Personal Pronouns in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian subject pronouns identify who or what does something: jeg, du, han, hun, den, det, vi, dere, de. Unlike English verbs, a Norwegian verb normally has the same form with every pronoun: jeg bor, hun bor, and de bor. Use den for a masculine or feminine singular thing and det for a neuter singular thing; people are usually han or hun.

Overview

A personal pronoun is a short word used instead of a name or noun phrase: Maria becomes hun (“she”), and Per og jeg becomes vi (“we”). In this article, the pronouns are subjects—the person or thing that performs the action or is described. In Hun bor i Oslo, hun is the subject because she is the person who lives there.

These words are among the first essentials at A1. You need them to introduce yourself, address another person, and talk about people and things. They also make Norwegian sentence patterns easier to see: Jeg er klar (“I am ready”), Er du klar? (“Are you ready?”), and I dag er hun klar (“Today she is ready”).

English gives you a useful starting point, but the match is not exact. Norwegian du is the normal singular “you,” while dere is unambiguously plural. Norwegian also divides “it” between den and det according to a noun’s grammatical gender (its word class as masculine, feminine, or neuter). On the other hand, Norwegian verbs do not change between “I,” “she,” and “they,” so there is no equivalent of the English speak/speaks contrast.

How It Works

The core subject-pronoun set

Person	Singular	Plural
First person (the speaker)	jeg — I	vi — we
Second person (the person addressed)	du — you	dere — you, you all
Third person (someone or something else)	han — he; hun — she; den/det — it	de — they

First person means the speaker, second person means whoever the speaker addresses, and third person means anyone or anything being talked about. Norwegian has no grammatical distinction between an inclusive “we” (you and I) and an exclusive “we” (someone else and I): both are vi.

One verb form for every person

In the present tense, the verb does not agree with the subject. Agreement means changing a word’s form to match another word. English has I am but she is, and I speak but she speaks. Norwegian normally keeps one present-tense form throughout.

Pronoun	å snakke (“to speak”)	å bo (“to live”)
jeg	jeg snakker	jeg bor
du	du snakker	du bor
han/hun/den/det	hun snakker	den bor
vi	vi snakker	vi bor
dere	dere snakker	dere bor
de	de snakker	de bor

The same principle applies to være (“be”): jeg er, du er, hun er, vi er, dere er, de er. Norwegian er therefore covers English am, is, and are.

Choosing han, hun, den, or det

Use han for a male person and hun for a female person. For things and other non-human referents, the basic Bokmål rule follows the noun’s grammatical gender:

Noun type	Noun	Pronoun	Example
Masculine	en bil — a car	den	Bilen er ny. Den er dyr. — The car is new. It is expensive.
Feminine	ei bok — a book	den	Boka er ny. Den er interessant. — The book is new. It is interesting.
Neuter	et hus — a house	det	Huset er nytt. Det er stort. — The house is new. It is large.

Many Bokmål users treat feminine nouns as masculine and write en bok, boken. This does not alter the pronoun: it is still den. The important beginner contrast is therefore en/ei → den and et → det.

Animals may be referred to with den/det when sex or individuality is not important. A known pet, or an animal presented as an individual, is often han or hun: Hvor er katten? Hun ligger på sofaen (“Where is the cat? She is on the sofa”).

Det without a specific noun

Norwegian frequently uses det where there is no particular neuter noun behind it. It serves as a dummy subject—a grammatical subject that fills the subject position without naming a person or object.

• Det regner. — It is raining.
• Det er kaldt. — It is cold.
• Det er en kafé her. — There is a café here.
• Det er hyggelig å møte deg. — It is nice to meet you.

Do not choose den for weather or an English-style impersonal “it.” The normal form is det.

Pronouns and word order

A subject normally appears before the verb in a plain statement:

subject + verb + rest
Hun bor i Oslo.

In a yes/no question, the finite verb (the verb carrying tense) comes first:

verb + subject + rest
Bor hun i Oslo?

Norwegian also follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb occupies the second position. If another element begins the sentence, the subject follows the verb:

I Oslo bor hun nå. — She lives in Oslo now.
I dag arbeider vi hjemme. — Today we are working from home.

The pronoun has not changed; only its position has.

Subject forms are not object forms

The forms in the core table are used as subjects. An object is the person or thing affected by the action. Compare:

• Hun ser ham. — She sees him.
• De kjenner oss. — They know us.
• Jeg ringer deg. — I am calling you.

Here hun, de, and jeg are subject forms, while ham, oss, and deg are object forms. Object pronouns belong to a later topic, but recognizing the difference prevents errors such as using jeg where Norwegian needs meg.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg er norsk.	I am Norwegian.	First-person singular
Du snakker engelsk.	You speak English.	One person is addressed
Han studerer i Bergen.	He studies in Bergen.	Male person
Hun bor i Oslo.	She lives in Oslo.	Female person
Hvor er bilen? Den står utenfor.	Where is the car? It is outside.	En bil takes den
Jeg liker huset. Det har en stor hage.	I like the house. It has a large garden.	Et hus takes det
Vi arbeider her.	We work here.	The speaker plus others
Kommer dere i kveld?	Are you coming tonight?	More than one person is addressed
De spiser middag nå.	They are eating dinner now.	Third-person plural
Det snør i dag.	It is snowing today.	Impersonal weather subject
Det er mange mennesker på toget.	There are many people on the train.	Introductory det
I morgen reiser jeg til Tromsø.	Tomorrow I am travelling to Tromsø.	Subject follows the verb under V2
Er hun hjemme?	Is she at home?	Verb before subject in a question
Nora og jeg lærer norsk. Vi øver hver dag.	Nora and I are learning Norwegian. We practise every day.	A group including the speaker becomes vi

Common Mistakes

Changing the verb for han or hun

• Wrong: Hun snakkers norsk.
• Right: Hun snakker norsk.
• Why: Norwegian present-tense verbs do not take an extra ending in the third person. Jeg snakker, hun snakker, and de snakker all use the same verb form.

