Norwegian Words You Already Know
300 Words that are nearly identical in both English and Norwegian
Learning Norwegian and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of new vocabulary you need to learn? Good news! You already know more Norwegian words than you think!
Thanks to the shared history and linguistic roots of English and Norwegian, there are many words that are nearly identical in both languages. In this "cheat sheet" I have compiled around 300 Norwegian words that you probably already know if you're an English speaker.
Adjectives and Descriptions
- High - Høy
- Orange - Oransje
- Red - Rød
- Rotten - RÃ¥tten
- Salt - Salt
- Pepper - Pepper
- Sick - Syk
- Sour - Sur
- Thick - Tykk
- White - Hvit
- Wise - Vis
- Brilliant - Brilliant
- Fantastic - Fantastisk
- Extravagant - Ekstravagant
- Social - Sosial
Verbs and Actions
- Float - Flyte
- Clap - Klappe
- Come - Komme
- Feel - Føle
- Like - Like
- Mean - Mene
- Sit - Sitte
- Steal - Stjele
- Weigh - Veie
Parts of the Body
- Arm - Arm (m)
- Ankle - Ankel (m)
- Breast - Bryst (n)
- Mouth - Munn (m)
- Neck - Nakke (m)
- Nose - Nese (m/f)
- Shoulder - Skulder (m)
- Foot - Fot (m)
- Finger - Finger (m)
- Hand - Hand (m/f)
- Toe - TÃ¥ (m/f)
- Tounge - Tunge (m/f)
- Knee - Kne (n)
- Heel - Hæl (m)
Animals
- Ape - Ape (m/f)
- Elephant - Elefant (m)
- Frog - Frosk (m)
- Cat - Katt (m)
- Fish - Fisk (m)
- Hare - Hare (m)
- Giraffe - Sjiraff (m)
- Gorilla - Gorilla (m)
- Mouse - Mus (m/f)
- Whale - Hval (m)
- Zebra - Sebra (m)
Family and Relatives
- Sister - Søster (m/f)
- Brother - Bror (m)
- Son - Sønn (m)
- Daughter - Datter (f)
Everyday Objects
- House - Hus (n)
- Book - Bok (m/f)
- Door - Dør (m/f)
- Window - Vindu (n)
- Clock - Klokke (m/f)
- Telephone - Telefon (m)
- Mobile - Mobil (m)
- PC - PC (m)
- TV - TV (m)
- Camera - Kamera (n)
- Bus - Buss (m)
- Paper - Papir (n)
- Pen - Penn (m)
- Toilet - Toalett (n)
- Bank - Bank (m)
- Sock - Sokk (m)
Nature and Environment
- Sun - Sol (m/f)
- Tree - Tre (n)
- Night - Natt (m/f)
- Day - Dag (m)
- Moon - MÃ¥ne (m)
- Sand - Sand (m)
- Rose - Rose (m/f)
- Grass - Gress (n)
- Apple - Eple (n)
- Pear - Pære (m/f)
- Plum - Plomme (m/f)
- Moss - Mose (m/f)
- Stone - Stein (m/f)
- Ice - Is
- Frost - Frost
- Rain - Regn
- Wind - Vind
- Storm - Storm
Food and Drink
- Bacon - Bacon (n)
- Drink - Drikke (m)
- Apple - Eple (n)
- Hat - Hatt (m)
- Coffee - Kaffe (m)
- Egg - Egg (n)
- Fruit - Frukt (m)
- Glass - Glass (n)
- Bread - Brød (n)
- Milk - Melk (m)
- Pizza - Pizza (m)
- Soup - Suppe (m/f)
- Tomato - Tomat (m)
- Potato - Potet (m)
- Burger - Burger (m)
- Pasta - Pasta (m)
Miscellaneous
- Ball - Ball (m)
- Music - Musikk (m)
- Jacket - Jakke (m/f)
- Knife - Kniv (m)
- Lamp - Lampe (m)
- Soap - SÃ¥pe (m/f)
- Summer - Sommer (m)
- Winter - Vinter (m)
- Flag - Flagg (n)
- Gold - Gull (n)
- Silver - Sølv (n)
- Problem - Problem (n)
- Ski - Ski (m)
- Data - Data (m)
- Test - Test (m)
- Festival - Festival (m)
- Ship - Skip (n)
- Religion - Religion (m)
- Theatre - Teater (n)
- Over - Over
- Under - Under
- Central - Sentral
- National - Nasjonal
- International - Internasjonal
- Mental - Mental
- Vertical - Vertikal
"ion" endings that become "sjon"
- Acceleration - Akselerasjon (m)
- Addition - Addisjon (m)
- Adoption - Adopsjon (m)
- Ambition - Ambisjon (m)
- Communication - Kommunikasjon (m)
- Donation - Donasjon (m)
- Erosion - Erosjon (m)
- Fiction - Fiksjon (m)
- Friction - Friksjon (m)
- Function - Funksjon (m)
- Generation - Generasjon (m)
- Infection - Infeksjon (m)
- Information - Informasjon (m)
