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Prepositions

Place

When going somewhere

Prepositions in Norwegian can be

tricky sometimes, for instance when

you want to inform someone where

you are going.

However, if the focus is solely on 

destination or transportation, you

will mostly use til, for example when

informing the taxi driver where to

take you (e.g., 'Jeg skal til

universitetet'). He will drop you off

next to the steps, and what you do

next, is of no interest to him - maybe

you enter the building, or maybe you

go somewhere else. 

But in other situations, you would

rather say: 'Jeg skal universitetet',

and in this, there is a bit more

information, because this also implies

that you are actually entering the

building - maybe you have a lecture,

or maybe you are heading towards your office. 

 

Similarly, if you are telling someone: 'Jeg skal butikken', they would take for granted that you will be doing some shopping, not only going there for the exercise of it. 

However, if you want to inform someone how you are getting there, you will use til. e.g.: 'Jeg tar bussen til butikken' (you cannot take the bus inside the shop, can you...).

So how would you translate this to Norwegian: 'The bus isn't coming, so today I have to walk to the university'? Would you use til or

The correct answer is til. 'Bussen kommer ikke, så i dag må jeg gå til universitetet.'

Note that sometimes you will use i instead of , but the meaning is the same; the choice between those two are highly idiomatic. Most often you will use however, so if you remember those few where you need to say i, you can pretty much use with everything else:

 

Note that when talking about going to geographical places - such as cities or countries - you will always use til, e.g.:

Jeg skal dra til Italia.

Jeg skal reise til Oslo.

Preposisjoner på til.png

i banken (the bank)

i barnehagen (the kindergarten)

i kantina (the canteen)

i kirka/moskeen (the church, the mosque)

i bokhandelen (the bookstore) 

​​Exercise:

Placement

These are the preposition or prepositional phrases you will use to describe where things are located:

 is equivalent to 'on' in English.

Han sitter gulvet.

Bildet henger veggen.

(He's sitting on the floor.)

(The picture is hanging on the wall.)

- I is equivalent to 'in' in English.

Hun ligger i senga.

De bor i Narvik nå.

(She's lying in bed.)

(They live in Narvik nå.)

- Over is equivalent to 'above' in English.

De bor rett over oss.

Bildet henger over sofaen.

(They live right above us.)

(The picture is hanging above the sofa.)

- Under is equivalent to 'under' in English.

Skapet er under vasken.

Han ligger under bordet.

(The cupboard is under the sink.)

(He's lying under the table.)

- Bak is equivalent to 'behind' in English.

Hun sitter rett bak deg.

De står bak oss i køen.

(She's sitting right behind you.)

(They're standing behind us in queue.)

- Foran is equivalent to 'in front of' in English.

Jeg parkerer alltid foran biblioteket.​

Hvem sitter foran ham?

(I always park in front of the library.)

(Who is sitting in front of him?)

- Ved is equivalent to 'by' in English.

Stolen står ved veggen.​

Vi bor ved kysten.

(The chair is by the wall.)

(We live by the coast.)

- Ved siden av is equivalent to 'next to' in English.

Han står ved siden av henne.

De bor rett ved siden av oss.

(He's standing next to her.)

(They live right next to us.)

- Utenfor is equivalent to 'outside' in English.

Han står utenfor døra vår.

Jeg venter på deg utenfor kinoen.

(He's standing outside our door.)

(I'm waiting for you outside the cinemas.)

- Gjennom is equivalent to 'through' in English.

Jeg så henne gjennom vinduet.

Vi kjørte gjennom byen.

(I saw her through the window.)

(We drove through the city.)

- Til høyre/venstre for is equivalent to 'to the right/left of' in English.

Apoteket er til høyre for kirka.

Han sitter til venstre for meg.

(The pharmacy is to the right of the church.)

(He's sitting to the left of me/He is sitting

to my left.)

Time

 is used with days.

Han kommer lørdag.

(He's coming on Saturday.)

I is used with months, holidays and to indicate a specific duration of time.

Han kommer i juni.

Hun skal være her i jula.

De skal hjem i påsken.

Han skal være her i to uker.

Han var her i to uker.

(He is coming in June.)

(She will be here for Christmas.)

(They are going home for Easter.)

(He'll be staying for two weeks.)

(He was staying here for two weeks.)

- Om is used about a specific time in the future.

De drar om to dager.

Jeg har eksamen om tre uker.

(They are leaving in three days.)

(I have an exam in three weeks.)

- For, in combination with siden, is used about a specific time in the past.

Hun dro for tre dager siden.

Vi spiste lunsj for en time siden.

(She left three days ago.)

(We had lunch one hour ago.)

Expressing your feelings

It can sometimes be hard to predict what preposition to pick in combination with adjectives or participles, and while there are some peculiarities, there are still patterns that will guide you.

Jeg er sint deg.

Jeg er så irritert henne.

Hun ble rasende meg.

Er du misunnelig meg?

(I'm angry with you.)

(I'm so irritated with her.)

(She got furious with me.)

(Are you envious of me?)

I is typically used with positive feelings.

Jeg er glad i deg.

Jeg er interessert i musikk.

Hun er forelsket i ham.

(I love you.)

(I'm interested in music.)

(She's in love with him.)

 - Over is exclusively used with participles (i.e.,verbs used adjectively) to describe how a situation, action or person affects you.

Jeg er lettet over at alt gikk bra.

Jeg er skuffet over deg.

Hun var overrasket over at han dro.

Han var sjokkert over alle ulykkene.

Vi er frustrert over alle disse reglene.

(I'm relieved that all went well.)

(I'm disappointed with you.)

(She was surprised that he left.)

(He was chocked by all the accidents.)

(We are frustrated with all these rules.)

 - Mot is used when describing an action towards someone.

Du er alltid så snill mot meg.

Hun var slem mot barna.

Han var hyggelig mot sjefen.

Hun var utro mot mannen sin.

(You are always so kind to me.)

(She was mean to the kids.)

(He was nice to the boss.)

(She was unfaithful to her husband.)

- For is used in different situations, best described by the examples below.

Jeg er bekymret for deg.

Hun er redd for slanger.

Han var redd for å bli smittet.

Vi er glade for å bo i Norge.

Det er vanskelig for meg å lære norsk.

Det var hyggelig for henne å få besøk.

Det er umulig for ham å oppføre seg.

Filmen var morsom for barna.

(I'm worried about you.)

(She's scared of snakes.)

(He was worried to get infected.)

(We are happy to live in Norway.)

(It's hard for me to learn Norwegian.)

(It was nice for her to have visitors.)

(It's impossible for him to behave.)

(The movie was fun for the kids.)

 - Av (similar to 'over') is used to describe what consequences things can have on you.

Jeg er lei av dette været.

Jeg blir trøtt av å spise fisk.

Jeg blir sulten av å trene.

Han ble veldig motivert av henne.

De blir sint av å lese falske nyheter.

Man kan bli syk av å spise lakris.

(I'm sick of this weather.)

(I get tired from eating fish.)

(I get hungry from training.)

(He got very motivated by her.)

(They get angry from reading fake news.)

(One can get sick from eating liquorice.)

- In addition, Av is used when something you have done is being evaluated. 

Det var snilt (gjort) av deg å hjelpe meg.

Det var slemt (gjort) av deg å slå ham.

Det var bra av deg å dele med de andre.

(It was kind of you to help me.)

(It was unkind of you to hit him.)

(I was good of you to share with the

others)

 is typically used with negative feelings directed towards someone or something:

​​Exercise:

prep følelser

Other exercises

On the right, you will find a list of preposition exercises of a more general nature that do not fit into any of the categories above.

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