Numbers in Norwegian

Well, why not to turn to basics every now and then. This post is about how to count in Norwegian. 

There are two different counting systems in Norwegian (if to believe Nordsnakk). First and most ordinary is like Swedish and another one that is not so common but is like the German system. For example you say (26) six and twenty or "seks og tyve". This type of counting is a bit old fashioned by now and Norwegians themselves do not use it daily anymore.   

1 till 10	11 till 20	21 till 30	40, 50…90, 100, 10000, 100 000
En	Elleve	Tjueen	Førti
To	Tolv	Tjueto	Femti
Tre	Tretten	Tjuetre	Seksti
Fire	Fjorten	Tjuefire	Sytti
Fem	Femten	Tjuefem	Åtti
Seks	Seksten	Tjueseks	Nitti
Syv	Sytten	Tjuesyv	Hundre
Åtte	Atten	Tjueåtte	Tusen
Ni	Nitten	Tjueni	Ti tusen
Ti	Tjue	Tretti	Hundre tusen

One and a half  1½(en och en halv in Swedish) is in Norwegian ”halvannan”. Also good to know. 

But how are the numbers pronounced? Isn´t that your next problem while being a beginner? 

If you would like to learn how to write the numbers, check that online option for exercising: http://www.hf.ntnu.no/now/1/exercises/ex1_4_A_numbers.htm

And then of course I just have to suggest you to watch this wonderful youtube lesson with a native speaking teacher (she is probably like 10 years old or something:) and repeat all the numbers one more time. Great work!

Good luck with numbers! 

I will also recommend a free beginners course online, I write about it in one of my earlier posts.  

The very first lesson in Norwegian

Today I start my blog where I plan to publish everything I find about how to study Norwegian. I already have a similar page about how to study Swedish.

Since Swedish and Norwegian are quite similar languages I feel much more enthusiastic about the time frames. I have come a long way with my Swedish. During three years I have learned to speak and write like mediocre Swedish person does. Is that enough? I can read everything also philosophy and poetry. That feels great!

Now I plan to work in Norway for some years and therefore I must learn the next Nordic language (by now I can Finnish and Swedish). I like to learn languages, it is no problem for me. My aim is to be able to say simple sentences within couple of weeks (within a month) and learn to understand the pronunciation. On the first of June I´ll come back to this. (I hope I´ll remember of course!). Anyway my first test is on the 10th of June, then I´ll have my first official meeting that is planned in the Norwegian language. This is why my time frame is so tight. I can still continue speaking Swedish or English because they all will understand but only in the very beginning...  

Even though the Nordic languages (except Finnish) are quite close, it is still very hard to understand without learning. I was in Oslo a couple of weeks ago and that was awful... I could not follow at all what they where saying to me and everyone expected me to grasp immediately what was going on. Reading is much easier, if I read I am able to understand. This is why it came as a surprise that spoken languages is so confusing.

I started today to look for materials and the first thing I found was a forum discussion where a Swedish person was asking for advice how to learn Norwegian.

Summary for the English speaking people 

If you want to learn Norwegian, then start to read and listen.  Here are the two most relevant links to do that:

Norwegian TV/radio 

Evening Post

I continued my search and found out that Norwegian Language Council. has many more links and pages. They are working on the language development and research in Norway. It is worth looking at! They also have a special page for resources and links where you can learn Norwegian.

Seems like it is not so easy to find the one and only grammar book for Norwegian. They also write their worlds in a very funny and complicated multiple way. In Norway there are many  competing dialects that are very widely used. It makes things even more complicated because now you have to decide where to position with your learning...

Well, I have no idea just yet... truly confusing. I will just watch TV with subtitles for the hearing impaired as my first task.