Using du for several people

• Wrong: Kommer du i kveld? when speaking to a group
• Right: Kommer dere i kveld?
• Why: English “you” can be singular or plural, but Norwegian distinguishes du from dere. This makes the intended audience explicit.

Using det for every English “it”

• Wrong: Jeg har en bil. Det er gammel.
• Right: Jeg har en bil. Den er gammel.
• Why: A pronoun referring back to en bil follows the noun’s gender, so use den. Reserve det for neuter nouns and impersonal patterns such as Det regner.

Using den for weather

• Wrong: Den er kaldt i dag.
• Right: Det er kaldt i dag.
• Why: Weather and general conditions take impersonal det, not den.

Keeping statement order in a question

• Wrong: Du bor i Trondheim? as a neutral information question
• Right: Bor du i Trondheim?
• Why: A standard yes/no question begins with the finite verb. Statement order can occur with questioning intonation when confirming or expressing surprise, but it is not the basic pattern to learn first.

Confusing de and dem

• Wrong: Dem bor her.
• Right: De bor her.
• Why: De is the standard written subject form (“they”); dem is the object form (“them”): Jeg kjenner dem.

Usage Notes

Pronouns are usually stated

Norwegian is not normally a language that drops subject pronouns. Say Jeg forstår (“I understand”), not simply Forstår, unless the context supports a special omission—for example, an instruction, a diary-like note, or informal messaging. This resembles English more than languages whose verb endings regularly identify the subject on their own.

In commands, however, the understood subject is normally omitted: Kom inn! (“Come in!”) and Vent litt! (“Wait a moment!”). The person addressed is clear from the situation.

Everyday address is usually du

Modern Norwegian uses du very widely: with colleagues, service staff, teachers, and strangers as well as friends and family. The old formal singular De, written with a capital letter, can still appear in older texts or deliberately formal language, but using it in ordinary present-day conversation often sounds distant or old-fashioned. Dere remains the normal plural form and is not inherently formal.

Pronunciation may differ from spelling

In common speech, jeg has several regional pronunciations, and de is often pronounced roughly like di. Dialects may use pronoun forms that differ substantially from written Bokmål. When writing standard Bokmål, keep the spellings jeg and de even if the local spoken forms sound different.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the points below at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Den and det can point, not only replace

Den and det also function as demonstratives—words that point something out—especially when stressed:

• Jeg vil ha den. — I want that one.
• Det vet jeg ikke. — That, I do not know.
• Hvem er det? — Who is it?

In Det vet jeg ikke, det has been moved to the first position for emphasis, and the V2 rule places vet before jeg. A fuller study of den/det/de must distinguish personal reference, demonstrative reference, and their use before definite noun phrases.

Referring to people beyond han and hun

Norwegian hen is a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun used when gender is unknown, irrelevant, or outside the male/female distinction, and by some people as their personal pronoun. Its use has become established, but frequency and individual preferences vary. In straightforward A1 descriptions, learn han and hun first; when referring to a real person, use the pronoun that person uses.

Norwegian can also use de as a singular gender-neutral pronoun in some contemporary usage, influenced partly by patterns familiar from English singular “they.” This use is less uniformly established than ordinary plural de, so context and a person’s preference matter.

Generic man and en

To talk about people in general, Norwegian often uses man or en, broadly like English generic “you” or “one”:

• Man lærer av sine feil. — You learn from your mistakes.
• En må være forsiktig. — One has to be careful.

These are indefinite pronouns rather than members of the basic personal-pronoun paradigm. In everyday English translation, “you” is often more natural than “one,” but Norwegian man/en does not address a specific listener.

Spoken forms and written standards

Norwegian has two written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, alongside extensive dialect variation. This article teaches Bokmål. Nynorsk includes forms such as eg (“I”), ho (“she”), vi/me (“we”), and dei (“they”), while spoken dialects have many additional forms. Do not “correct” a dialect speaker merely because the spoken pronoun differs from the Bokmål table; choose one written standard and use it consistently in writing.

Practice Tips

1. Build short substitution chains. Start with Jeg bor her and replace only the subject: du bor, hun bor, vi bor, dere bor, de bor. This trains both the pronouns and the fact that the verb stays unchanged.
2. Label nearby nouns by article. Make pairs such as en telefon → den, ei dør → den, and et vindu → det. Learning the noun with en, ei, or et makes the later pronoun choice much easier.
3. Turn statements into questions and V2 sentences. Change Hun arbeider hjemme into Arbeider hun hjemme? and I dag arbeider hun hjemme. Say all three aloud so subject position becomes automatic.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Være (to be) — use er with every subject pronoun.
• Next step: Ha (to have) — practise the same unchanged verb form with possession.
• Next step: Present Tense — learn how present forms are built and why they do not vary by person.
• Later: Object Pronouns — contrast subject forms such as jeg and de with object forms such as meg and dem.
• Advanced: Pronoun Reference (Den/Det/De) — explore reference, pointing, and sentence-level uses of den, det, and de.