Nouns (Substantiv) –(regular nouns)

singular (entall) plural (flertall)

indefinite definite indefinite definite

(ubestemt) (bestemt) (ubestemt) (bestemt)
en gutt gutten gutter guttene - boy

ei(en) jente jenta(jenten) jenter jentene - girl

et barn barnet barn barna - child

et hus huset hus husene - house

et bakeri bakeriet bakerier bakeriene - bakery

 Indefinite articles (singular only) – used with indefinite singular form

Masculine form EN
Feminine form EI
Neuter form ET

 Definite singular form – suffix at the end of the noun ( en gutt- gutten, ei jente – jenta, et
barn – barnet)

 Indefinite plural form – add ER (except for most one-syllable et nouns, and some with more
than one, when we don't add any suffixes - et hus, huset, hus, husene )

 Definite plural form – add ENE (except for barn – definite plural barna ; there are many et
nouns that allow –a ending instead of –ene, but it's not required, which is not the case with
the noun barn )

Besides these basic rules, there are a few other exceptions when it comes to the plural forms –
irregular nouns

Use of indefinite and definite form – basic difference

indefinite - Mentioning something for the first time:

Jeg så en film på kino i går. I saw a movie yesterday.
Talking about things in general:
Han liker biler. He likes cars.

definite – Talking about something already mentioned:

Filmen var bra. The movie was good.
Talking about things that the one we are talking to is already familiar with, or he/she
knows/understands what/who we are refering to:
Læreren kommer ikke i dag. The teacher is not comming today.
Vi har kjøpt ny leilighet. Kjøkkenet er stort, men badet er ganske lite. We have bought a new place.
The kitchen is big, but the bathroom is pretty small.