A conjunction is a joining word — it glues clauses, phrases, or words together. In Norwegian, conjunctions split into two families, and which family a conjunction belongs to is not a fine detail you can postpone: it decides the word order of everything that follows it. This is the most important structural fact in the language for English speakers, because English conjunctions mostly leave word order alone, while Norwegian subordinating conjunctions reshape the clause around them. Learn the two lists below and what each one does, and a huge amount of Norwegian grammar clicks into place at once.
The great divide
- Coordinating conjunctions join equals — two things of the same rank (two main clauses, two nouns, two adjectives). They sit between the two parts and belong to neither. Crucially, they change nothing about word order: each clause keeps its normal main-clause shape.
- Subordinating conjunctions attach a dependent clause to a main clause. The clause they introduce cannot stand alone, and — this is the key — it takes a special subordinate word order, the most visible feature of which is that the sentence adverb (above all ikke) moves in front of the finite verb.
Memorise the five coordinators; everything else that joins clauses is subordinating.
| Coordinating (join equals — NO order change) |
|---|
| og — and |
| men — but |
| eller — or |
| for — for / because (giving a reason) |
| så — so (consequence) |
| Subordinating (trigger subordinate order — ikke before the verb) |
|---|
| at — that |
| fordi — because |
| hvis / dersom — if |
| om — whether / if |
| når — when (repeated / future) |
| da — when (single past event) |
| som — who / which / that (relative) |
| mens — while |
| selv om — even though |
| fordi / siden / ettersom — because / since |
Coordinating conjunctions leave word order alone
Coordinating conjunctions are the friendly half. They behave exactly like their English counterparts — they connect two complete main clauses and don't disturb either one. Each clause keeps its subject-first, verb-second main-clause order.
Jeg kom, og jeg så.
I came, and I saw.
Hun ville gå, men hun måtte bli.
She wanted to leave, but she had to stay.
Vil du ha te eller kaffe?
Do you want tea or coffee?
In every case the second clause is a normal main clause: jeg så, hun måtte bli — subject then verb, untouched. The coordinator is, in effect, invisible to the word-order rule. This matches your English instinct perfectly, so coordinators rarely cause trouble.
Subordinating conjunctions trigger a new word order
Now the half that makes or breaks your Norwegian. A subordinating conjunction opens a dependent clause, and inside that clause the word order changes. The signature change: any sentence adverb — especially ikke (not), but also alltid, aldri, kanskje — moves to the left of the finite verb.
Watch what happens to ikke when the same idea moves from a main clause into a subordinate one:
Hun drikker ikke kaffe.
She doesn't drink coffee. (main clause — ikke after the verb)
Jeg vet at hun ikke drikker kaffe.
I know that she doesn't drink coffee. (subordinate — ikke before the verb)
In the main clause, ikke sits after the verb: drikker ikke. The moment at introduces the clause, ikke leaps in front of the verb: ikke drikker. This flip is the single most reliable signal that you are inside a subordinate clause, and getting it wrong is the most recognisable learner error in the language. The full mechanics live on word-order/subordinate-clauses, but the trigger is the conjunction — which is why this overview frames conjunctions as the thing that sets off the word-order rule.
Jeg kom fordi jeg ville.
I came because I wanted to.
Vi blir hjemme hvis det regner.
We'll stay home if it rains.
Han sa at han ikke kunne komme.
He said that he couldn't come.
That last one shows the flip again: ...at han *ikke kunne komme — *ikke before the verb kunne, because at made the clause subordinate. Train your ear on this.
for versus fordi: the same English word, two grammars
Here is a trap that hides because English papers over it. English because can be translated two ways, and they belong to different families:
- fordi — because, a subordinating conjunction. The clause after it takes subordinate order (ikke before the verb).
- for — for/because, a coordinating conjunction. The clause after it keeps normal main-clause order.
Jeg ble hjemme fordi jeg ikke var frisk.
I stayed home because I wasn't well. (fordi → ikke before var)
Jeg ble hjemme, for jeg var ikke frisk.
