English "know" does the work of three separate Norwegian verbs: vite for knowing a fact (or a that-clause), kjenne for being acquainted with a person or place, and kunne for knowing how to do something or having mastered a skill or language. The sentence "I know Mary, I know she's nice, and I know French" needs all three verbs in Norwegian — kjenner, vet, kan — a one-to-three mapping that is one of the most common beginner confusions.
The good news: the three verbs carve up the territory cleanly, with almost no overlap. Once you know which kind of "knowing" you mean, the choice is forced.
vite = know a fact
Vite is knowledge of information — facts, answers, that-clauses, whether/where/who questions. If "know" is followed by that, if, where, who, why, or a plain piece of information, it is vite.
Jeg vet svaret på spørsmålet.
I know the answer to the question.
Vet du hvor stasjonen er?
Do you know where the station is?
Jeg vet at hun kommer i kveld.
I know that she's coming tonight.
Jeg vet ikke.
I don't know.
Note the irregular present tense: the verb is vite, but the present is vet (not "viter"). The full set is vite → vet → visste → har visst. The double s in visste/visst is essential.
Jeg visste ikke at du var her.
I didn't know you were here.
kjenne = know / be acquainted with a person or place
Kjenne is knowing through acquaintance — being familiar with a person, a place, a city, a feeling. It is the verb for relationships and familiarity, never for facts.
Jeg kjenner henne fra før.
I know her from before.
Kjenner du noen som jobber der?
Do you know anyone who works there?
Jeg kjenner Oslo ganske godt.
I know Oslo pretty well. (familiar with the city)
A person or a place name after "know" is the tell-tale sign of kjenne. You kjenner people; you do not vite them.
kjenne also means "to feel" (physically)
Kjenne has a second everyday sense: to feel something physically — a sensation, a smell, a touch. This is worth knowing because it is high-frequency.
Kjenner du lukten av kaffe?
Can you smell the coffee? (lit. do you feel the smell)
Jeg kjenner at jeg blir trøtt.
I can feel myself getting tired.
The thread linking "be acquainted with" and "feel" is direct, sensory familiarity — but in practice just learn both senses.
The conjugation is regular weak: kjenne → kjenner → kjente → har kjent. Mind the kj- spelling (pronounced like the soft sound in German ich, not a "k").
kunne = know how to / can (skills and languages)
Kunne is the modal verb "can," and it doubles as "know how to." Crucially, it is the verb for knowing a language and for having mastered a skill. Where English says "I know French" or "I know how to swim," Norwegian uses kunne.
Jeg kan svømme, men ikke så godt.
I can swim, but not very well.
Hun kan fransk og litt italiensk.
She knows French and a little Italian.
Kan du spille gitar?
Can you / do you know how to play guitar?
That second example is the classic one English speakers miss: kan fransk = "knows French." There is no verb between kan and fransk — the modal alone carries "know." Saying vet fransk or kjenner fransk is simply wrong.
The present is kan (irregular, no -r); the full set is kunne → kan → kunne → har kunnet. (Yes, the infinitive and preterite are spelled the same, kunne — context disambiguates.)
Da jeg var liten, kunne jeg ikke svømme.
When I was little, I couldn't swim.
The three-way contrast in one breath
Here is the sentence that forces all three, so you can feel the split:
Jeg kjenner Maria, jeg vet at hun er hyggelig, og jeg kan fransk.
I know Maria, I know she's nice, and I know French.
- kjenner Maria — acquaintance with a person (kjenne)
- vet at hun er hyggelig — a fact, a that-clause (vite)
- kan fransk — mastery of a language (kunne)
English flattens all three into "know"; Norwegian keeps them apart.
Edge cases and gray areas
"Know a place" can blur. Jeg kjenner Oslo means I'm familiar with the city. But jeg vet hvor Oslo er means I know where Oslo is — a fact. Familiarity → kjenne; locating information → vite.
"Know about / know of." For knowing of something's existence as information, use vite om: jeg vet om en god restaurant (I know of a good restaurant). For being acquainted, kjenne til: jeg kjenner til problemet (I'm familiar with the problem). These two fixed expressions are worth memorising.
"Get to know." Becoming acquainted is bli kjent med: vi ble kjent med dem i fjor (we got to know them last year).
Common Mistakes
These errors all come from English using one verb for three distinct meanings.
❌ Jeg vet henne godt.
Incorrect — you can't 'know-a-fact' a person.
✅ Jeg kjenner henne godt.
I know her well.
❌ Jeg vet å svømme.
Incorrect — 'know how to' is a skill, not a fact.
✅ Jeg kan svømme.
I know how to swim.
❌ Hun vet fransk.
Incorrect — languages take kunne.
✅ Hun kan fransk.
She knows French.
❌ Kjenner du at toget er forsinket?
Incorrect — that's a fact, not acquaintance/feeling.
✅ Vet du at toget er forsinket?
Do you know the train is delayed?
❌ Jeg viter ikke.
Incorrect present tense — it's irregular: vet.
✅ Jeg vet ikke.
I don't know.
Decision summary
| You "know"… | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a fact / answer / that-clause | vite (vet) | Jeg vet at det er sant. |
| where / who / whether (information) | vite (vet) | Vet du hvem han er? |
| a person (acquaintance) | kjenne (kjenner) | Jeg kjenner henne. |
| a place / city (familiarity) | kjenne (kjenner) | Jeg kjenner Bergen godt. |
| feel a sensation (physical) | kjenne (kjenner) | Jeg kjenner lukten. |
| how to do something (skill) | kunne (kan) | Jeg kan kjøre bil. |
| a language | kunne (kan) | Han kan norsk. |
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- vite (to know a fact)A1 — Full conjugation of the irregular verb vite (vite / vet / visste / har visst) — the bare present vet, the double-s preterite visste, and how vite splits from kjenne and kunne where English has only 'know'.
- kjenne (to know / feel)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class 2 verb kjenne (kjenne / kjenner / kjente / har kjent), the kj-sound, the know-a-person / feel sense versus vite and kunne, and the idioms kjenne igjen, kjenne til and kjennes.
- kunne (can — full paradigm)A2 — The complete conjugation of the modal kunne — present kan, preterite kunne (identical to the infinitive), supine kunnet — plus its senses of ability, possibility, permission, and the kan + language idiom.
- kan / kunne: Ability and PossibilityA2 — The modal kan (kunne / kunnet) across its four senses — ability, possibility, permission, and the special kan + noun meaning 'know' a skill or language.
- Inter-Scandinavian False FriendsB2 — A decision guide to the words that look identical across Norwegian, Swedish and Danish but mean different things — rolig, rar, frokost, grine, semester, by and more — so you can read and hear the neighbour languages without being tripped up.