Relative Clauses in Norwegian

In Brief

Norwegian usually begins a relative clause with som, which covers English “who,” “which,” and “that”: Mannen som bor her means “The man who lives here.” Keep som when it is the subject (the person or thing doing the action), but you can often omit it when it is the object (the person or thing affected by the action): Boka (som) jeg leste. Use hvis for “whose,” and der or hvor for “where.”

Overview

A relative clause is a group of words that describes a noun or points out which person, thing, place, or idea you mean. In mannen som bor her (“the man who lives here”), som bor her identifies the man. The noun being described—mannen in this example—is called the antecedent, meaning the word that the relative clause refers back to.

Relative clauses let you combine short statements into smoother, more informative sentences. Instead of saying Jeg kjenner en kvinne. Hun jobber på sykehuset (“I know a woman. She works at the hospital”), you can say Jeg kjenner en kvinne som jobber på sykehuset (“I know a woman who works at the hospital”). This makes them essential in everyday descriptions, stories, news, and explanations.

At B1, the central task is to use som correctly and maintain subordinate-clause word order. A subordinate clause is a clause that forms part of a larger sentence rather than functioning as the main statement. English speakers get one welcome simplification: Norwegian does not choose among “who,” “whom,” “which,” and “that” according to the antecedent. The same som works with people, animals, things, singular nouns, and plural nouns.

How It Works

The basic pattern with som

The relative clause normally comes directly after the noun or noun phrase it describes.

Function	Pattern	Norwegian	English
Person as subject	person + som + verb	en lærer som forklarer godt	a teacher who explains well
Thing as subject	thing + som + verb	en app som fungerer	an app that works
Person as object	person + (som) + subject + verb	mannen (som) jeg møtte	the man (whom) I met
Thing as object	thing + (som) + subject + verb	filmen (som) vi så	the film (that) we saw

Som does not change form. Gender, definiteness, and number affect the noun, but not the relative marker:

• jenta som synger — the girl who is singing
• barnet som sover — the child who is sleeping
• bilene som står ute — the cars that are parked outside

Norwegian therefore has no direct grammatical distinction like English “who” for people versus “which” for things.

Keep som when it is the subject

The subject is the person or thing carrying out the action or being described by the verb. In mannen som bor her, som stands for the man and is the subject of bor. It cannot be left out.

• Jeg kjenner mannen som bor her. — I know the man who lives here.
• Vi kjøpte en lampe som var på tilbud. — We bought a lamp that was on sale.

If you remove som, the relative clause has no subject: ✗ mannen bor her after another noun does not form the intended relative structure.

Omit som when it is the object

An object is the person or thing that the action affects. In boka som jeg leste, jeg is the subject and the book is what I read. Because som represents the object, it may be omitted:

• Boka som jeg leste var spennende.
• Boka jeg leste var spennende.

Both mean “The book (that) I read was exciting.” Omission is very common and natural, especially in speech. Keeping som is also correct and can make a long sentence easier to follow.

A useful test is to look immediately after som:

• If a verb follows and no other subject appears, som is probably the subject and must stay: personen som ringte.
• If an explicit subject such as jeg, hun, vi, or a noun follows, som is often the object and can disappear: personen (som) jeg ringte.

This is a practical test, not a replacement for understanding the meaning. Compare:

• legen som ringte meg — the doctor who called me
• legen (som) jeg ringte — the doctor whom I called

Word order inside the relative clause

A relative clause follows Norwegian subordinate-clause word order. The most visible difference appears with a sentence adverb—a word such as ikke (“not”), aldri (“never”), alltid (“always”), or ofte (“often”) that comments on the whole statement. In a subordinate clause, it normally comes before the finite verb (the verb carrying tense).

Main clause	Relative clause
Han kommer ikke i dag.	mannen som ikke kommer i dag
Hun har aldri vært der.	kvinnen som aldri har vært der
De spiser ofte ute.	vennene som ofte spiser ute

Do not apply the main-clause V2 rule inside the relative clause. The relative clause does not begin a new independent statement.

Hvis for possession

Use hvis when the relationship is possessive: English “whose.” It can refer to people and, especially in formal writing, to organizations or things. The possessed noun follows hvis, normally without a possessive ending or a separate possessive determiner.

