Indirect Questions in Norwegian

In Brief

A Norwegian indirect question is built into a larger sentence: Jeg vet ikke om hun kommer (“I don't know whether she is coming”). Use om for a yes/no question and keep the original question word for an information question. The embedded question has subordinate-clause word order: the subject normally comes before the finite verb, and ikke comes before that verb.

Overview

A direct question stands on its own: Hvor bor han? (“Where does he live?”). An indirect question, also called an embedded question, becomes part of another clause: Kan du fortelle meg hvor han bor? (“Can you tell me where he lives?”). The embedded words still express something unknown, but they no longer use the word order of a direct question.

This is an important B1 pattern because it appears whenever you ask politely, report someone else's question, or say that you know, do not know, wonder, remember, or investigate something. Common frames include Jeg vet ikke ... (“I don't know ...”), Jeg lurer på ... (“I wonder ...”), Hun spurte ... (“She asked ...”), and Kan du si ...? (“Can you tell me ...?”).

The key grammar comes from subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause is a clause that functions as part of a larger sentence rather than as a complete sentence on its own. If you already know Norwegian subordinate-clause word order, indirect questions apply that familiar pattern to unknown information.

How It Works

Yes/no questions: use om

When the answer to the original question could be yes or no, introduce the indirect question with om, meaning “whether” or “if.” Do not preserve the verb-first order of the direct question.

Norwegian	English	Note
Kommer hun?	Is she coming?	Direct question: finite verb before subject
Jeg vet ikke om hun kommer.	I don't know whether she is coming.	Indirect question: om + subject + verb
Har de bestilt bord?	Have they booked a table?	Direct yes/no question
Han spurte om de hadde bestilt bord.	He asked whether they had booked a table.	Reported as an indirect question

A finite verb is the verb form that carries tense, such as kommer, kom, har, or hadde. A useful basic formula is:

main clause + om + subject + (sentence adverb) + finite verb + rest

For example: Jeg vet ikke + om + hun + ikke + kan + komme.

Information questions: keep the question word

If the direct question begins with a question word, keep that word. Typical forms are hvem (who), hva (what), hvor (where), når (when), hvorfor (why), and hvordan (how). The subject then normally comes before the finite verb.

Direct question	Indirect question	What changes
Hvor bor han?	Kan du si hvor han bor?	han moves before bor
Når reiser vi?	Hun spurte når vi reiser.	vi comes before reiser
Hvorfor dro de?	Jeg forstår ikke hvorfor de dro.	de comes before dro
Hvordan virker appen?	Vet du hvordan appen virker?	appen comes before virker

English also changes word order in “Where does he live?” → “Do you know where he lives?” That similarity helps. However, Norwegian has an additional placement rule for words such as ikke, which makes the subordinate structure especially visible.

Put ikke before the finite verb

In an ordinary Norwegian main clause, ikke usually follows the finite verb: Hun ringte ikke. In a subordinate clause, it normally comes before the finite verb: ... at hun ikke ringte. An indirect question follows the subordinate pattern.

Norwegian	English	Pattern
Hvorfor ringte hun ikke?	Why didn't she call?	Direct question: verb + subject + ikke
Jeg lurer på hvorfor hun ikke ringte.	I wonder why she didn't call.	Indirect: subject + ikke + finite verb
Kan han ikke komme?	Can't he come?	Direct question
Vet du om han ikke kan komme?	Do you know whether he can't come?	Indirect: ikke before kan

Other sentence adverbs often occupy the same position, including aldri (“never”), alltid (“always”), kanskje (“perhaps”), and egentlig (“actually/really”): Jeg vet ikke hvorfor hun aldri svarer (“I don't know why she never answers”). Their exact placement can vary with meaning and style, but the basic B1 rule is that a sentence adverb comes before the finite verb in the embedded clause.

