In the last two posts, you learned about both weak and strong past tense verbs. In this post, we are going to concentrate on Norwegian verbs in the present perfect tense. I have no idea why this tense is named ´Present perfect´. The past perfect tense is used when you want to refer to something that has already occurred, but may still be relevant right now. So instead of saying, jeg ble trøtt (I got tired), I say jeg har blitt trøtt´(I have become tired), meaning that I am still tired, it wasn´t a feeling that came and went. Other examples include;
| English |
Infinitive |
Past |
Present Perfect |
| to see |
å se |
så |
har sett |
| to be |
å være |
var |
har vært |
| to try |
å prøve |
prøvde |
har prøvd |
| to drink |
å drikke |
drakk |
har drukket |
| to help |
å hjelpe |
hjalp |
har hjulpet |
| to sleep |
å sove |
sov |
har sovet |
| to eat |
å spise |
spiste |
har spist |
| to throw |
å kaste |
kastet |
har kastet |
| to do |
å gjøre |
gjorde |
har gjort |
| to go |
å gå |
gikk |
har gått |
| to go |
å dra |
dro |
har dratt |
| to visit |
å besøke |
besøkte |
har besøkt |
| to push |
å trykke |
trakk |
har trukket |
| to meet |
å treffe |
traff |
har truffet |
Can you identify the weak and the strong verbs? Notice that some of the strong verbs involve a vowel change from the infinitive to the past and then typically return to the original vowel in the present perfect. Why? Again, I do not know the whys of Norwegian grammar. I have just memorized that which requires memorization.
Here are some sample sentences:
Vi har kastet ballen i en time. We have thrown the ball for an hour.
Han har prøvd å legge vekt på ham. He has tried to put weight on.
De har truffet flere ganger der. They have met several times there.
Hun har sett 45 filmer i år. She has seen 45 movies this year.
Ingrid har hjulpet meg siden begynnelsen av semesteret. Ingrid has helped me since the beginning of the semester.
Pappa har vært syk i det siste. Pappa has been sick lately.
Comments:
Ed Corbett:
Hi Kari,
Back in 2007 I took a “thesis” course from
a “Kari” at norwegianonline.com.
Are you one and the same?
kari:
@Ed Corbett Nope, that wasn´t me. It was probably Kari Lie, one of my Norwegian professors from college.
ane:
Hi. There are some errors in your examples. “han har prøvd å legge vekt på ham” should be “han har prøvd å legge på seg”/”han har prøvd å gå opp i vekt”. “de har truffet flere ganger der” should be “de har truffet hverandre der flere ganger”.
Bjørn A. Bojesen:
@ane Hei, Ane, you are absolutely right. As I replied to you elsewhere, this post was written by my predecessor, and I don’t feel like correcting what she did. Thanks for pointing out these errors!
Bjørn A. Bojesen:
@ane @Hei Ane. Thank you for pointing this out so that other readers may see it! I won’t correct this particular post, since it was written by our previous blogger. (I only correct errors in those posts I’ve written myself.) Takk. 🙂
John:
Hello,
But I think that is present perfect. In past perfect I think we gotta use hadde, check this:
http://www.kunnskap.no:443/data/Courses/norskpluss_bokmaal/grammar/verb.html
Bjørn A. Bojesen:
@John @John – This post was written by the previous blogger. Maybe I’ll revisit the topic in another post. Thank you for your interest. 🙂 BTW, you’re right that past perfect is made by ”hadde”.
John:
And if Im wrong, sorry, but please help me to understand
John:
I am referring to the title. Verbs from column are right (present perfect -> har). Sorry for the flood I couldn’t edit my first comment to put all in one. Takk 🙂