Common Irregular Verbs in Norwegian

In Brief

Common Norwegian irregular verbs do not form the past simply by adding a predictable ending. Learn each verb as a set of principal forms: gå – går – gikk – gått (“go – goes – went – gone”). The same verb form is used with every person, so once you know gikk, you can use it with jeg, du, vi, and all other subjects.

Overview

Norwegian verbs are unusually friendly in one important way: they do not change according to the subject. English has I go but she goes; Norwegian uses går in both jeg går and hun går. This remains true in the past: jeg gikk, hun gikk, and de gikk all use the same form.

The challenge is choosing the right form for the tense. Many frequent verbs are irregular, meaning that their past forms cannot be produced reliably from one simple rule. A large group are traditionally called strong verbs: they form the preterite (the simple past form) by changing the vowel inside the verb, as in finne – fant and skrive – skrev. Other essential verbs, such as gjøre – gjorde and si – sa, are irregular in different ways.

This topic begins at A1 because verbs such as gå, komme, se, si, and gjøre occur constantly in everyday Norwegian. At first, concentrate on recognizing and memorizing a small group of forms. The patterns and less common variants can come later.

How It Works

Learn four useful forms

A Norwegian dictionary normally lists a verb under its infinitive (the basic form, usually used after å, such as å gå). For effective study, learn these four forms together:

Form	What it does	Example with gå	English guide
Infinitive	Names the action; often follows å	(å) gå	(to) go
Present	Describes present, habitual, or scheduled action	går	go/goes; am/is going
Preterite	Places a completed action or situation in the past	gikk	went
Past participle	Combines with har to form the perfect	gått	gone

The past participle is a verb form used with an auxiliary (a helping verb). In the perfect tense, that auxiliary is normally har: Vi har gått hjem means “We have gone home.” Do not use the participle alone as the main verb: I går gått jeg hjem is not possible.

Core verbs to memorize

Infinitive	Present	Preterite	Past participle	Meaning
gå	går	gikk	gått	go, walk
se	ser	så	sett	see
komme	kommer	kom	kommet	come
gjøre	gjør	gjorde	gjort	do, make
finne	finner	fant	funnet	find
si	sier	sa	sagt	say
ta	tar	tok	tatt	take
få	får	fikk	fått	get, receive; be allowed to
bli	blir	ble	blitt	become, remain; be
skrive	skriver	skrev	skrevet	write
stå	står	sto	stått	stand
gi	gir	ga	gitt	give

The infinitive marker å is not part of the verb itself. Use it in a phrase such as Jeg liker å gå (“I like to walk”), but omit it after a modal verb: Jeg må gå (“I must go”).

One form for every subject

Subject	Present	Preterite	Perfect
jeg	jeg ser	jeg så	jeg har sett
du	du ser	du så	du har sett
hun/han	hun/han ser	hun/han så	hun/han har sett
vi	vi ser	vi så	vi har sett
dere	dere ser	dere så	dere har sett
de	de ser	de så	de har sett

For an English-speaking learner, this removes one burden: there is no special third-person singular ending like English sees. It also means that the subject does not help you guess an irregular form. Så is the preterite of se regardless of who saw something.

Preterite or perfect?

Use the preterite for an event placed in a finished past time, especially with expressions such as i går (“yesterday”), forrige uke (“last week”), or i 2024:

• Jeg så henne i går. — “I saw her yesterday.”
• De kom klokka åtte. — “They came at eight.”

Use har + past participle when the past event matters now, when you report an experience, or when the time period is still open:

• Jeg har sett den filmen. — “I have seen that film.”
• Hun har kommet. — “She has arrived.”

This contrast is close to the English contrast between saw and have seen, but the languages do not match in every context. At beginner level, the most important step is to keep så and sett, or kom and kommet, in their proper constructions.

Vowel changes are clues, not a complete rule

Several common strong verbs show a vowel sequence across their forms:

• finne – fant – funnet
• skrive – skrev – skrevet
• gå – gikk – gått

Recognizing such families helps with reading, but it is risky to invent a form by analogy. Norwegian has several strong-verb classes and many historical changes. Memorize each frequent verb’s principal forms rather than trying to derive every answer from its spelling.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg går til jobben hver dag.	I walk to work every day.	Present of gå
Vi gikk hjem etter middagen.	We went home after dinner.	Preterite of gå
Hun har gått allerede.	She has already left.	gå can mean “leave” in context
Ser du fjellet?	Can you see the mountain?	Present of se
Jeg så en god film i går.	I saw a good film yesterday.	Finished past time
Har dere sett nøklene mine?	Have you seen my keys?	Perfect of se
Bussen kommer snart.	The bus is coming soon.	Present used for a near event
De kom for sent til møtet.	They came too late to the meeting.	Preterite of komme
Hva gjør du nå?	What are you doing now?	Present of gjøre
Vi gjorde alt vi kunne.	We did everything we could.	Preterite of gjøre
Jeg finner ikke mobilen min.	I cannot find my phone.	Present with negation
Hun fant en ledig stol.	She found an empty chair.	Preterite of finne
Han sa at han var trøtt.	He said that he was tired.	Preterite of si
Jeg har sagt det før.	I have said that before.	Perfect of si
Kan du ta et bilde?	Can you take a picture?	Infinitive after a modal, without å

Notice that English translations are not always word-for-word. Har gått can mean “has gone,” “has walked,” or “has left,” depending on context. Learn the Norwegian construction together with a whole sentence, not only with a one-word gloss.