When the question word is the subject: hvem som and hva som

Sometimes the unknown person or thing performs the action; in grammatical terms, it is the subject (the person or thing that does or experiences what the verb expresses). Direct questions then have no separate subject after the question word: Hvem kommer? (“Who is coming?”). In an indirect question, Norwegian normally inserts som.

Direct question	Indirect question	Role of question word
Hvem kommer?	Vet du hvem som kommer?	hvem is the subject of kommer
Hva skjedde?	Ingen vet hva som skjedde.	hva is the subject of skjedde
Hvem inviterte du?	Jeg vet hvem du inviterte.	du is the subject; hvem is the object, so no som
Hva kjøpte hun?	Han spurte hva hun kjøpte.	hun is the subject; no som

An object is the person or thing affected by the action. The contrast is therefore practical: if another subject appears (du, hun, læreren), do not add subject som. Compare Jeg vet hvem som ringte (“I know who called”) with Jeg vet hvem du ringte (“I know whom you called”).

The entire sentence decides the punctuation

An indirect question does not automatically make the whole sentence a question. Look at the main clause:

• Jeg vet ikke hvor nøkkelen er. is a statement, so it ends with a period.
• Kan du fortelle meg hvor nøkkelen er? is a request in question form, so it ends with a question mark.
• Hun spurte hvor nøkkelen var. reports a past question and ends with a period.

This differs from informal English punctuation habits that sometimes attach a question mark simply because unknown information is mentioned. In standard Norwegian writing, the full sentence type controls the final punctuation.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg vet ikke om hun kommer.	I don't know if she is coming.	Yes/no uncertainty with om
Kan du fortelle meg hvor han bor?	Can you tell me where he lives?	Polite question frame
Han spurte når vi reiser.	He asked when we are leaving.	The departure is still relevant
Jeg lurer på hvorfor hun ikke ringte.	I wonder why she didn't call.	ikke before the finite verb
Vet du om butikken er åpen på søndager?	Do you know whether the shop is open on Sundays?	Embedded yes/no question
Hun husker ikke hvor hun la brillene.	She doesn't remember where she put her glasses.	Question word + subject + verb
Vi må finne ut hvor mye det koster.	We need to find out how much it costs.	hvor mye stays together
Læreren spurte hvem som ville begynne.	The teacher asked who wanted to start.	hvem is the subject, so use som
Politiet undersøker hva som skjedde.	The police are investigating what happened.	hva som introduces a subject question
Jeg er usikker på hvilken buss vi skal ta.	I am unsure which bus we should take.	Question phrase hvilken buss
Kan dere si når toget går?	Can you tell me when the train leaves?	Timetable information
Hun lurte på om vi allerede hadde spist.	She wondered whether we had already eaten.	allerede before hadde
Ingen forstår hvorfor systemet aldri virker.	Nobody understands why the system never works.	aldri before virker
Vet du hva dette betyr?	Do you know what this means?	dette is the subject; no som

Common Mistakes

Keeping direct-question inversion

• Wrong: Kan du si hvor bor han?
• Right: Kan du si hvor han bor?
• Why: The embedded clause is subordinate. Put the subject han before the finite verb bor.

Using hvis because English uses “if”

• Wrong: Jeg vet ikke hvis hun kommer.
• Right: Jeg vet ikke om hun kommer.
• Why: In an indirect yes/no question, English “if” corresponds to Norwegian om. Norwegian hvis normally introduces a condition: Hvis hun kommer, lager vi middag (“If she comes, we will make dinner”).

Leaving ikke after the verb

• Wrong: Jeg lurer på hvorfor hun ringte ikke.
• Right: Jeg lurer på hvorfor hun ikke ringte.
• Why: In the indirect question, ikke normally comes before the finite verb.

Omitting som in a subject question

• Wrong: Vet du hvem kommer?
• Right: Vet du hvem som kommer?
• Why: Use hvem som or hva som when the question word itself is the subject of the embedded clause.

Adding som when another subject is present

• Wrong: Jeg vet ikke hvem som du møtte.
• Right: Jeg vet ikke hvem du møtte.
• Why: Here du is the subject and hvem is the object. Subject-question som is not needed.

