When you browse through the thousand most common Norwegian words, you come across verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and ... adverbs —Norwegian adverbs: that’s what we will discuss today.
Note that there are a few different forms of the Norwegian language, with Norwegian Bokmål being the most widely spoken. That is the form that is used in this guide.
Adverbs of place (or “Stedsadverb” as they are called in Norwegian) provide information about location. If you talk about your travels in Norwegian, you’ll use plenty of these.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| hit | here |
| dit | there (to that place) |
| her | here |
| der | there |
| overalt | everywhere |
| annetsteds | elsewhere |
| ingensteds | nowhere |
| utenfor | outside |
| underveis | along the way |
| utenlands | abroad |
| oppstrøms | upstream |
Adverbs of place work a bit differently in Norwegian compared to English. For instance, in the following two sentences “Kom hit!” (Come here!) and “Jeg er her” (I am here), the Norwegian adverbs “hit” and “her” both translate to the English adverb “here.”
So why are there two different ones? That’s because the adverb “hit” technically means “to here” and includes a sense of movement towards the speaker.
Old English had adverbs like “hither” (to this place) and “thither” (to that place). The Norwegian adverb “hit” basically translates to “hither.”
And the Norwegian adverb “dit” basically translates to “thither.”
From “alltid” (always) to “aldri” (never), Norwegian adverbs of frequency indicate how frequently an action occurs.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| alltid | always |
| aldri | never |
| tidvis | occasionally |
| vanligvis | usually |
| jevnlig | regularly |
| engang | once |
| periodevis | periodically |
Here are some example Norwegian phrases which illustrate the use of adverbs of frequency:
Remark: Norwegian and Swedish are similar languages. For instance, the adverb alltid is the same in Norwegian and in Swedish. And the adverb aldri in Norwegian corresponds to the Swedish adverb aldrig.
In Norwegian, adverbs of degree are called “gradsadverb.” From “neppe” (hardly) to “aldeles” (absolutely), Norwegian adverbs of degree indicate to what extent something applies.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| aldeles | absolutely, completely |
| nesten | almost, nearly |
| veldig | very |
| meget | a lot |
| altfor | too much, overly |
| forholdsvis | relatively |
| nokså | rather, quite |
| temmelig | rather, quite |
| nok | enough |
| bare | just, only |
| ganske | quite |
| neppe | hardly, barely |
| delvis | partly, partially |
| massevis | a lot |
Here are some examples of Norwegian phrases which contain adverbs of degree:
Remark: Notice how some Norwegian adverbs end in “-vis”. This is a suffix that is used in Norwegian to form adverbs from nouns.
Adverbs of time are called “Tidsadverb” in Norwegian. They provide information about when an event occurs, or about how long it lasts. Here are some of the common ones:
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| nettopp | just recently |
| etterpå | afterwards |
| straks | immediately |
| årevis | for years |
| allerede | already |
| omsider | finally |
| fortsatt | still |
| fremdeles | still |
| nylig | recently |
| deretter | afterwards, after that |
| hittil | so far, until now |
Remark: Many adverbs in Norwegian are similar to the corresponding Danish adverbs. For example, the adverbs “allerede” and “nylig” are the same in both languages. In the case of the Norwegian adverb “hittil” there is a minor spelling difference with its Danish counterpart which is “hidtil”.
Adverbs of manner (or “Måtesadverb” as they are called in Norwegian) describe how an action is performed. Here are some examples:
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| tilsammen | together |
| alene | alone |
| gjerne | gladly, happily |
| vel | well |
| vaktsomt | cautiously, watchfully |
| besluttsomt | decisevely |
| baklengs | backwards |
Remark: The Norwegian adverb “alene” comes from Middle Low German, and it is similar to the German adverb “allein”. In fact, there are a number of similarities between Norwegian and German.
Adverbs of probability serve to describe how likely an event is to occur.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| kanskje | maybe, perhaps |
| sannsynligvis | probably |
| trolig | probably |
| muligens | perhaps |
| helt sikkert | certainly |
Adverbs of evaluation provide information about the writer’s (or the speaker’s) opinion. These are sometimes also called adverbs of comment, or adverbs of opinion.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| dessverre | unfortunately |
| uheldigvis | unfortunately |
| heldigvis | fortunately, luckily |
| forhåpentligvis | hopefully |
Conjunctive adverbs are used to connect ideas, sentences, or clauses. Below is a list of some common Norwegian conjunctive adverbs:
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| dessuten | besides, furthermore |
| ellers | else, otherwise |
| derimot | on the other hand, however |
| hvordan | how |
| derfor | therefore |
| likevel | nevertheless |
| imidlertid | however |
| altså | so, accordingly |
| eksempelvis | for example |
| allikevel | anyway, nevertheless |
| dog | however |
Here are some example Norwegian phrases which illustrate the use of conjunctive adverbs:
Here is a list of some additional adverbs which are commonly used in the Norwegian language.
| Adverb | translation |
|---|---|
| også | also, as well |
| nå | now |
| her | here |
| da | then |
| hvor | where |
| igjen | again |
| slik | thus, like this |
| der | there |
| dermed | thus |
| først | first |
| kun | only |
| nemlig | in fact, namely |
| akkurat | exactly |
| hvorfor | why |
| ennå | yet |
| helst | preferably |
| sånn | like this |
| omtrent | approximately |
| nest | second, next |
| riktignok | indeed |
| noensinne | ever |
| hit | here |
| nødvendigvis | necessarily |
| henholdsvis | respectively |
| tydeligvis | apparently, evidently |
| derfra | from there |
| hvorav | of which |
| herfra | from here |
| halvveis | halfway |
| utelukkende | exclusively |
| visstnok | allegedly |
| således | thus |
| følgelig | consequently |
| anslagsvis | approximately |
| atter | again |
| unntaksvis | exceptionally |
| vekselvis | alternately |
| især | especially |
Learning Norwegian involves memorizing vocabulary words from the different grammatical categories: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.
Knowledge of Norwegian adverbs will enable you to construct a wider range of Norwegian phrases.
Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. Norwegian is a language that evolved from Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings. Both Norwegian and English belong to the family of Germanic languages.