I stayed home, for I wasn't well. (for → ikke after var)
Both sentences mean essentially the same thing, but the word order differs precisely because fordi is subordinating and for is coordinating. With fordi: jeg *ikke var frisk. With *for: jeg var *ikke frisk. Same English *because, two Norwegian structures — a clean demonstration of why you must know a conjunction's family, not just its meaning. (In modern usage fordi is by far the more common and neutral choice; for in this reason-giving sense leans slightly literary or written.)
The og / å spelling trap
A different kind of confusion, but the cardinal one, so it belongs here: the coordinating conjunction og (and) sounds identical to the infinitive marker å (to) — both are pronounced /ɔ/, with the g in og silent. Even native Norwegians mix them up constantly in writing. As an English speaker you have an edge: the two functions are kept apart in English by and and to. So if it would be and, write og; if it would be to, write å.
Jeg liker å lese og å skrive.
I like to read and to write.
Two infinitive markers (å lese, å skrive — to read, to write) and one conjunction (og — and) in a single sentence, sorted instantly by the English test. This trap has its own page, conjunctions/og, and the spelling angle is on spelling/og-aa-confusion.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vet at hun drikker ikke kaffe.
Incorrect — after the subordinator at, ikke must come before the verb.
✅ Jeg vet at hun ikke drikker kaffe.
I know that she doesn't drink coffee.
This is the mistake. A subordinating conjunction (at) triggers subordinate order, where ikke sits in front of the finite verb: ...at hun *ikke drikker*.
❌ Jeg ble hjemme fordi jeg var ikke frisk.
Incorrect — fordi is subordinating, so ikke goes before the verb.
✅ Jeg ble hjemme fordi jeg ikke var frisk.
I stayed home because I wasn't well.
Because fordi is subordinating, the clause needs ikke var, not var ikke. (If you said for instead of fordi, the order var ikke would be correct — that is exactly the for/fordi difference.)
❌ Jeg liker og lese.
Incorrect — this is the infinitive 'to read', which needs å, not og.
✅ Jeg liker å lese.
I like to read.
The og/å trap. In English it is to read, not and read, so it must be å. The English test keeps you right where natives slip.
❌ Hun gikk, fordi hun var trøtt og hun gikk hjem.
Muddled — mixing a subordinate reason clause and a coordinated main clause without clear structure.
✅ Hun gikk hjem fordi hun var trøtt.
She went home because she was tired.
Keep the families straight: one subordinator (fordi + its dependent clause) does the job. Don't pile a coordinated og-clause onto a subordinate one as if they were the same kind of link.
❌ Selv om det regner, vi går ut.
Incorrect — after a fronted subordinate clause, the main clause must invert (verb before subject).
✅ Selv om det regner, går vi ut.
Even though it's raining, we're going out.
When a subordinate clause comes first, it fills the V2 "first slot," so the main clause inverts: går vi, not vi går. The subordinating conjunction shapes the structure even from the front of the sentence.
Key Takeaways
- Conjunctions split into coordinating (join equals) and subordinating (attach a dependent clause) — the split decides word order.
- The five coordinators — og, men, eller, for, så — leave word order untouched; each clause keeps normal main-clause order.
- Subordinators — at, fordi, hvis, om, når, da, som, mens, selv om — trigger subordinate order, moving ikke (and other sentence adverbs) before the finite verb.
- for (coordinating because) and fordi (subordinating because) translate the same English word but produce different word order — always know a conjunction's family.
- The coordinator og sounds like the infinitive marker å; use the English test (and → og, to → å).
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Subordinate Clause Word OrderA2 — Inside a subordinate clause Norwegian abandons V2: nothing inverts, the subject stays first, and the sentence adverb — above all ikke — moves to BEFORE the finite verb, the deepest fact in Norwegian word order.
- Coordinating Conjunctions: men, eller, for, såA2 — How men (but), eller (or), for (for/because) and så (so) join equal clauses without disturbing word order, and why for is a coordinating 'because' that behaves nothing like the subordinating fordi.
- Subordinating Conjunctions: OverviewB1 — The master list of Norwegian subordinating conjunctions and the one rule they all trigger: subordinate word order, where ikke jumps in front of the verb.