Simple Past (Preteritum) in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian preteritum describes an action or situation located in a finished past period: Jeg jobbet i går (“I worked yesterday”). Weak verbs normally add -et, -te, -de, or -dde, while strong and irregular verbs may change their vowel or form: skrive → skrev, gå → gikk. One past form works with every subject.

Overview

The preteritum is Norwegian’s simple past tense. A tense is simply a verb form that places an event in time. You use preteritum to tell what happened yesterday, describe a completed trip, give a sequence of events in a story, or talk about a state that belonged to an earlier period. It is one of the main past forms introduced at A2.

For an English-speaking learner, the basic meaning often feels familiar: Jeg kjøpte mat matches “I bought food,” and Hun bodde i Oslo matches “She lived in Oslo.” Norwegian is easier than English in one important respect: the verb does not change according to the subject. It is jeg gikk, hun gikk, and vi gikk, all with the same form.

Formation takes more attention. Weak verbs (verbs that form the past with an ending) follow several patterns, while strong verbs form it through a stem-vowel change, often without an ending. The patterns are useful, but the safest habit is to learn the infinitive, present, and preteritum together: å kjøpe – kjøper – kjøpte.

How It Works

The beginner rule

Start with these two ideas:

1. A regular weak verb takes a past ending: snakke → snakket, kjøpe → kjøpte, bo → bodde.
2. A strong or irregular verb must usually be learned as a separate form: skrive → skrev, gå → gikk, være → var.

The infinitive (the dictionary form, usually shown with å, “to”) helps you identify the verb: å snakke, å kjøpe, å gå. In a sentence, omit å when preteritum is the main verb: Jeg snakket, not Jeg å snakket.

Weak verbs and their endings

Norwegian Bokmål commonly presents four weak past patterns. The “stem” below means the basic part of the verb left after the infinitive ending has been considered.

Pattern	Typical formation	Infinitive	Present	Preteritum	English
-et	often verbs ending in unstressed -e with a suitable consonant pattern	å snakke	snakker	snakket	talk
-te	often after certain consonant sounds	å kjøpe	kjøper	kjøpte	buy
-de	often after a voiced sound	å prøve	prøver	prøvde	try
-dde	often short verbs whose stem ends in a stressed vowel	å bo	bor	bodde	live

Useful examples make the patterns clearer:

Ending	More examples
-et	jobbe → jobbet, vente → ventet, hente → hentet
-te	lese → leste, reise → reiste, høre → hørte
-de	leve → levde, bygge → bygde, prøve → prøvde
-dde	tro → trodde, nå → nådde, bo → bodde

These sound-based tendencies are not a perfect prediction system. For example, spelling changes and established forms can make a verb less obvious. Treat the table as a way to organize forms, not as permission to invent one. A good dictionary lists preteritum explicitly.

Many -et verbs also permit an -a past form in Bokmål: kastet/kasta and snakket/snakka. The -a forms are frequent in speech and accepted in Bokmål, but usage varies by speaker and writing style. As a beginner, choosing the -et form consistently gives you a dependable neutral pattern.

Strong and irregular verbs

A strong verb changes the vowel in its stem rather than adding a normal weak ending. English has a similar idea in “sing → sang” and “write → wrote.” Norwegian vowel changes are not reliably predictable from the infinitive alone, so learn these forms as vocabulary.

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum	English
å gå	går	gikk	go
å skrive	skriver	skrev	write
å lese	leser	leste	read
å finne	finner	fant	find
å komme	kommer	kom	come
å ta	tar	tok	take
å se	ser	så	see
å bli	blir	ble	become; get; remain
å være	er	var	be
å ha	har	hadde	have
å gjøre	gjør	gjorde	do; make
å si	sier	sa	say

Lese → leste is weak, despite the English verb “read” being irregular. Similar-looking meanings do not guarantee similar grammar across the two languages.

One form for every person

Norwegian verbs do not agree with the subject (the person or thing doing or experiencing the action). This full “paradigm”—the set of forms across grammatical persons—is therefore very short:

Subject	snakke in preteritum	gå in preteritum
jeg	jeg snakket	jeg gikk
du	du snakket	du gikk
han/hun	han/hun snakket	han/hun gikk
vi	vi snakket	vi gikk
dere	dere snakket	dere gikk
de	de snakket	de gikk

Sentence structure in the past

Changing tense does not remove the usual Norwegian V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb (the verb carrying tense) normally occupies the second position. “Position” means a sentence unit, not necessarily the second individual word.

First position	Finite verb	Subject / rest	Meaning
Jeg	kjøpte	mat i går.	I bought food yesterday.
I går	kjøpte	jeg mat.	Yesterday I bought food.
Etter jobb	gikk	vi hjem.	After work we went home.

In an ordinary main clause, ikke generally follows the finite verb: Jeg jobbet ikke på mandag. If another element comes first and the subject moves after the verb, ikke normally follows the subject: På mandag jobbet jeg ikke.

To ask a yes/no question, put the verb before the subject: Kjøpte du mat? With a question word, that word comes first: Hvor bodde dere? For a negative question: Kom han ikke?

