Nominalization in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian nominalization turns a verb or adjective into a noun: å utvikle “to develop” becomes utvikling “development,” and fri “free” becomes frihet “freedom.” The main endings in formal Bokmål are -ing/-ning, -else, and -het, but the choice is largely lexical: learn the established noun together with its gender and inflection rather than attaching any ending mechanically.

Overview

A nominalization is a noun formed from another kind of word, most often a verb or an adjective. A noun is a word used to name a person, thing, quality, process, or idea. Compare the verb å undersøke “to investigate” with the noun en undersøkelse “an investigation.” The action has become something that can serve as the subject or object of a sentence, take an article, and be modified by an adjective.

Nominalization is especially visible at C1 in reports, academic prose, administration, news, and business writing. It helps writers discuss processes and abstract ideas compactly: gjennomføring av tiltakene “implementation of the measures.” English uses the same strategy—develop → development, free → freedom—so the basic idea is familiar. The challenge is that Norwegian and English do not always nominalize the same word, choose the same preposition, or prefer equally noun-heavy sentences.

This article describes modern Norwegian Bokmål. Many of these nouns are ordinary vocabulary, not forms that a speaker invents by rule each time. A good command of nominalization therefore combines word formation, noun grammar, and stylistic judgment.

How It Works

The main patterns

A suffix is an ending added to a word or stem to create a new word. These are the central patterns:

Base	Typical noun ending	Example	Basic meaning
Verb	-ing / -ning	å forbedre → forbedring	process, activity, or result
Verb	-else	å undersøke → undersøkelse	action, event, state, or result
Adjective	-het	sikker → sikkerhet	quality, condition, or degree

The boundary is not always as neat as the table suggests. -ing and -ning belong to the same broad family, and spelling may reflect changes in the stem: å beslutte → beslutning. Some nouns have become so established that their connection with the modern base is no longer fully transparent. Dictionaries are the safest guide.

Verb + -ing or -ning

-ing/-ning is highly productive, meaning that it is commonly used to form new nouns. Such nouns often name an ongoing process, a repeated activity, or the result of an action.

Verb	Noun	Meaning
å utvikle	utvikling	development
å forbedre	forbedring	improvement
å behandle	behandling	treatment; processing
å forske	forskning	research
å bygge	bygging	building, construction activity
å beslutte	beslutning	decision

The exact shape must be learned. Do not infer that every English noun in -tion takes Norwegian -ning, or that the infinitive ending can simply be removed and -ing added. For instance, å informere normally gives informasjon, while å undersøke gives undersøkelse.

An -ing/-ning noun may describe either the process or its outcome. Context resolves the difference:

• Byggingen tok to år. — “The construction process took two years.”
• Den nye bygningen har seks etasjer. — “The new building has six floors.”

Notice that bygging is the activity, while bygning is a lexicalized noun meaning a building. A small formal difference can therefore create a different meaning.

Verb + -else

Nouns in -else are common, especially in established formal and administrative vocabulary. They may refer to an action, an event, its outcome, or a resulting state.

Verb	Noun	Meaning
å undersøke	undersøkelse	investigation; examination
å oppleve	opplevelse	experience
å tillate	tillatelse	permission; permit
å bevege	bevegelse	movement
å ansette	ansettelse	employment; hiring

This pattern is less freely productive than -ing. A noun in -else should generally be treated as a vocabulary item. In some word families, two related nouns coexist with distinct uses. Compare ansettelse “employment/the act of hiring” with ansetting, which can focus more directly on the hiring process but is less usual in many contexts.

Adjective + -het

-het forms abstract nouns from adjectives. An abstract noun names a quality, condition, or idea rather than a physical object.

Adjective	Noun	Meaning
fri	frihet	freedom
sikker	sikkerhet	safety; security; certainty
mulig	mulighet	possibility; opportunity
vakker	vakkerhet	beauty, the quality of being beautiful
skjønn	skjønnhet	beauty
offentlig	offentlighet	the public sphere; public access

Not every adjective naturally forms a noun in -het, and the resulting noun may have a narrower conventional meaning. Sikkerhet, for example, can mean physical safety, security against threats, or certainty depending on context. English may use several different nouns where Norwegian uses one.

Noun gender and inflection

Once created, a nominalization behaves like any other noun. Gender is the noun class that controls the article and some adjective forms. Gender is not reliably predictable from meaning alone, although common suffixes give useful clues.