Using a question mark after every indirect question

• Wrong: Hun spurte hvor vi bodde?
• Right: Hun spurte hvor vi bodde.
• Why: This sentence reports a question but is itself a statement. Use a question mark only when the full sentence is a question, as in Kan du si hvor vi skal møtes?

Usage Notes

Indirect questions often make requests sound less abrupt. Hvor er toalettet? is perfectly normal, while Kan du si meg hvor toalettet er? adds a polite frame. Common alternatives include Vet du ...?, Kan du fortelle meg ...?, Har du noen idé om ...?, and Jeg lurte på om .... The past form Jeg lurte på om ... can soften a request, much like English “I was wondering if ...”.

In everyday speech, om is the normal choice for “whether/if.” Hvorvidt also means “whether,” but is more formal and is common in administrative, academic, or carefully written language: Rapporten vurderer hvorvidt tiltaket virker (“The report assesses whether the measure works”). For normal conversation, om is usually more natural.

The tense of the indirect question depends on time and viewpoint rather than on an automatic rule that every verb must shift into the past. Han spurte når vi reiser can be natural if the trip is still upcoming. Han spurte når vi skulle reise presents the departure from the past viewpoint and is often the expected choice in a past narrative. Norwegian therefore does not require the rigid backshift learners may expect from some descriptions of English reported speech.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Longer question phrases remain a unit

The opening element can contain several words: hvor mange personer, hvilken løsning, hvor lang tid, or hvem av dem. Keep the whole phrase together, then use subordinate order:

• Vet du hvor mange personer som kommer? — “Do you know how many people are coming?”
• Vi må avgjøre hvilken løsning vi skal velge. — “We must decide which solution to choose.”
• Hun spurte hvor lang tid det ville ta. — “She asked how long it would take.”

Notice som in the first example: the full phrase hvor mange personer is the subject of kommer. In the second, vi is the subject and hvilken løsning is the object, so there is no subject som.

Infinitive alternatives

When the subject of the unknown action is understood from context, Norwegian can sometimes use a question word followed by an infinitive (the basic verb form used with å):

• Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal gjøre — “I don't know what I should do.”
• Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal gjøre / hva jeg bør gjøre — full-clause alternatives
• Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal velge is generally more natural than trying to copy the English infinitive “what to choose” directly in every context.

Norwegian does allow established patterns such as hvordan gjøre dette in headings and compressed instructions, but a full clause with skal, kan, or bør is often the safest and most natural choice in ordinary speech.

Embedded questions versus relative clauses

Both constructions can contain som, but they do different jobs. Jeg vet hvem som kommer contains an indirect question: the person's identity is unknown or relevant. Mannen som kommer, er naboen min (“The man who is coming is my neighbor”) contains a relative clause, which describes mannen. Recognizing whether the larger sentence asks for information or describes a noun helps you interpret som correctly.

Multiple levels of embedding

An indirect question can sit inside another clause: Hun sa at hun ikke visste om møtet var avlyst (“She said that she did not know whether the meeting had been canceled”). Work from the inside out. First build om møtet var avlyst, then place it after visste, and finally place that unit inside the at clause.

Practice Tips

1. Transform direct questions in three groups. Write five yes/no questions, five question-word questions, and five subject questions. Convert them using om, ordinary question words, and hvem som/hva som respectively.
2. Highlight the verb and ikke. In sentences such as Hvorfor kommer han ikke?, mark the finite verb, subject, and adverb. Then embed the question: Jeg vet ikke hvorfor han ikke kommer. This makes the word-order change visible.
3. Build a set of useful frames. Practice one piece of information after Vet du ...?, Kan du fortelle meg ...?, Jeg lurer på ..., and Hun spurte .... Say the full sentence aloud so subordinate word order becomes automatic rather than a rule you translate word by word.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — provides the subject–adverb–verb word order used inside indirect questions.