Indefinite Article in Norwegian

Overview

The indefinite article — "a" or "an" in English — is one of the first grammar points you encounter in Norwegian. Norwegian has three indefinite articles that correspond to the three grammatical genders: en (masculine), ei (feminine), and et (neuter). Choosing the right article depends entirely on the noun's gender, so the indefinite article system is directly tied to the gender system.

For English speakers, the concept is straightforward since English also uses an indefinite article ("a/an"). The added complexity in Norwegian is simply that you need to know the noun's gender to pick the right one. The good news is that Bokmål allows you to use en for both masculine and feminine nouns, which effectively gives you a two-article system (en and et) if you prefer simplicity.

At the A1 level, learning the indefinite articles is inseparable from learning noun gender. Every new noun should be memorized with its article. This habit pays dividends because the same gender distinction drives definite forms, adjective agreement, possessives, and demonstratives.

How It Works

The three indefinite articles

Gender	Article	Example	Translation
Masculine (m)	en	en mann	a man
Feminine (f)	ei	ei jente	a girl
Neuter (n)	et	et eple	an apple

Bokmål flexibility with feminine

In Bokmål, feminine nouns can be treated as masculine:

Standard	Alternative	Both correct?
ei bok	en bok	Yes
ei jente	en jente	Yes
ei dør	en dør	Yes

Using ei sounds more colloquial and closer to spoken Norwegian. Using en for feminines is more common in conservative written Bokmål. Both are fully accepted.

No plural indefinite article

Norwegian does not have a plural indefinite article. Where English uses "some" or simply omits the article, Norwegian uses either a bare plural noun or noen (some):

Norwegian	English
biler	cars (in general)
noen biler	some cars
noen barn	some children

When to omit the article

The indefinite article is omitted in several common situations:

Situation	Example	Translation
After vaere + profession	Hun er lege.	She is a doctor.
After vaere + nationality	Han er nordmann.	He is a Norwegian.
After vaere + religion	De er kristne.	They are Christians.
After negation (general)	Han har ikke bil.	He doesn't have a car.
Uncountable nouns	Jeg drikker melk.	I drink milk.

En/ei/et as the number "one"

The indefinite articles double as the number "one":

• Jeg har en bror. (I have one brother / a brother.)
• Vi har ett barn. (We have one child.) — Note: ett (with double t) for neuter when emphasizing "one."

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
en mann	a man	Masculine
ei jente	a girl	Feminine
et eple	an apple	Neuter
en/ei bok	a book	Both accepted in Bokmål
Det er en katt i hagen.	There is a cat in the garden.	Masculine in existential
Jeg trenger et glass vann.	I need a glass of water.	Neuter
Hun er ei fin jente.	She is a nice girl.	Feminine with adjective
Vi har en stor hund.	We have a big dog.	Masculine with adjective
Det er et gammelt hus.	It is an old house.	Neuter with adjective
noen barn	some children	Plural: no article, use noen
Hun er lege.	She is a doctor.	No article with profession
Jeg vil ha en kopp kaffe.	I want a cup of coffee.	Masculine
Det er et problem.	It's a problem.	Neuter

Common Mistakes

Wrong: et mann (neuter article with masculine noun) Right: en mann Why: Mann is masculine and always takes en. Mixing up en and et is a fundamental error.

Wrong: en hus (masculine article with neuter noun) Right: et hus Why: Hus is neuter. While en can replace ei (feminine), it can never replace et (neuter).

Wrong: Hun er en lege. (article before profession) Right: Hun er lege. Why: Norwegian omits the indefinite article after vaere when stating professions, nationalities, and religions.

Wrong: Jeg har ener bror. (confusing article and number) Right: Jeg har en bror. Why: En serves as both "a" and "one." There is no separate word — context makes the meaning clear.

Wrong: Noen bil (singular with noen) Right: Noen biler (plural) or en bil (singular) Why: Noen (some) is used with plural or uncountable nouns, not with singular countables.

Usage Notes

The indefinite article is one of the most frequent words in Norwegian. You will use en and et constantly. The choice between using ei or en for feminine nouns is a stylistic decision in Bokmål — neither is wrong, and most Norwegians will not correct you either way. If in doubt, en is always safe for masculine and feminine nouns.

In spoken Norwegian, the articles are often unstressed and pronounced quickly: en sounds like a brief "en" or even "n," and et can sound like "e." Listening carefully for these reduced forms helps with comprehension.

The indefinite article always comes before any adjective: en stor bil (a big car), not stor en bil.

This is a foundational A1 concept that you will use in every sentence involving a noun.

Practice Tips

• Article drills. Go through your vocabulary list and say each noun with its article: en stol, ei bok, et bord, en hund, et barn. Speed up as you get more confident.
• Focus on neuter. The et nouns are the ones most learners get wrong. Make a dedicated list of neuter nouns and review it regularly.
• Practice the "no article" rule. Describe people's professions without an article: Han er laerer. Hun er student. De er musikere.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender (Three Genders) — gender determines which article to use