Most nouns in -ing/-ning can be feminine in Bokmål and take ei … / …a, but masculine forms en … / …en are also accepted for many of them. Nouns in -else are generally masculine. Nouns in -het are generally feminine or masculine in Bokmål usage; many writers consistently use the masculine article and ending.

Indefinite	Definite	English
en forbedring	forbedringen	an improvement / the improvement
en beslutning	beslutningen	a decision / the decision
en undersøkelse	undersøkelsen	an investigation / the investigation
en mulighet	muligheten	a possibility / the possibility

The table uses common masculine Bokmål forms for consistency. If you use feminine forms accepted by your dictionary or house style, keep the pattern consistent. Also learn the plural where it is relevant: beslutninger – beslutningene, muligheter – mulighetene. Many abstract nouns, such as frihet, are often uncountable, but can be plural when they mean distinct rights or instances: grunnleggende friheter “fundamental freedoms.”

Expressing the participants with av

A verb can state clearly who acts and what is affected:

• Komiteen vurderte søknaden. — “The committee assessed the application.”

After nominalization, participants are often introduced with av “of/by” or another preposition:

• komiteens vurdering av søknaden — “the committee’s assessment of the application”

Here komiteens identifies the assessor, while av søknaden identifies what was assessed. The object is the person or thing affected by the action; after nominalization, it is no longer a grammatical object of a verb but part of a noun phrase.

Be careful when av could identify either actor or affected participant. Vurderingen av ekspertene can mean “the assessment of the experts” and may be ambiguous: did the experts assess something, or were the experts assessed? Rewrite if the context does not make the meaning clear.

From clause to noun phrase

A clause is a group of words built around a verb. A noun phrase is a group built around a noun. Formal Norwegian often changes a clause into a noun phrase:

Clause	Nominalized version
Systemet ble forbedret.	forbedringen av systemet
Vi gjennomførte tiltakene.	gjennomføringen av tiltakene
Løsningen er sikker.	løsningens sikkerhet

The nominalized version is not automatically a complete sentence. Forbedringen av systemet means “the improvement of the system,” but it needs a verb to make a full statement: Forbedringen av systemet tok tre måneder.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Forbedringen av systemet tok lengre tid enn ventet.	The improvement of the system took longer than expected.	-ing noun with an av phrase
Beslutningen ble tatt etter en grundig vurdering.	The decision was made after a thorough assessment.	Two established -ning/-ing nouns
Utviklingen går raskt i denne sektoren.	Development is progressing rapidly in this sector.	Definite abstract noun as subject
Skjønnheten i naturen er vanskelig å beskrive.	The beauty of nature is difficult to describe.	Quality noun in -het
Undersøkelsen viser en tydelig forbedring.	The survey shows a clear improvement.	-else and -ing in one sentence
Vi trenger tillatelse før arbeidet kan begynne.	We need permission before the work can begin.	-else noun used without an article
Gjennomføringen av planen krever tett samarbeid.	Implementing the plan requires close cooperation.	Formal noun phrase corresponding to a verb
Sikkerheten til passasjerene har høyeste prioritet.	The passengers’ safety has the highest priority.	-het noun with til to identify a group
Det er usikkerhet rundt finansieringen.	There is uncertainty surrounding the financing.	Abstract state; usually uncountable here
Etter behandlingen fikk pasienten reise hjem.	After the treatment, the patient was allowed to go home.	Process noun in a time expression
Kommunen varslet en endring av reglene.	The municipality announced a change to the rules.	Countable result noun
Reduksjon i utslipp er et sentralt mål.	A reduction in emissions is a key goal.	A productive formal pattern outside the three core suffixes

Common Mistakes

Treating the suffixes as interchangeable

• Wrong: en undersøkning av saken
• Right: en undersøkelse av saken
• Why: Established word formation determines the suffix. Learn å undersøke – en undersøkelse as a pair.

Copying an English nominalization directly

• Wrong: implementasjonen av planen in a context where plain native wording is expected
• Right: gjennomføringen av planen
• Why: Norwegian does have many international nouns, including implementering, but the most natural equivalent depends on field and audience. English-looking cognates are not always the clearest choice.

Forgetting that the noun needs noun grammar

• Wrong: Beslutning ble tatt i går when referring to a known decision
• Right: Beslutningen ble tatt i går.
• Why: A known, specific noun normally takes the definite form. Norwegian marks definiteness with an ending: -en here.

