Norwegian Articles: en, ei, et

In Norwegian, every noun has a gender. The gender decides which article you use in front of the word.

There are three genders in Norwegian:

1. Masculine (hankjønn) – article: en

   • Example: en bil (a car), en katt (a cat).

2. Feminine (hunkjønn) – article: ei

   • Example: ei bok (a book), ei jente (a girl).

   • Important: All feminine nouns can also be used with the masculine article en.
     → ei bok = en bok (both are correct).

3. Neuter (intetkjønn) – article: et

   • Example: et hus (a house), et barn (a child).

How articles work

• The article is always placed before the noun in the indefinite singular form.

  • en bil = a car

  • ei bok = a book

  • et hus = a house

• In the definite singular form, the article is added as an ending to the noun:

  • bilen = the car

  • boka / boken = the book

  • huset = the house

So, the small words en, ei, et not only tell you that the noun is indefinite (a/an), but they also show you the gender of the noun.

Practice Exercise

Choose the correct article (en, ei, et) for each noun:

1. ___ katt (cat)

2. ___ jente (girl)

3. ___ bord (table)

4. ___ bok (book)

5. ___ barn (child)

Answer Key

1. en katt

2. ei jente (or: en jente)

3. et bord

4. ei bok (or: en bok)

5. et barn