Vaere (to be) in Norwegian

Overview

The verb vaere (to be) is arguably the single most important verb in Norwegian. You need it to say who you are, where you are, what something is, and how you feel. It appears in greetings, introductions, descriptions, weather expressions, and countless other everyday contexts. Mastering vaere is an essential A1 milestone.

Like its English counterpart "to be," vaere is irregular. However, Norwegian makes things simpler than English in one key way: there is only one present tense form (er) and one simple past form (var) regardless of the subject. You do not need to juggle "am/is/are" or "was/were" — it is always er for present and var for past.

Because vaere is so high-frequency, you will internalize it quickly through sheer exposure. It also serves as a gateway to important constructions like det er (there is/are) and to combining with adjectives and nouns in predicate expressions.

How It Works

Core conjugation

Tense	Form	Example	Translation
Infinitive	vaere	Å vaere glad	To be happy
Present	er	Jeg er glad.	I am happy.
Past (preteritum)	var	Jeg var glad.	I was happy.
Present perfect	har vaert	Jeg har vaert glad.	I have been happy.
Past perfect	hadde vaert	Jeg hadde vaert glad.	I had been happy.

One form for all persons

Person	Present	Past
jeg (I)	er	var
du (you)	er	var
han/hun/det (he/she/it)	er	var
vi (we)	er	var
dere (you all)	er	var
de (they)	er	var

Common uses of vaere

1. Identity: Jeg er laerer. (I am a teacher.) — Note: Norwegian does not use an article before professions.
2. Description: Hun er høy. (She is tall.)
3. Location: Vi er i Oslo. (We are in Oslo.)
4. Weather/state: Det er kaldt. (It is cold.)
5. Existential: Det er en katt her. (There is a cat here.)
6. Age: Han er tjue år. (He is twenty years old.)

No article before professions

Unlike English, Norwegian omits the indefinite article when stating someone's profession: Hun er lege (She is a doctor), not Hun er en lege.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Jeg er laerer.	I am a teacher.	No article before profession
Hun er trøtt.	She is tired.	Adjective description
Det er kaldt.	It is cold.	Weather expression
Vi var hjemme i går.	We were home yesterday.	Past tense
Er du norsk?	Are you Norwegian?	Yes/no question (verb first)
De er fra Bergen.	They are from Bergen.	Origin
Huset er stort.	The house is big.	Describing a thing
Det er mandag i dag.	It is Monday today.	Day of the week
Han er tjue år gammel.	He is twenty years old.	Stating age
Vi har vaert i Tromsø.	We have been in Tromsø.	Present perfect
Været var fint i går.	The weather was nice yesterday.	Past tense
Er det langt?	Is it far?	Question about distance

Common Mistakes

Wrong: Jeg er en laerer. Right: Jeg er laerer. Why: Norwegian does not use the indefinite article before professions, nationalities, or religions after vaere.

Wrong: Vi er i Norge when meaning "We were in Norway" (past). Right: Vi var i Norge. Why: Er is present tense only. Use var for past.

Wrong: Jeg er vaert i Oslo. (mixing auxiliary) Right: Jeg har vaert i Oslo. Why: The present perfect uses har + vaert, not er + vaert.

Wrong: Hun er kaldt. (She is cold — wrong adjective form) Right: Hun er kald. or Det er kaldt. Why: Kaldt is the neuter form. With a person (masculine/feminine), use kald. With det, use the neuter form kaldt.

Usage Notes

Vaere is among the top five most frequent words in Norwegian. It appears in formal writing, casual speech, literature, and every other register. There are no regional variations in its conjugation — er and var are universal across all Norwegian dialects in Bokmål.

One important cultural note: when Norwegians talk about well-being, they say Hvordan har du det? (How are you? — literally "How have you it?") using ha, not vaere. This is different from English "How are you?" So while vaere is everywhere, it is not used in this particular greeting.

This verb is required from A1 and remains central at every proficiency level.

Practice Tips

• Describe photos. Look at any picture and make five sentences with er: Det er en hund. Hunden er brun. Det er en park. Parken er stor. Det er fint vaer.
• Narrate your past day using var. Before bed, think of five things from your day: Været var fint. Jeg var på jobb. Maten var god.
• Practice questions. Convert statements to questions by moving er to the front: Du er norsk becomes Er du norsk?

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — you need pronouns as subjects with vaere
• Next steps: Det er (There is/are) — the existential construction built on vaere