Grammar: Pronouns

This is tricky grammar in Norwegian…hopefully the description below can help…

Subjective Personal Pronouns: e.g. I, You, He, She etc
A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence. The subjective personal pronouns are “I,” “you,” “she,” “he,” “it,” “we,” “you,” “they.”
Jeg = I
Du = You
Han = He
Hun = She
Vi = We
Dere = You (plural)
De = They

Objective Personal Pronouns: e.g. Me, Him, Her etc
An objective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns are: “me,” “you,” “her,” “him,” “it,” “us,” “you,” and “them.”
Meg = Me
Deg = You
Ham = Him
Henne = Her
Oss = Us
Dere = You (plural)
Dem = Them
Den = It (masculine/feminine)
Det = It (neutral)

 e.g. Mine, Yours, His, Hers etc
A indicates that the pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular object or person. These are “mine,” “yours,” “hers,” “his,” “its,” “ours,” and “theirs” however, in Norwegian you need to use the appropriate word depending on the sex of the object you’re talking about:

Masculine/Feminine/Neutral/Plural
Mi/Min/Mitt/Mine = Mine
Di/Din/Ditt/Dine = Yours
Hans/Hans/Hans/Hans = His
Hennes/Hennes/Hennes/Hennes = Hers
Vår/Vår/Vårt/Våre = Ours
Deres/Deres/Deres/Deres = Yours (plural)
Deres/Deres/Deres/Deres = Theirs
Dens = Its (masculine/feminine)
Dets = Its (neutral)

For Example: 
Her er bilen min = Here is my car
Bilen er min = The car is mine
Dette er min bil = This is my car
Her er huset mitt = Here is my house
Huset er mitt = The house is mine
Her er mora mi = Here is my mother
Her er vennene mine = Her are my friends

e.g. This, That, These, Those etc
A points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. “This” and “these” refer to things that are nearby either in space or in time, while “that” and “those” refer to things that are farther away in space or time.
Denne = This (masculine/feminine)
Dette = This (neutral)
Disse = These (plural)
Den = That/It (masculine/feminine)
Det = That/It (neutral)
De = Those (plural)

e.g. Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself etc
You can use a to refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence.  The reflexive pronouns are “myself,” “yourself,” “herself,” “himself,” “itself,” “ourselves,” “yourselves,” and “themselves.” Note each of these can also act as an intensive pronoun.
Meg = Myself
Deg = Yourself
Seg = Himself
Seg = Herself
Oss = Ourselves
Deres = Yourselves (plural)
Seg = Themselves (plural)

Responses

  1. What about “Itself” and “oneself”?? tusen takk.

  2. Thanks so much for this, it helped me with my Norwegian homework this morning. I now live in Norway with my Norwegian wife; I moved here from the US. I’m past the first blush of youth, let’s say, so picking up the language isn’t particularly easy. This post of yours saved me this morning and what’s even better, made it very clear, so I’m not just filling in answers, I understand. :)

    • Ha ha Steve – I’m glad it helped but more importantly, I hope it was correct! :-)

  3. Thanks. Its really helpfull for begineers like me.

    • You’re very welcome Kam!

  4. How to say “They’re mine” in norwegian????
    If I want to answer this question: hvem sin bøker er disse?
    (Whose books are these?)

    • Sorry for the delay Val. I think it’s “Det er min” but not sure.

  5. “Dette er min bil = This is my car” I think this might not be correct :( I think it should be: “Denne er min bil”. As you explained above en bil, Den bil and Denne bil.


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