Demonstrative Pronouns in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian uses denne, dette, disse for “this/these” and den, det, de for “that/those.” Choose the form according to the noun’s gender and number, and normally put a following noun in its definite form: denne bilen (“this car”), dette huset (“this house”), and disse bøkene (“these books”).

Overview

Demonstratives are pointing words: they identify the person, object, place, or idea you mean. In English, the basic choices are “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” Norwegian makes the same near/far and singular/plural distinctions, but singular forms also reflect grammatical gender (the noun class that determines which article and related forms a noun uses).

This is an A1 topic because demonstratives are immediately useful. You need them to choose food in a café, compare products, point out a building, or ask Hva er dette? (“What is this?”). The forms themselves are short; the important work is learning to connect them to a noun’s gender and definite ending.

Although the concept is traditionally called pekende pronomen (“demonstrative pronouns”), a pointing word before a noun also does the job often called a demonstrative determiner in English: it helps specify which noun you mean. You do not need to memorize that label. The practical distinction is simply between a form used with a noun—denne boka—and one used on its own—Jeg tar denne (“I’ll take this one”).

How It Works

The six core forms

Distance or focus	Masculine/feminine singular	Neuter singular	All plurals
near: this/these	denne	dette	disse
farther away: that/those	den	det	de

Norwegian Bokmål has masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. Masculine and feminine nouns share the same demonstratives, so there are only two singular choices in each row:

• denne/den with an en or ei noun: denne koppen, den døra
• dette/det with an et noun: dette kartet, det vinduet
• disse/de with every plural noun: disse koppene, de dørene, de vinduene

Learn gender together with the indefinite form: en kopp, ei dør, et kart. If you know the article, you can normally select the demonstrative.

A following noun is definite

A definite noun names a specific item—the idea expressed by “the car” or “the house” in English. Bokmål normally marks this by an ending attached to the noun. After a demonstrative, that ending remains:

Indefinite	Definite	Near	Farther away
en stol	stolen	denne stolen	den stolen
ei bok	boka	denne boka	den boka
et bilde	bildet	dette bildet	det bildet
sko	skoene	disse skoene	de skoene

English says “this chair,” not “this the-chair.” Norwegian packages the meaning differently: denne stolen contains both the pointing word and the definite ending -en. For beginner production, remember the pattern:

demonstrative + definite noun

Thus, use dette hotellet, not dette hotell, and de eplene, not de epler, when you mean “that hotel” and “those apples.”

Feminine nouns require no special demonstrative. Bokmål permits feminine forms such as boka and, in many styles, corresponding common-gender forms such as boken. Both take denne or den: denne boka, denne boken.

Near and far are also conversational ideas

The beginner rule is physical: denne/dette/disse point to what is near, while den/det/de point to what is farther away. Compare denne koppen her (“this cup here”) with den koppen der (“that cup there”).

Real conversation is not measured with a ruler, however. “Near” can mean the topic currently in focus, and “far” can mean something mentioned earlier or mentally set apart:

• Denne planen fungerer. — This plan works. (the plan now under discussion)
• Den planen snakket vi om i går. — We talked about that plan yesterday. (a known plan)

English uses “this” and “that” in similar ways, so meaning and context often guide you. Norwegian adds only the agreement requirement.

Using demonstratives without a noun

The noun may be omitted when everyone can see or already knows what is meant. The demonstrative then means “this one,” “that one,” “these,” or “those.” It still normally reflects the understood noun:

Understood noun	Near	Farther away
jakke (m/f), jacket	Denne er varm.	Den er varm.
skjerf (n), scarf	Dette er varmt.	Det er varmt.
sko (plural), shoes	Disse er varme.	De er varme.

For an unknown object or an entire idea, Norwegian commonly uses neuter dette or det. That is why Hva er dette? is natural even when you do not yet know what the object is—or what gender its name has. Similarly, Det er sant means “That is true,” where det points to a statement rather than a neuter noun.

Adding an adjective

An adjective is a describing word such as “new,” “red,” or “expensive.” Between a demonstrative and a definite noun, a Norwegian adjective normally takes its definite form, usually ending in -e:

Structure	Norwegian	English
denne + adjective + noun	denne nye telefonen	this new phone
dette + adjective + noun	dette gamle huset	this old house
disse + adjective + noun	disse røde eplene	these red apples
den + adjective + noun	den lange veien	that long road
de + adjective + noun	de små barna	those small children

The noun still has its definite ending. This belongs to the broader Norwegian pattern called double determination: definiteness is shown in more than one place in the noun phrase.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Kan jeg se på denne jakka?	Can I look at this jacket?	Singular feminine/common-gender pattern.
Dette huset har en stor hage.	This house has a large garden.	Hus is neuter.
Hvor mye koster disse brillene?	How much do these glasses cost?	Disse works with every plural.
Jeg tar den kaffen, takk.	I’ll take that coffee, please.	A specific coffee is being selected.
Hvem bor i det gule huset?	Who lives in that yellow house?	Neuter det plus definite adjective and noun.
Kjenner du de menneskene?	Do you know those people?	Plural de.
Hva er dette?	What is this?	General dette for an unidentified thing.
Denne passer bedre.	This one fits better.	An understood common-gender item, perhaps a shirt.
Dette er vanskelig å forklare.	This is difficult to explain.	Points to an idea or situation.
Jeg vil ha de der borte.	I want those over there.	Standalone plural with a location phrase.
Har du lest denne boka?	Have you read this book?	The noun carries the feminine definite ending -a.
De nye stolene kommer i morgen.	Those new chairs are arriving tomorrow.	Adjective nye and definite plural stolene.
Ikke velg det alternativet.	Don’t choose that option.	Alternativ is neuter.
Disse bildene tok vi i Bergen.	We took these pictures in Bergen.	The demonstrative phrase is placed first for focus.
Jeg liker denne, men ikke den.	I like this one, but not that one.	A direct near/far contrast.