• Kvinnen hvis sønn jeg kjenner — the woman whose son I know
• Et firma hvis produkter selges over hele landet — a company whose products are sold throughout the country

This relative hvis is spelled exactly like the conjunction hvis meaning “if.” Context makes the meaning clear: possessive hvis follows an antecedent and is followed by the possessed noun.

In ordinary conversation, speakers often avoid possessive hvis and rephrase:

• mannen som jeg kjenner sønnen til — the man whose son I know; literally, “the man that I know the son of”

That construction is less compact but very natural in speech.

Places with der and hvor

For a place, Norwegian can use der or hvor, both corresponding to relative “where.”

• Huset der vi bor — the house where we live
• Byen hvor hun studerte — the city where she studied

Der is often the straightforward choice for a concrete place. Hvor is also widely used, though style preferences vary and careful writing may favor der when the meaning is simply “in/at which.” You can often express the same relationship with som and a stranded preposition—a preposition placed later in the clause:

• Huset som vi bor i — the house that we live in
• Kafeen vi møttes på — the café where we met

Do not insert an unnecessary preposition after der/hvor: use stedet der vi møttes, not ✗ stedet der vi møttes på when der itself already means “at that place.”

Prepositions and relative clauses

Everyday Norwegian usually leaves the preposition at the end of the relative clause. Som may be present or omitted if it functions as the complement of that preposition:

• personen (som) jeg snakket med — the person I spoke with
• prosjektet (som) hun arbeider med — the project she is working on
• stolen (som) jakka ligger på — the chair that the jacket is lying on

This resembles natural English and is much more usual than highly formal combinations with hvilken/hvilket/hvilke.

Referring to an indefinite idea with det som and noe som

Norwegian often uses det som for “what” or “that which,” when there is no separate noun before the clause:

• Jeg forstår det som står i brevet. — I understand what is written in the letter.
• Det som overrasket meg, var prisen. — What surprised me was the price.

Use noe som for “something that”:

• Vi trenger noe som virker. — We need something that works.

Here som still follows the same subject/object rule. In det som står, it is the subject and cannot be omitted.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Mannen som bor her, er lærer.	The man who lives here is a teacher.	Som is the subject and must remain.
Boka (som) jeg leste, var bedre enn filmen.	The book (that) I read was better than the film.	Object som is optional.
Dette er kollegaen som hjalp meg i går.	This is the colleague who helped me yesterday.	Person as subject.
Har du funnet nøklene (som) du mistet?	Have you found the keys (that) you lost?	Thing as object.
Vi trenger en buss som ikke stopper overalt.	We need a bus that does not stop everywhere.	Ikke comes before stopper.
Hun har en venn som alltid sier det han mener.	She has a friend who always says what he thinks.	Subordinate placement of alltid; det han mener has omitted object som.
Jeg likte restauranten (som) du anbefalte.	I liked the restaurant (that) you recommended.	Keeping or omitting som is possible.
Kvinnen hvis sønn jeg kjenner, bor i Bergen.	The woman whose son I know lives in Bergen.	Possessive hvis.
Vi besøkte bygda der bestefaren min vokste opp.	We visited the village where my grandfather grew up.	Der refers to a place.
Dette er huset som de bodde i før.	This is the house they used to live in.	The preposition remains at the end.
Den personen jeg snakket med, var svært hyggelig.	The person I spoke with was very nice.	Som is omitted before jeg.
Det som skjedde etterpå, husker jeg ikke.	I do not remember what happened afterward.	Det som introduces an idea, not a named noun.
Vi må finne noe som alle kan spise.	We must find something that everyone can eat.	Som is the object of spise, but it is commonly retained after noe.
Kurset, som varer i seks uker, begynner på mandag.	The course, which lasts six weeks, begins on Monday.	Extra, non-identifying information.

Common Mistakes

Omitting subject som

• Wrong: ✗ Jeg kjenner en mann bor i Tromsø.
• Right: ✓ Jeg kjenner en mann som bor i Tromsø.
• Why: The man performs the action bor. Som is the subject of the relative clause and is required.

Using a separate pronoun after subject som

• Wrong: ✗ Dama som hun jobber her, er ny.
• Right: ✓ Dama som jobber her, er ny.
• Why: Subject som already represents dama. Adding hun gives the relative clause two subjects.