- Invasion - Invasjon (m)
- Irritation - Irritasjon (m)
- Mutation - Mutasjon (m)
- Nation - Nasjon (m)
- Position - Posisjon (m)
- Population - Populasjon (m)
- Presentation - Presentasjon (m)
- Ration - Rasjon (m)
- Reduction - Reduksjon (m)
- Reflection - Refleksjon (m)
- Repetition - Repetition (m)
- Reservation - Reservasjon (m)
- Rotation - Rotasjon (m)
- Station - Stasjon (m)
- Situation - Situasjon (m)
- Transaction - Transaksjon (m)
- Inflation - Inflasjon (m)
- Illusion - Illusjon (m)
- Operation - Operasjon (m)
"ble" endings that become "bel"
- Acceptable - Akseptabel
- Admirable - Admirabel
- Cable - Kabel (m)
- Capable - Kapabel
- Double - Dobbel
- Horrible - Horribel
- Flexible - Fleksibel
"ance" endings that become "anse / ans"
- Ambulance - Ambulanse (m)
- Alliance - Allianse (m)
- Arrogance - Arroganse (m)
- Assistance - Assistance (m)
- Brilliance - Brillianse (m)
- Distance - Distance (m)
- Dominance - Dominanse (m)
- Elegance - Eleganse (m)
- Finance - Finans (m)
- Intolerance - Intoleranse (m)
- Nuance - Nyanse (m)
- Renaissance - Renessanse (m)
- Resonance - Resonans (m)
- Substance - Substans (m)
- Tolerance - Toleranse
"ct" endings that become "kt"
- Abstract - Abstrakt
- Contract - Kontrakt (m)
- Correct - Korrekt
- Direct - Direkte
- Distinct - Distinkt
- Exact - Eksakt
- Insect - Insekt (n)
- Instinct - Instinkt (n)
- Object - Objekt (n)
- Perfect - Perfekt
- Respect - Respekt (m)
- Suspect - Suspekt
"ent" that keep ending in their "ent"
- Agent - Agent (m)
- Client - Klient (m)
- Compliment - Kompliment (n)
- Continent - Kontinent (n)
- Document - Dokument (n)
- Element - Element (n)
- Monument - Monument (n)
- Permanent - Permanent
- President - President (m)
- Segment - Segment (n)
- Talent - Talent (n)
"ary" endings that become "ær/ar"
- Extraordinary - Ekstraordinær
- Ordinary - Ordinær
- Military - Militær (n)
- Vocabulary - Vokabular (n)
"ical" endings that become "isk"
- Alphabetical - Alfabetisk
- Analytical - Analytisk
- Catholic - Katolsk
- Chemical - Kjemisk
- Critical - Kritisk
- Electrical - Elektrisk
- Ethical - Etisk
- Historical - Historisk
- Identical - Identisk
- Logical - Logisk
- Lyrical - Lyrisk
- Practical - Praktisk
- Romantic - Romantisk
- Statistical - Statistisk
- Symmetrical - Systematisk
- Typical - Typisk
"ist" endings that become "ist"
- Activist - Aktivist (m)
- Artist - Artist (m)
- Cyclist - Syklist (m)
- Pacifist - Pasifist (m)
"ity" endings that become "tet"
- Brutality - Brutalitet (m)
- Generosity - Generøsitet (m)
- Publicity - Publisitet (m)
- Quality - Kvalitet (m)
- University - Universitet (n)
Others
- Constant - Konstant
- Original - Orginal
- Total - Total
- Classic - Klassisk
- Automatic - Automatisk
- Mechanism - Mekanisme (m)
- Economy - Økonomi (m)
- Optimist - Optimist (m)
- Pessimist - Pessimist (m)
- Positive - Positiv
- Negative - Negativ
- Neutral - Nøytral
- Photo - Foto (n)
- Photographer - Fotograf (m)
- Tourist - Turist (m)
- Moral - Moral (m)
- Idea - Ide (m)
- Extreme - Ekstrem
- Pragmatic - Pragmatisk
- Spiritual - Spirituell
- Estimate - Estimat (n)
- Emotional - Emosjonell
As you can see, there really are a lot of similarities between the languages. Words like this and the very similar grammar structure is a big part of why Norwegian often ranks as one of the "easier" languages to learn for English speakers.
Easier but still not easy for sure... Hopefully this was helpful to you! I'll make sure to keep it updated whenever I discover new words that should be added.
With kind regards / Med vennlig hilsen, Martin