Common Mistakes

1. Ignoring neuter gender

• Wrong: denne huset
• Right: dette huset
• Why: Hus is neuter: et hus. Singular neuter “this” is dette.

2. Leaving the noun indefinite

• Wrong: denne bok
• Right: denne boka or denne boken
• Why: A noun after a demonstrative is normally definite. Bokmål allows the two shown gender styles for bok, but not the bare form here.

3. Using a singular form with a plural noun

• Wrong: denne skoene
• Right: disse skoene
• Why: Number controls the choice. All plural “these” phrases use disse, whatever the nouns’ singular genders are.

4. Mixing up det and de

• Wrong: det husene
• Right: de husene
• Why: Det is singular neuter; de is plural. In standard spelling, the final -t versus -e matters even when spoken forms vary.

5. Using the basic adjective form

• Wrong: denne rød bilen
• Right: denne røde bilen
• Why: The adjective in this definite phrase normally takes -e, while the noun keeps its definite ending.

6. Translating every English “that” as den or det mechanically

• Awkward choice: Jeg tror den du har rett.
• Right: Jeg tror at du har rett.
• Why: English “that” can be a pointing word or a conjunction (a word joining clauses). Norwegian demonstratives cover the pointing meaning; clause-linking “that” is at.

Usage Notes

One spelling may have several functions

Den, det, and de are not always demonstratives. They can also correspond to “it” and “they,” or appear as part of a neutral definite phrase. Compare:

• Jeg kjøper den. — I’m buying it/that one.
• Det regner. — It is raining.
• De jobber her. — They work here.
• den gamle kirken — the old church / that old church

Context and spoken emphasis make the intended meaning clear. In den gamle kirken, an unstressed den may simply help express “the old church”; stronger stress can produce the more pointed meaning “that old church.”

Spoken Norwegian often reinforces the contrast

Everyday speech frequently uses her (“here”) and der (“there”): den her, det her, de her, den der, and so on. You may hear den her boka for “this book” and de der skoene for “those shoes.” Usage varies among regions and speakers, and dialects have further forms.

For predictable Bokmål writing, denne boka, dette huset, and disse skoene are excellent forms to produce. At the same time, recognizing den her and den der will make ordinary conversation much easier to follow.

Pronunciation does not always mirror spelling

Standard Bokmål writes plural de, both in “those” and in “they.” It is commonly pronounced approximately like di, though pronunciation varies. Keep de in ordinary writing; do not change the spelling merely to imitate what you hear.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these distinctions at A1, but they explain patterns you will meet later.

General reference with det and dette

Neuter singular forms can refer back to a sentence, event, proposal, or fact rather than a named object:

• Hun kommer ikke. Det visste jeg. — She isn’t coming. I knew that.
• Dette må vi undersøke. — We must investigate this.
• Det var hyggelig å møte deg. — It was nice to meet you.

In the last example, det is a dummy subject (a grammatical placeholder where English also uses “it”), not a demonstrative pointing at an object. The overlap is important because it prevents a false rule such as “every det means ‘that.’”

Fronting for contrast

A demonstrative phrase can be moved to the start of a sentence to make it the topic or create contrast:

• Den filmen har jeg ikke sett. — That film, I haven’t seen.
• Disse spørsmålene kan vi svare på senere. — These questions we can answer later.

Norwegian still follows its usual main-clause rule that the finite verb (the verb marked for tense) occupies the second position. In the first sentence, Den filmen fills the first position, so har comes before jeg. This is a word-order issue to study separately; the demonstrative phrase itself does not change.

Definite article or pointed “that”?

In phrases with an adjective, den/det/de can be the free part of ordinary double determination rather than a strongly contrastive demonstrative:

Norwegian	Possible reading
den gamle bilen	the old car; that old car
det store problemet	the big problem; that big problem
de første dagene	the first days; those first days

Stress and context decide how pointed the expression feels. Denne/dette/disse, by contrast, retain a clearer “this/these” meaning. This distinction becomes especially useful when reading, where nearby sentences supply the context that speech might express through stress or gesture.

Formal and literary variation

Norwegian has two written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, as well as extensive dialect variation. This article teaches Bokmål. Nynorsk demonstrative patterns and individual dialect forms should be learned as their own systems rather than treated as spelling mistakes or casual replacements for Bokmål forms.

Practice Tips

1. Build gender sets, not isolated vocabulary lists. Record en nøkkel – denne nøkkelen – den nøkkelen and et rom – dette rommet – det rommet. Saying all three forms makes gender and definiteness practical.
2. Run a pointing drill. Choose three nearby objects and three farther-away objects. Describe singular common-gender, singular neuter, and plural examples aloud: denne koppen, dette bordet, disse bøkene; then switch to den, det, and de.
3. Edit for two agreements. In every written phrase, check (a) whether the demonstrative matches gender and number and (b) whether the noun has its definite ending. If there is an adjective, also check for its definite -e form.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender (Three Genders) — learn the en/ei/et classes that determine the singular demonstrative.
• Related: Definite Form (Suffixed Article) — explains endings in bilen, boka, huset, and bilene.
• Related: Adjective Agreement — covers forms such as røde and gamle inside definite phrases.
• Next step: Double Determination — develops the pattern seen in den store bilen and det gamle huset.