Copying English “who” and “which” too literally

• Wrong: ✗ filmen hvilken vi så / ✗ mannen hvem ringte
• Right: ✓ filmen (som) vi så / ✓ mannen som ringte
• Why: In ordinary Norwegian relatives, som covers both people and things. Hvem is mainly an interrogative word: Hvem ringte? (“Who called?”).

Using main-clause adverb placement

• Wrong: ✗ Jeg kjenner mannen som kommer ikke i dag.
• Right: ✓ Jeg kjenner mannen som ikke kommer i dag.
• Why: A relative clause is subordinate, so ikke normally comes before the finite verb.

Keeping an extra object pronoun

• Wrong: ✗ Boka som jeg leste den, var lang.
• Right: ✓ Boka som jeg leste, var lang.
• Why: Som already represents the object. Norwegian does not normally repeat it with den.

Confusing hvis and som

• Wrong: ✗ mannen som bil er rød
• Right: ✓ mannen hvis bil er rød
• Why: The intended meaning is possession: the car belongs to the man. Use hvis for “whose.”

Usage Notes

Both written Bokmål and everyday speech make extensive use of som. Omitting object som is normal rather than careless: filmen vi så sounds completely natural. In a long or structurally complicated sentence, however, retaining som can help the reader see where the relative clause begins.

Commas depend on meaning. A restrictive relative clause identifies which person or thing you mean and normally has no comma before it: Elevene som var ferdige, kunne gå means that the students who were finished could leave. A non-restrictive relative clause merely adds extra information about an already identified referent and is set off with commas: Elevene, som var ferdige, kunne gå suggests that all the students were finished. This contrast is useful, but actual punctuation may also reflect sentence rhythm and clarity.

In spoken Norwegian, som is also heard in constructions that are broader than formal relative clauses, and regional usage varies. For a learner, the standard patterns in this article are safe throughout Bokmål: som for people and things, der/hvor for places, and hvis for possession.

Beyond the Basics

Relative meaning with time, reason, and manner

Norwegian often uses a noun followed by a connector suited to its meaning rather than forcing som into every relationship:

• dagen da vi møttes — the day when we met
• grunnen til at jeg dro — the reason why I left
• måten hun løste problemet på — the way she solved the problem

You may also encounter dagen vi møttes, with the connector omitted. These patterns are worth learning as whole phrases because a direct word-for-word transfer from English can sound unnatural.

Formal hvilken constructions

Formal or legal writing can place a preposition before a form of hvilken (“which”): avtalen i henhold til hvilken .... The form agrees with the antecedent: hvilken for common-gender singular, hvilket for neuter singular, and hvilke for plural. Such constructions are uncommon in ordinary conversation. Prefer the natural pattern with a final preposition: avtalen som reglene bygger på.

Referring to a whole preceding statement

The formal relative hvilket can refer not to one noun but to an entire preceding statement:

• Han avlyste møtet, hvilket overrasket oss. — He canceled the meeting, which surprised us.

In less formal language, Norwegian often starts a new clause or uses noe som:

• Han avlyste møtet, noe som overrasket oss. — He canceled the meeting, which surprised us.

Avoiding ambiguity

A relative clause normally attaches to the nearest plausible noun, but meaning can still become unclear: Jeg snakket med søsteren til Kari som bor i Oslo could make the reader wonder whether Kari or her sister lives in Oslo. Rewrite instead of expecting punctuation to solve everything:

• Karis søster, som bor i Oslo, snakket jeg med.
• Jeg snakket med søsteren til Kari. Kari bor i Oslo.

Clear placement matters more as your sentences become longer.

Practice Tips

1. Combine pairs of sentences. Turn Jeg kjøpte en jakke. Jakka var på salg into Jeg kjøpte en jakke som var på salg. Then try an object pair: Jeg kjøpte jakka. Du anbefalte den → Jeg kjøpte jakka (som) du anbefalte.
2. Mark subject versus object. In every relative clause, underline who performs the action. If som performs it, keep som. If another subject appears and the antecedent receives the action, try the sentence both with and without som.
3. Listen for word order. While reading or listening, collect examples containing som ikke, som aldri, and som ofte. Repeating these chunks helps subordinate word order become automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — provides the word-order pattern used inside relative clauses.
• Next step: Types of Subordinate Clauses — places relative clauses within the wider system of Norwegian subordinate clauses.