Leaving a noun phrase as a sentence fragment

• Wrong: Forbedringen av systemet.
• Right: Forbedringen av systemet var nødvendig.
• Why: The first version is only a noun phrase unless it is deliberately used as a heading or label. A normal statement needs a finite verb—a verb marked for tense, such as var.

Creating an ambiguous av phrase

• Unclear: kritikken av ledelsen
• Clearer: de ansattes kritikk av ledelsen / kritikken som var rettet mot ledelsen
• Why: The short phrase may not tell the reader who criticized whom. Name the actor or use a clause when that distinction matters.

Making formal prose unnecessarily heavy

• Heavy: Det ble foretatt en gjennomføring av evalueringen.
• Clearer: Evalueringen ble gjennomført. / Vi gjennomførte evalueringen.
• Why: A support verb such as foreta plus a nominalization can hide a simpler, stronger verb.

Usage Notes

Nominalizations are frequent in official and professional texts because they package an action as a topic. This makes it easy to modify, classify, or refer back to: den planlagte gjennomføringen, en grundig vurdering, denne endringen. They also allow writers to omit the actor when the actor is unknown, obvious, or deliberately backgrounded.

That strength can become a weakness. Too many abstract nouns make a sentence dense and obscure responsibility. Compare:

• Det ble foretatt en vurdering av søknaden. — “An assessment of the application was carried out.”
• Saksbehandleren vurderte søknaden. — “The case officer assessed the application.”

The first is impersonal and process-focused; the second is shorter and names the actor. Neither is always better. Choose according to what the reader needs to know.

Norwegian formal style is often plainer than learners expect from English bureaucratic or academic prose. A grammatically possible chain of nouns may still sound translated. Verbs, subordinate clauses, and det å + infinitive can provide relief: Det å lære et språk tar tid means “Learning a language takes time.” This construction highlights the activity without requiring a lexical noun such as læring.

Prepositions are lexical too. Norwegian may use av, i, for, til, or rundt according to the noun and meaning: endring av reglene, endring i holdninger, behov for støtte, tillatelse til å reise. Do not translate English of automatically as av.

Beyond the Basics: Meaning and Style

Nominalizations can shift more than word class. They can change how a situation is presented. A verb normally places an event in time and can identify participants directly. A noun presents that event as an entity that can be counted, evaluated, delayed, or completed:

• Bedriften utvidet fabrikken i fjor. — the sentence narrates what the company did.
• Utvidelsen av fabrikken var kostbar. — the sentence evaluates the expansion as a thing.

Definiteness also carries discourse meaning. En endring introduces a change; endringen points to a change already known or identifiable. In formal argument, this lets a writer turn information from one sentence into the topic of the next: Reglene ble endret i mai. Endringen førte til protester.

Compounds are especially important in Norwegian. A nominalization can be the final element of a compound, with the earlier element narrowing its meaning: språkutvikling “language development,” kvalitetsforbedring “quality improvement,” and sikkerhetsvurdering “safety assessment.” Norwegian normally writes compounds as one word, unlike English. Very long compounds may be correct but hard to process, so rewrite when clarity suffers.

Some apparent alternatives differ in focus. An -ing noun often readily denotes an activity, while a lexicalized noun may denote its product or institution. The contrast is not governed by one universal rule: bygging is construction activity, bygning is a building, and forskning is both the activity and the field of research. Meaning must be checked word by word.

Finally, nominalization often interacts with passive voice. Beslutningen ble tatt backgrounds the decision-maker; ledelsen tok beslutningen names that actor. In analytical writing, vary these structures deliberately. If responsibility matters, do not let an abstract noun or passive construction erase it.

Practice Tips

1. Build word families, not suffix lists. Record å vurdere – en vurdering – vurderingen – vurderinger together, plus one typical complement such as en vurdering av risikoen.
2. Rewrite in both directions. Turn Komiteen undersøkte saken into komiteens undersøkelse av saken, then restore the verb. Check what happens to the actor, object, tense, and preposition.
3. Edit for density. Take a paragraph from a report and underline every noun in -ing/-ning, -else, and -het. Keep nouns that organize the argument, but replace heavy support-verb phrases with direct verbs where that improves clarity.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Formal Written Style — provides the register and sentence patterns in which nominalization is especially common.