Temporal Expressions in Norwegian

Overview

Temporal expressions are the words and phrases that anchor your sentences in time. At the A2 level, you move beyond basic time words like nå (now) and i dag (today) to a richer set of time connectors that let you talk about the past, future, and duration with precision. Key expressions include i går (yesterday), i morgen (tomorrow), om litt (in a moment), for...siden (ago), and i...tid (for...time).

These expressions are essential for telling stories, making plans, and describing routines. Norwegian temporal expressions often use prepositions in ways that differ from English, so learning them as fixed phrases is the most effective approach. Many of these expressions also interact with word order — when placed at the beginning of a sentence, they trigger the V2 inversion rule you learned at A1.

How It Works

Days and immediate time references

Norwegian	English	Notes
i dag	today	Literally "in day"
i går	yesterday	Literally "in gone"
i morgen	tomorrow	Literally "in morning"
i forgårs	the day before yesterday
i overmorgen	the day after tomorrow
i kveld	tonight / this evening
i natt	last night / tonight	Context determines past or future
i morges	this morning (past)	Morning has already happened

Expressing "ago" with "for...siden"

The construction for + time + siden means "ago":

Norwegian	English
for to dager siden	two days ago
for en uke siden	a week ago
for tre måneder siden	three months ago
for lenge siden	a long time ago
for et øyeblikk siden	a moment ago

Expressing duration with "i...tid" and "i"

The preposition i expresses duration ("for" a period of time):

Norwegian	English
i to timer	for two hours
i tre dager	for three days
i lang tid	for a long time
i flere år	for several years

Expressing future time with "om"

The preposition om indicates when something will happen in the future:

Norwegian	English
om litt	in a moment
om fem minutter	in five minutes
om en time	in an hour
om to uker	in two weeks

Other common temporal expressions

Norwegian	English	Category
snart	soon	Future
allerede	already	Completed
ennå / fremdeles	still / yet	Ongoing
nettopp	just (now)	Recent past
først	first / not until	Sequence
da	then (past)	Past narrative
etterpå / deretter	afterwards / then	Sequence
til slutt	in the end / finally	Sequence
samtidig	at the same time	Simultaneous
plutselig	suddenly	Narrative

Temporal expressions and word order

When a temporal expression starts the sentence, the subject and verb invert (V2 rule):

Normal order	Temporal expression first
Jeg reiste til Bergen i går.	I går reiste jeg til Bergen.
Vi kommer om en time.	Om en time kommer vi.
Han bodde der i tre år.	I tre år bodde han der.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg kom til Norge for to år siden.	I came to Norway two years ago.	for...siden construction
Om litt går vi ut.	In a moment we are going out.	om for near future
Hun har bodd her i fem år.	She has lived here for five years.	i for duration
I morgen skal vi besøke bestemor.	Tomorrow we are going to visit grandma.	i morgen + inversion
Bussen kom for ti minutter siden.	The bus came ten minutes ago.	for...siden
Vi spiste middag i går kveld.	We ate dinner yesterday evening.	i går + time of day
Jeg har nettopp spist.	I have just eaten.	nettopp for recent past
Toget kommer om fem minutter.	The train arrives in five minutes.	om for future
Han jobbet der i mange år.	He worked there for many years.	i for duration
For lenge siden bodde det en konge her.	A long time ago a king lived here.	for...siden + narrative
Først spiser vi, og deretter går vi en tur.	First we eat, and then we go for a walk.	Sequence words
Jeg er ikke ferdig ennå.	I am not finished yet.	ennå for ongoing

Common Mistakes

Confusing "om" (future) and "i" (duration)

• Wrong: Jeg har bodd her om fem år.
• Right: Jeg har bodd her i fem år.
• Why: Om refers to a point in the future ("in five years from now"). I expresses duration ("for five years"). They are not interchangeable.

Wrong preposition for "ago"

• Wrong: Jeg kom her to dager siden.
• Right: Jeg kom her for to dager siden.
• Why: The full construction is for...siden. You need both for at the beginning and siden at the end.

Confusing "i morgen" and "i morges"

• Wrong: I morges skal vi reise. (meaning tomorrow)
• Right: I morgen skal vi reise.
• Why: I morges means "this morning" (already past). I morgen means "tomorrow." The -es ending signals past.

Forgetting inversion with fronted time expressions

• Wrong: I går jeg gikk på jobb.
• Right: I går gikk jeg på jobb.
• Why: When a temporal expression fills position 1, the verb must come in position 2 (V2 rule), pushing the subject to position 3.

Usage Notes

Norwegian distinguishes between i natt referring to last night or tonight depending on context. If it is morning and you say i natt, it means "last night." If it is evening, it can mean "tonight." Context usually makes the meaning clear.

The expression for...siden is sometimes shortened in very casual speech to just the time + siden: to dager siden instead of for to dager siden. This is informal but widely understood.

Practice Tips

1. Tell your daily story. Every evening, describe your day using temporal expressions: I morges stod jeg opp. For to timer siden spiste jeg middag. I kveld skal jeg lese.
2. Practice the "for...siden" frame. Think of important events in your life and express when they happened: Jeg begynte å lære norsk for seks måneder siden.
3. Write a weekend plan. Use i morgen, om + time, and sequence words like først, deretter, til slutt to describe what you will do.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Time — you need to know numbers and time units to form temporal expressions
• Next steps: Temporal Conjunctions — conjunctions like når, mens, før, etter at that create time-related subordinate clauses
• Next steps: Basic Word Order — understanding V2 inversion helps with fronted temporal expressions