 'jeg' for I, so don't be surprised if a Norwegian text looks unfamiliar even once you know this list well.
en/et and den/det
Like Dutch and German, Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender that decides which article and pronoun they take. Common-gender nouns use 'en' and 'den' ('en katt,' 'den er søt'), while neuter nouns use 'et' and 'det' ('et hus,' 'det er stort'). There's no shortcut, you learn the gender with the word.
sin vs. hans
'Sin' refers back to the subject of its own clause, as in 'Han tok sin bok' (he took his own book). 'Hans' is used when the possessor is someone other than the subject, as in 'Han tok hans bok' (he took his, meaning another man's, book). English 'his' covers both cases, which is exactly why this trips learners up.
False friend: eventuelt
'Eventuelt' looks like 'eventually' but actually means 'possibly' or 'if applicable.' To say 'eventually' in Norwegian, use 'til slutt' instead.
på does a lot of work
The preposition 'på' can mean 'on,' 'at,' or 'in' depending on context: 'på bordet' (on the table), 'på jobb' (at work), 'på kino' (at the cinema). There's rarely a one-to-one match with English prepositions, so it's worth learning common phrases whole rather than translating word by word.
What to do next
A list this size is about two weeks of light daily review, and it is the difference between decoding Norwegian and following it.