Det er (There is/are) in Norwegian

Overview

The construction det er is the Norwegian equivalent of English "there is" or "there are." It is used to state that something exists or is present in a place, and it is one of the most common sentence patterns in the language. Whether you are pointing out what is in a room, describing a location, or introducing new information, det er is your go-to construction.

One feature that simplifies things for learners is that Norwegian uses the same form — det er — for both singular and plural. English distinguishes "there is" (singular) from "there are" (plural), but Norwegian always uses det er: Det er en katt i hagen (There is a cat in the garden) and Det er mange katter i hagen (There are many cats in the garden).

At the A1 level, det er is an essential tool for describing your surroundings, asking about availability, and introducing topics. It builds directly on your knowledge of vaere (to be) and appears in everyday speech dozens of times per day.

How It Works

Basic pattern

Det er + noun phrase (+ location/description)

Norwegian	English
Det er en katt i hagen.	There is a cat in the garden.
Det er mange mennesker her.	There are many people here.
Det er et problem.	There is a problem.
Det er kaffe på bordet.	There is coffee on the table.

Tense variations

Tense	Form	Example	Translation
Present	det er	Det er varmt i dag.	It is warm today.
Past	det var	Det var kaldt i går.	It was cold yesterday.
Present perfect	det har vært	Det har vært regn.	There has been rain.
Future	det vil bli / skal bli	Det skal bli fint.	It will be nice.

Questions with det er

Invert det and er to form questions:

Statement	Question
Det er en bank i nærheten.	Er det en bank i nærheten?
Det er plass.	Er det plass?
Det er mange studenter.	Er det mange studenter?

Negation

Add ikke after er:

Positive	Negative
Det er et problem.	Det er ikke et problem.
Det er plass.	Det er ikke plass.

Det er for weather and conditions

Det er is also used for weather, time, and general conditions:

Norwegian	English
Det er kaldt.	It is cold.
Det er sol.	It is sunny.
Det er mørkt.	It is dark.
Det er sent.	It is late.
Det er langt dit.	It is far there.

Det er vs. den/det/de er

Det er (there is/are) introduces new, unknown information:

• Det er en katt i hagen. (There is a cat in the garden — we did not know about it before.)

Den/det/de er refers to something already known:

• Katten er i hagen. (The cat is in the garden — we know which cat.)

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Det er en katt i hagen.	There is a cat in the garden.	Introducing new information
Det er mange mennesker her.	There are many people here.	Plural — still det er
Er det en bank i nærheten?	Is there a bank nearby?	Question form
Det var en gang en prinsesse.	Once upon a time there was a princess.	Past tense, story opening
Det er ikke noe problem.	It's no problem.	Negation
Det er fint vær i dag.	The weather is nice today.	Weather description
Det er plass til alle.	There is room for everyone.	Availability
Er det langt?	Is it far?	Distance question
Det er mandag i dag.	It is Monday today.	Day of the week
Det var kaldt i natt.	It was cold last night.	Past weather
Det er to rom i leiligheten.	There are two rooms in the apartment.	Describing a place
Er det noen her?	Is anyone here?	Asking about presence
Det er ingenting å gjøre.	There is nothing to do.	With negative pronoun

Common Mistakes

Wrong: Det er mange katter using de er instead. Right: Det er mange katter when introducing new information. Why: Use det er for existential statements (announcing something exists). Use de er only when referring to specific, known cats.

Wrong: Det er en bank i nærheten? (statement intonation as question) Right: Er det en bank i nærheten? Why: In Norwegian, yes/no questions require verb-first word order. Rising intonation alone is not sufficient in standard Norwegian.

Wrong: Der er en katt. (using der instead of det) Right: Det er en katt. Why: Norwegian uses det (not der) in the existential construction. Der means "there" as a place word: Katten er der (The cat is there).

Wrong: Det er katter when you mean "There are some cats." Right: Det er noen katter. or simply Det er katter. Why: Both are acceptable, but noen (some) can be added for clarity. The bare plural is also fine in Norwegian.

Usage Notes

Det er is one of the most versatile constructions in Norwegian. You will hear it hundreds of times daily in any Norwegian-speaking environment. It serves multiple purposes: existential statements, weather, conditions, time, introductions, and more.

In spoken Norwegian, det er is often contracted to det'e or even de'e in casual speech. In writing, always use the full form.

The past tense det var is also extremely common and is the standard opening for fairy tales and stories: Det var en gang... (Once upon a time...).

There is no register restriction on det er — it appears equally in formal writing and casual speech.

This is a core A1 construction that you will use at every proficiency level.

Practice Tips

• Describe every room you enter. When you walk into a room, make three det er sentences: Det er et bord. Det er fire stoler. Det er et vindu.
• Practice questions. In everyday situations, formulate Er det...? questions: Er det en kafé her? Er det plass? Er det langt?
• Narrate weather daily. Every morning, describe the weather: Det er sol i dag. Det er varmt. Det er ikke regn.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Vaere (to be) — det er is built on the verb vaere