When to use preteritum

Preteritum is especially natural with a clearly finished time:

• i går — yesterday
• forrige uke — last week
• i 2024 — in 2024
• da jeg var barn — when I was a child
• for to timer siden — two hours ago

It also narrates successive events: Hun åpnet døra, gikk inn og satte seg. (“She opened the door, went in, and sat down.”) A past state can use the same tense: Vi bodde i Tromsø den gangen (“We lived in Tromsø at that time”). Completion may come from context rather than from an explicit time phrase.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg snakket med ham etter møtet.	I talked to him after the meeting.	Weak verb in -et
Hun leste boka på toget.	She read the book on the train.	Weak verb in -te
Vi kjøpte mat før butikken stengte.	We bought food before the shop closed.	Two completed actions
De gikk hjem ved midnatt.	They went home at midnight.	Strong verb: gå → gikk
Mina bodde i Bergen i tre år.	Mina lived in Bergen for three years.	Finished period; -dde
Jeg prøvde å ringe deg.	I tried to call you.	prøve → prøvde; infinitive after å
I går skrev jeg tre e-poster.	Yesterday I wrote three emails.	Time phrase first triggers V2 order
På søndag jobbet vi ikke.	On Sunday we did not work.	Negation after subject in inverted order
Så du filmen i helga?	Did you see the film at the weekend?	Yes/no question; se → så
Hvor fant dere nøklene?	Where did you find the keys?	Question word + verb + subject
Da jeg var liten, hadde vi en hund.	When I was little, we had a dog.	Two past states
Hun åpnet vinduet og satte seg igjen.	She opened the window and sat down again.	Sequence in a narrative
Det regnet hele dagen.	It rained all day.	Completed past interval
Kunne du svømme da du var fem?	Could you swim when you were five?	Past modal kunne + bare infinitive

Common Mistakes

Adding an English-style auxiliary did

• Wrong: Jeg gjorde ikke kjøpte mat.
• Right: Jeg kjøpte ikke mat.
• Why: Norwegian does not use an equivalent of English “did” to build an ordinary negative simple past. Put ikke after the finite verb.

Using present tense after a past-time phrase

• Wrong: I går kjøper vi mat.
• Right: I går kjøpte vi mat.
• Why: I går places the event in a finished past time, so the verb needs preteritum. Notice also that V2 gives kjøpte vi, not vi kjøpte, after the initial time phrase.

Adding a past ending to a strong form

• Wrong: De gikket hjem.
• Right: De gikk hjem.
• Why: Gikk is already the complete preteritum of gå. Strong forms do not also take -et.

Choosing an ending only by guesswork

• Wrong: Hun kjøpet en jakke.
• Right: Hun kjøpte en jakke.
• Why: The weak patterns help, but individual principal forms still need to be learned. Record å kjøpe – kjøper – kjøpte as a set.

Conjugating for person

• Wrong: Vi snakketen med læreren.
• Right: Vi snakket med læreren.
• Why: Norwegian uses exactly the same preteritum form for jeg, du, han/hun, vi, dere, and de.

Confusing preteritum with the present perfect

• Less natural for a finished time: Jeg har sett filmen i går.
• Right: Jeg så filmen i går.
• Why: A specific finished time such as i går normally calls for preteritum. The present perfect, har sett, is used when the past event is connected to the present without being placed in a finished past period.

Usage Notes

Preteritum or present perfect?

The present perfect combines har with a past participle (a verb form such as kjøpt or sett): Jeg har kjøpt boka. Use it when the result or experience matters now and no finished past time is specified. Use preteritum when the event is anchored in a finished time or forms part of a past narrative.

Preteritum	Present perfect
Jeg kjøpte boka i går. — I bought the book yesterday.	Jeg har kjøpt boka. — I have bought the book.
Hun var i Japan i 2023. — She was in Japan in 2023.	Hun har vært i Japan. — She has been to Japan.
Vi bodde der i fem år. — We lived there for five years.	Vi har bodd her i fem år. — We have lived here for five years, and still do.

English and Norwegian often align here, but not in every conversational choice. Learn the Norwegian time signals and intended viewpoint rather than translating tense mechanically.

Spoken and written variation

Bokmål allows considerable choice, especially between many -et and -a forms: snakket/snakka, jobbet/jobba. The -a alternatives can sound very natural in conversation, while -et forms are widely used in neutral writing. Dialects and Nynorsk have their own systems and preferences. Mixing forms is not automatically wrong, but consistent choices make your Norwegian easier to read.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A2, but you will meet them later.

Past modals often soften requests or present unreal possibilities. Kunne du hjelpe meg? literally uses the past of kan, but usually means the polite “Could you help me?” rather than asking about past ability. Likewise, Jeg skulle gjerne bli med (“I’d gladly come along”) uses skulle for a polite or hypothetical stance. Form and real-world time do not always match exactly.

In subordinate clauses (clauses that depend on another clause), the position of ikke changes. Compare the main clause Han kom ikke with fordi han ikke kom (“because he did not come”). The tense remains preteritum, but Norwegian subordinate-clause word order places ikke before the finite verb.

Narrative style can also combine preteritum with other past forms. Preteritum carries the main events forward: Hun låste døra og gikk. The past perfect, formed with hadde plus a past participle, looks farther back: Hun gikk fordi hun hadde glemt avtalen (“She left because she had forgotten the appointment”). This contrast becomes important in longer stories.

Finally, some verbs have more than one accepted preteritum form, and a few alternatives differ by style or dialect. Dictionaries may list forms such as ba/bad for be (“ask; pray”). At an early stage, choose one common Bokmål form and focus on recognizing alternatives when you encounter them.

Practice Tips

1. Learn three forms together. Make cards such as å skrive – skriver – skrev and å kjøpe – kjøper – kjøpte. Say a short past sentence with each form instead of memorizing an isolated list.
2. Retell one finished day. Write six sentences beginning with I går … Then move some time phrases to the first position and check V2 order: Etter jobb gikk jeg …
3. Sort, then verify. Put new verbs into -et, -te, -de, -dde, and strong/irregular groups. Check every uncertain form in a dictionary; the act of correcting your prediction helps the pattern stick.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — compare the present and past forms, and reuse the same subject-independent conjugation pattern.