100 Essential Norwegian Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Norwegian	Type
hello	hei	interjection
goodbye	ha det	interjection
yes	ja	interjection
no	nei	interjection
please	vær så snill	interjection
thank you	takk	interjection
sorry	beklager	interjection
and	og	conjunction
but	men	conjunction
or	eller	conjunction
because	fordi	conjunction
here	her	adverb
there	der	adverb
always	alltid	adverb
never	aldri	adverb
together	sammen	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Norwegian	Type
man	mann	noun
woman	kvinne	noun
boy	gutt	noun
girl	jente	noun
friend	venn	noun
mother	mor	noun
father	far	noun
brother	bror	noun
sister	søster	noun
son	sønn	noun
daughter	datter	noun
child	barn	noun
wife	kone	noun
parent	forelder	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Norwegian	Type
to be	å være	verb
to have	å ha	verb
to do	å gjøre	verb
to go	å gå	verb
to come	å komme	verb
to eat	spise	verb
to drink	drikke	verb
to want	ønske	verb
to need	trenge	verb
to know	vite	verb
to speak	snakke	verb
to read	lese	verb
to write	skrive	verb
to listen	lytte	verb
to work	arbeide	verb
to buy	kjøpe	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Norwegian	Type
good	god	adjective
bad	dårlig	adjective
new	ny	adjective
old	gammel	adjective
young	ung	adjective
tall	høy	adjective
short	lav	adjective
nice	hyggelig	adjective
kind	snill	adjective
shy	sjenert	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Norwegian	Type
red	rød	adjective
blue	blå	adjective
green	grønn	adjective
yellow	gul	adjective
black	svart	adjective
white	hvit	adjective
orange	oransje	adjective
purple	lilla	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Norwegian	Type
one	en	number
two	to	number
three	tre	number
four	fire	number
five	fem	number
six	seks	number
seven	syv	number
eight	åtte	number
nine	ni	number
ten	ti	number
zero	null	number
twenty	tjue	number

Time

10 words

English	Norwegian	Type
today	i dag	adverb
tomorrow	i morgen	adverb
yesterday	i går	adverb
morning	morgen	noun
afternoon	ettermiddag	noun
evening	kveld	noun
night	natt	noun
day	dag	noun
week	uke	noun
month	måned	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Norwegian	Type
water	vann	noun
coffee	kaffe	noun
tea	te	noun
milk	melk	noun
bread	brød	noun
cheese	ost	noun
fruit	frukt	noun
apple	eple	noun
egg	egg	noun
rice	ris	noun

Home

4 words

English	Norwegian	Type
house	hus	noun
door	dør	noun
window	vindu	noun
bed	seng	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Norwegian words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Norwegian words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Norwegian

Norwegian vocabulary testFind your level How long does Norwegian take to learn?A realistic plan

Norwegian for beginners questions

What are the first Norwegian words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Norwegian that means words like hei (hello), takk (thank you), vann (water) and spise (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Norwegian written?

Norwegian uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 20 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Norwegian?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Norwegian words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.