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Strong verbs are not random Posted by on Aug 27, 2015 in Uncategorized

(Image modified from free original at OpenClipart.)

(Image modified from free original at OpenClipart.)

It’s time to take a look at grammatikk (grammar) again. (I bet you’ve savnet – missed – it!) If you … a certain kind of very active words, you can hardly … a sentence. In other words: Verbs are a necessary evil! :-]

Kari spiser is. Ola spiste is. Barna har spist is. (Kari eats ice-cream. Ola ate… The kids have eaten…)

As you know, ordinary – or ”weak” – verbs are piece of cake in Norwegian. You have a root (like spis-), you add an ending (-te or -et in the past tense), and voila! The real problem comes with the ”strong” verbs, since they’re irregular and you have to learn them by heart. It’s a little bit like learning to count.

If you’re the kind of learner that loves systems and little tables, however, I’ve got some good news for you: There’s a method in the madness!

For example, if you know the inflection (the different forms) of å gå to go, you can also inflect å få to receive:

å gå – går – gikk – har gått

å få – får – fikk – har fått

 

However, here comes to stand: å stå – står – stod – har stått. So, unfortunately, nothing is clear-cut in the strong verbs’ gym! But at least there are some patterns to save you from the worst sweat! ’:-)

 

Have you noticed all the verbs that are inflected like å bite to bite?

å bite – biter – beit (or bet) – har bitt

å bli to become – blirblei (or ble) – har blitt

å skrive to writeskriver – skreiv (or skrev) – har skrevet

å skrike to screamskrikerskreik (or skrek) – har skreket

 

Then there’s also a huge bunch of verbs echoing å drikke to drink:

å drikke – drikker – drakk – har drukket

å finne to find – finner – fant – har funnet 

å binde to bindbinder – bandt – har bundet

å vinne to winvinner – vant – har vunnet

å hjelpe to helphjelper – hjalp – har hjulpet

 

Feel free to explore further patterns in your own list of wicked verbs!

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About the Author: Bjørn A. Bojesen

I was born in Denmark, but spent large parts of my childhood and study years in Norway. I later returned to Denmark, where I finished my MA in Scandinavian Studies. Having relatives in Sweden as well, I feel very Scandinavian! I enjoy reading and travelling, and sharing stories with you! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts with me and the other readers.


Comments:

  1. Elena:

    Thank you for the post! It was interesting to read.. as usual 😉

  2. David Hestrin:

    Mange takk!