This is a quick pronunciation guide for Norwegian. We
recommend you to read through this and practice the sounds before you start the
lessons. Three reasons for learning the pronunciation:
- The spoken language is the origin of the written language.
- If you don't know to pronounce a language, you are not able to
talk to people, only to write them.
- If you don't know how to pronounce the letters, it will be very
difficult to learn the words. You'll not be able to remember the
words as sounds, only as a combination of letters.
This is the Norwegian alphabet: a b c d
e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ ø å
We can group the letters like this:
Vowels: a e i o u y æ ø å
Consonants: b d f g h j k l m n p r s t v
Consonants used only in foreign loan words: c q w x z
Keep in mind that the pronunciation of some of the letters vary
notably from one region to another in Norway. This guide focuses on the
pronunciation in the south eastern part of the country, i.e. the capital
Oslo and surrounding areas.
The written examples from other languages in the tables below are just approximate.
For some of the letters we have included examples from more than one
language (since we are aware of having a multilinguistic audience), but
this doesn't mean that the letter has two different pronunciations.
(You need to have installed a Unicode font in order to display some
of the phonetic symbols.)
Vowels:
The Norwegian vowels may be long or short. In most cases, the vowel
is long when followed by one or no consonants, while it's normally short
when followed by two consonants (identical or different). That means
that in the following words, the vowel a is long in (1) and (2),
and short in (3) and (4):
- ha (long)
- hat (long)
- hatt (short)
- hast (short)
There are, however, some exceptions, especially in one-syllable
words.
Click on the phonetic symbols to hear the Norwegian
pronunciation.
| Letter |
Long |
Short |
| a |
a: |
a
in
British English "bath" |
a |
o
in American English "hot";
a in French "pas" |
| e |
e: |
ai in
American English
"air" |
e |
e in
English
"bet";
e in Spanish "me" |
| i |
i: |
ee in
English
"see" |
ı |
i in
English
"sit";
i in Spanish "mis" |
| o |
u: |
ú in
Spanish "música", but longer;
où in French "où", but longer |
o |
o
in British English "not";
o in Spanish "soy" |
| u |
u: |
oo in
English "choose" |
u |
ou in
English "you", but
shorter; |
| u |
before k,
m, n: u in Spanish "muy" |
| y |
y: |
similar
to ü in
German "über" |
y |
u in
French "chute" |
| æ |
æ: |
a in
American English
"bad" |
æ |
a
in British English "bat" |
| ø |
ø: |
ö
in German "schön";
similar to i in English
"bird" |
ø |
eu in
French "peu" |
| å |
o: |
aw in
English "yawn" |
o |
o
in British English "not";
o in Spanish "soy" |
Diphthongs:
Click on the phonetic symbols to hear the Norwegian
pronunciation.
| Letters |
Phon. |
Norwegian example |
Approximate pronunciation |
| ei |
æj |
hei |
- |
| ai |
aj |
hai |
y in English "my" |
| øy |
øj |
tøy |
- |
| au |
æv |
sau |
- |
Consonants:
Click on the Norwegian words to hear the
pronunciation.
| Letter |
|
Phon. |
Norwegian example |
Approximate pronunciation |
| b |
|
b |
bo |
b in English "be" |
| d |
|
d |
du |
d in English "do" |
| f |
|
f |
få |
f in English "for" |
| g |
normally: |
g |
gå
|
g in English "go" |
| before i or y: |
j |
gikk |
y in English "yes" |
| h |
normally: |
h |
hus
|
h in English "house" |
| before a consonant: |
- |
hva |
silent |
| j |
|
j |
ja |
y in English "yes" |
| k |
normally: |
k |
kom
|
k in English "key" |
| before i or y: |
ç |
kino |
ch in German "ich";
x in Mexican Spanish "México" |
| l |
|
l |
le |
l in English "let",
but with the tip of your tongue raised |
| m |
|
m |
må |
m in English "more" |
| n |
|
n |
nei |
n in English "nice" |
| p |
|
p |
på |
p in English "post" |
| r |
|
r |
ro |
r in Spanish
"toro" |
| s |
|
s |
se |
s in English "see" |
| t |
|
t |
ta |
t in English "top" |
| v |
|
v |
vi |
v in English "velvet" |
Letter combinations and exceptions:
Click on the Norwegian words to hear the
pronunciation.
| Letters |
|
Phon. |
Norwegian pronunciation |
Approximate pronunciation |
| sj |
|
ʃ |
sjø |
sh in English" she" |
| skj |
|
ʃ |
skjære |
sh in English "she" |
| kj |
|
ç |
kjøre |
ch in German "ich";
x in Mexican Spanish "México" |
| ng |
|
ŋ |
ting |
ng in English "thing" |
| sk |
before i
or y: |
ʃ |
ski |
sh in English "she" |
| tj |
beginning
of words: |
ç |
tjære |
ch in German "ich";
x in Mexican Spanish "México" |
| er |
before
a consonant: |
ær |
sterk |
- |
| eg |
end of
words: |
æj |
jeg |
- |
| ig |
end of
words: |
ı |
deilig |
y in English "nicely" |
| ld |
end of
words: |
l |
kald |
l in English "all" |
| nd |
end of
words: |
n |
sand |
n in English "man" |
| rs |
|
ʃ |
mars |
sh in English "she" |
| rl |
|
ɭ |
perle |
l with the tip of
your tongue curled backwards |
| rn |
|
ɳ |
barn |
n with the tip of
your tongue curled backwards |
| rt |
|
ʈ |
fart |
t with the tip of
your tongue curled backwards |
- In many cases, the consonants t and d are not
pronounced at the end of a word
- The r is often not pronounced before p, b, f,
v, k and g.
Click here
to start the tutorial
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