Substantivets kjønn

A1 — Substantiv

Noun gender in Norwegian Bokmål: masculine/common (en), feminine (ei), neuter (et), and the definite suffix

Can identify noun gender and use correct indefinite and definite article forms

Examples

En hund og et barn leker i parken. — A dog and a child are playing in the park.
Mannen leser avisen og barnet sover. — The man is reading the newspaper and the child is sleeping.
Jeg bor i et hus, ikke i en leilighet. — I live in a house, not in an apartment.

SubstantivA1

Noun Gender

Noun gender: common (en) and neuter (et), definite suffixes -en/-et

Learning Goal

Can identify noun gender and use correct indefinite and definite forms

Exam Skills:LeseforståelseLytteforståelseMuntligSkriftlig

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

En hund og et barn leker i parken.

A dog and a child are playing in the park.

Mannen leser avisen og barnet sover.

The man is reading the newspaper and the child is sleeping.

Jeg bor i et hus, ikke i en leilighet.

I live in a house, not in an apartment.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender. Bokmål uses two genders in practice: en (common) and et (neuter). Feminine ei is optional.

Gender	Indef.	Definite suffix	Example
Common (m/f)	en	-en	en mann → mannen
Neuter	et	-et	et barn → barnet

Common en-words: en mann, en dag, en bil, en hund. Common et-words: et hus, et barn, et bord, et rom.

Always learn nouns with their article!

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

No noun gender in English — memorise en hund, et hus as fixed pairs. Definite suffix -en/-et replaces 'the'.

Common Error Patterns

Uses wrong article (en hus or et mann)

Learn each noun with its gender: en mann, et hus. Memorise as a fixed pair.

Wrong definite suffix

en-words → -en (hunden, mannen), et-words → -et (huset, barnet).

Uses both article and suffix (en mannen)

Either indefinite (en mann) OR definite suffix (mannen) — never both.

En hund og et barn leker i parken.

A dog and a child are playing in the park.

'En hund' = a dog (common/masculine gender), 'et barn' = a child (neuter gender).

Mannen leser avisen og barnet sover.

The man is reading the newspaper and the child is sleeping.

Definite: mannen (en mann + -en suffix), barnet (et barn + -et suffix). No separate 'the' word.

Jeg bor i et hus, ikke i en leilighet.

I live in a house, not in an apartment.

'Et hus' = a house (neuter). 'En leilighet' = an apartment (common gender).

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

A1 Course

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Put it into practice

Try a free exercise from the course

Frequently asked questions

When is Substantivets kjønn used?: Norske substantiv har grammatisk kjønn . I bokmål brukes oftest to kjønn : felleskjønn (en) og intetkjønn (et). Femininum (ei) er valgfritt.
How is Substantivets kjønn formed?: Vanlige en-ord: en mann, en dag, en bil, en hund, en student, en lærer Vanlige et-ord: et hus, et barn, et bord, et rom, et år, et land Merk: Artikkelen (en/et) er foran substantivet (ubestemt). Den bestemte formen bruker et suffiks — ikke et eget ord.
What are common mistakes with Substantivets kjønn?: Noun gender must be memorised — no reliable rule. 🇬🇧 English: English has no noun gender. Must learn each noun with its article as a fixed pair (en hund, et hus). 🇷🇺 Russian: Russian has 3 genders — Norwegian also has 3 (or 2 in practice). The definite suffix is a new concept. 🇨🇿 Czech: Czech has 3 genders. Suffix -en/-et instead of a separate word for 'the' is new.

Gender

Indef.

Definite suffix

Example

Common (m/f)

-en

en mann → mannen

Neuter

-et

et barn → barnet

Frequently asked questions

When is Substantivets kjønn used?

Norske substantiv har grammatisk kjønn . I bokmål brukes oftest to kjønn : felleskjønn (en) og intetkjønn (et). Femininum (ei) er valgfritt.

How is Substantivets kjønn formed?

Vanlige en-ord: en mann, en dag, en bil, en hund, en student, en lærer Vanlige et-ord: et hus, et barn, et bord, et rom, et år, et land Merk: Artikkelen (en/et) er foran substantivet (ubestemt). Den bestemte formen bruker et suffiks — ikke et eget ord.

What are common mistakes with Substantivets kjønn?

Noun gender must be memorised — no reliable rule. 🇬🇧 English: English has no noun gender. Must learn each noun with its article as a fixed pair (en hund, et hus). 🇷🇺 Russian: Russian has 3 genders — Norwegian also has 3 (or 2 in practice). The definite suffix is a new concept. 🇨🇿 Czech: Czech has 3 genders. Suffix -en/-et instead of a separate word for 'the' is new.