Are you 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.

I've also added gender-tags to the nouns to help you study without having to look them up:

• n - neuter (intetkjønn)
• m - masculine
• f - feminine
• m/f - can be used with either one

PS: The more advanced words are towards the bottom

Adjectives and Descriptions:

• High - Høy
• Orange - Oransje
• Red - Rød
• Rotten - Råtten
• 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 - Tå (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 - Måne (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 - Såpe (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