Common Mistakes

Adding a regular past ending

• Wrong: I går gådde jeg hjem.
• Right: I går gikk jeg hjem.
• Why: Gå has the irregular preterite gikk. A common verb may still resist the regular ending you expect.

Using the preterite after har

• Wrong: Jeg har så filmen.
• Right: Jeg har sett filmen.
• Why: Har requires the past participle sett, not the preterite så.

Using a participle without an auxiliary

• Wrong: Hun kommet sent i går.
• Right: Hun kom sent i går.
• Why: Use the preterite kom as the main verb for a finished past event. Kommet normally needs an auxiliary: Hun har kommet.

Changing the verb for different people

• Wrong: Hun går, men vi gå i dag.
• Right: Hun går, men vi går i dag.
• Why: Norwegian uses the same present-tense form for every subject. The infinitive gå does not replace går after a plural subject.

Copying English do into every question or negative

• Wrong: Gjør du se ham?
• Right: Ser du ham?
• Why: Norwegian does not use a general equivalent of English auxiliary do to form ordinary questions. Put the main verb first: Ser du …? In a negative statement, say Jeg ser ham ikke.

Confusing si and snakke

• Wrong: Hun snakket at hun var klar.
• Right: Hun sa at hun var klar.
• Why: Si introduces what someone says; snakke means “speak” or “talk.” This resembles the English distinction between say and speak/talk, though the exact constructions differ.

Usage Notes

This article uses standard Bokmål, the written variety most learners meet first. Some accepted Bokmål forms have alternatives. You may encounter stod beside sto (“stood”) and gav beside ga (“gave”). Both members of each pair are recognized forms, but choosing one consistent set is easier while learning. Spoken forms also vary greatly by dialect, so a speaker may pronounce or use a past form differently from the Bokmål form in your course.

The perfect of motion verbs uses har in modern Norwegian: Hun har kommet and De har gått. English also uses have, but learners familiar with languages that use an equivalent of “be” for motion should take special note.

Some verbs carry several very common meanings. Få can mean “receive” (Jeg fikk en gave), “get” (Jeg fikk jobb), or “be allowed to” (Får jeg komme inn?). Bli often means “become” (Det blir kaldt), but it also appears in passive constructions learned later. The form is stable even when the meaning shifts: blir – ble – blitt.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of this at A1, but these details explain forms you will meet later.

The label “irregular” covers more than strong verbs. Strong verbs typically signal the past through an internal vowel change and usually have no dental past-tense suffix: skrive – skrev – skrevet. Yet gjøre – gjorde – gjort, si – sa – sagt, and vite – visste – visst follow their own histories and patterns. For practical learning, all belong in the same principal-form notebook even though linguists classify them more precisely.

A past participle can do more than follow har. It also appears in passive and adjective-like constructions:

• Boka er skrevet på norsk. — “The book is written in Norwegian.”
• Døra ble stengt. — “The door was closed.”

In such uses, participle agreement and the choice between være and bli require separate study. Do not assume that every participle after er is a perfect tense.

Norwegian sometimes uses a present form where English naturally uses a future construction: Bussen kommer om fem minutter (“The bus will come/is coming in five minutes”). This does not change the irregular paradigm; it shows that tense forms can cover more than one time meaning.

Finally, phrasal or particle verbs keep the irregular forms of their base verb. Once you know gå – gikk – gått, you can recognize gå ut – gikk ut – har gått ut (“go out”), and from finne – fant – funnet you get finne ut – fant ut – har funnet ut (“find out”). The particle can change the overall meaning, but it does not regularize the verb.

Practice Tips

1. Learn forms in a four-part rhythm. Say and write gå – går – gikk – gått, then use the last two in short pairs: I går gikk jeg … / Jeg har gått …. This prevents confusion between the preterite and participle.
2. Group by real-life function. Practice movement verbs (gå, komme, bli), communication verbs (si, skrive), and everyday action verbs (gjøre, ta, få) in separate mini-sessions. Add one personal sentence for each form.
3. Listen for auxiliaries and time words. When hearing Norwegian, note whether har introduces a participle and whether expressions such as i går introduce the preterite. Recognition in context is more useful than memorizing an isolated English translation.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — introduces the one-form-for-all-persons pattern used by these verbs.
• Next step: Simple Past (Preteritum) — explains when to use forms such as gikk, så, and fant.
• Next step: Perfect Tense — develops the har + past participle construction with forms such as gått, sett, and funnet.
• Related: Regular Verb Classes — contrasts predictable weak-verb endings with irregular principal forms.