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Making Things Plural
Most nouns add -er; 'the' plural adds -ene. Watch a few short irregulars.
If you remember nothing else
- •Indefinite plural usually adds -er: en bil → biler (cars).
- •Definite plural ('the cars') adds -ene: bilene.
- •Many short neuter words don't change in the indefinite plural: et hus → flere hus.
The default: add -er
For the big majority of nouns, the plural is formed by adding -er (or just -r if the word already ends in -e). This covers most masculine and feminine nouns.
en bil → biler
a car → cars
ei jente → jenter
a girl → girls
en gutt → gutter
a boy → boys
'The' plural: add -ene
To say 'the' with a plural, add -ene to the noun. So you get a tidy four-way set for each noun: a car / the car / cars / the cars.
bil → bilen → biler → bilene
a car → the car → cars → the cars
jente → jenta → jenter → jentene
a girl → the girl → girls → the girls
Short neuter words often stay the same
Many one-syllable neuter (et) nouns don't change in the indefinite plural. 'Et hus' can be one house or several, context (or a number/word like 'mange') tells you. The definite plural still adds -ene (or -a).
et hus → flere hus
a house → several houses (no change)
et barn → mange barn
a child → many children (no change)
husene
the houses (definite plural)
A few high-frequency irregulars
Worth memorising because you'll meet them constantly.
en mann → menn
a man → men
ei bok → bøker
a book → books
en far → fedre
a father → fathers
ei søster → søstre
a sister → sisters
Quick check
3 questions. Get them right to lock in the lesson.