Demonstratives: denne, dette, disse, den, det, de | Norwegian Grammar

Demonstratives are the words for pointing: "this car," "that house," "these children." Norwegian splits them into a proximal set — denne / dette / disse ("this / these," near me) — and a distal set — den / det / de ("that / those," over there). The twist English speakers never expect: after a demonstrative, the noun does not go bare. It stays in its definite form — denne boka, not denne bok. This page covers which form to use, why the suffix sticks around, and the very Norwegian habit of adding her or der for good measure.

The two sets

Both sets agree in gender and number. The masculine and feminine share a form; the neuter has its own; the plural has its own.

	Masculine / feminine	Neuter	Plural
this / these (near)	denne	dette	disse
that / those (far)	den	det	de

Denne bilen er din, ikke sant?

This car is yours, right?

Dette huset er mye eldre enn det ser ut.

This house is much older than it looks.

Disse skoene er for små for meg nå.

These shoes are too small for me now.

Den mannen der borte jobber sammen med broren min.

That man over there works with my brother.

The noun stays definite — this is the surprise

In English, "this" and "that" replace the article: you say "this book," never "this the book." So English speakers reach for the bare noun: denne bok. Wrong. Norwegian keeps the definite suffix on the noun after a demonstrative:

Demonstrative	Definite noun	English
denne	boka	this book
dette	huset	this house
disse	bilene	these cars
den	mannen	that man

Denne boka må du lese — den er helt fantastisk.

You have to read this book — it's absolutely fantastic.

Hvem eier disse bilene? De sperrer hele innkjørselen.

Who owns these cars? They're blocking the whole driveway.

Why does the suffix survive? Because a demonstrative makes the noun specific and known — and in Norwegian, specificity is carried by the suffix, not stripped by the front word. The demonstrative simply adds "near/far" information on top of definiteness; it doesn't replace it. This is the same logic as double definiteness with adjectives (den store bilen): the front word and the suffix cooperate rather than compete. Get used to it here and that page will feel familiar.

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Mantra: a demonstrative never "uses up" the suffix. Denne + bok is wrong; it must be denne boka. The noun is just as definite as it would be in boka — you've only added the pointing.

Note that the special neuter plural barn → barna applies here too:

Disse barna har lekt sammen siden de var små.

These children have played together since they were little.

denne vs dette — pick by gender, not by spelling

The most slippery pair is denne (masculine/feminine) vs dette (neuter). Choose by the gender of the noun, which you can read off the indefinite article:

en bil / ei bok → denne bilen / denne boka
et hus / et eple → dette huset / dette eplet

Dette eplet er råttent — kast det.

This apple is rotten — throw it away. (neuter: et eple → dette)

Denne jakka passer perfekt.

This jacket fits perfectly. (feminine: ei jakke → denne)

Watch the spelling: dette has a double t (short e sound), disse has a double s, while det and den are single-consonant. Mixing these up — writing det where you mean dette — is both a spelling error and a grammar error, because det is the distal "that" while dette is the proximal "this."

Reinforcing with her and der

Here is a very Norwegian habit. In everyday speech, Norwegians often tack her ("here") onto a proximal phrase and der ("there") onto a distal one, to nail down exactly which thing they mean:

Norwegian	Literal	Natural English
denne bilen her	this car here	this car / this one here
den jakka der	that jacket there	that jacket (over there)
disse skoene her	these shoes here	these shoes here

Jeg tar denne genseren her, takk.

I'll take this jumper (here), thanks. (informal — at the till)

Hvem har lagt igjen den sekken der?

Who's left that backpack there? (informal)

English does this only when it's being emphatic or pointed ("that jacket there"), and it can sound brusque. In Norwegian her/der is neutral and routine (informal register) — it's just how people specify, not a sign of impatience. Leaving it off is never wrong, but adding it makes your speech sound natural rather than bookish.

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When you're shopping or pointing at things, reach for den … der and denne … her. "Den der" and "denne her" are the everyday way to say "that one" and "this one" while gesturing.

Demonstrative vs the plain definite article — listen for stress

Here is a subtlety worth knowing. The words den / det / de do double duty: they are demonstratives ("that/those"), and they are also the unstressed front-article in double definiteness (den store bilen = "the big car," not "that big car"). The spelling is identical. What separates them is stress:

Stressed DEN bilen = "that car" (demonstrative — you're contrasting it with another).
Unstressed den store bilen = "the big car" (just the supporting article).

In writing the difference can be ambiguous, and context decides; in speech the demonstrative carries a clear beat of stress. You don't need to produce this perfectly as a beginner, but knowing it explains why den huset der sounds like pointing while det gamle huset just sounds like "the old house."

Ikke den jakka — den der!

Not that jacket — THAT one! (stressed, pointing/contrasting)

Common Mistakes

Putting the noun in the indefinite form after a demonstrative. This is the number-one error: English speakers strip the suffix because English does.

❌ denne bil

Incorrect — the noun stays definite: 'denne bilen'.

✅ denne bilen

this car

❌ dette hus

Incorrect — needs the suffix: 'dette huset'.

✅ dette huset

this house

Confusing dette (this, neuter) with det (that / it). They differ in both spelling and meaning.

❌ Det huset er nytt. (meaning 'this house')

That means 'THAT house'; for 'this house' use 'dette huset'.

✅ Dette huset er nytt.

This house is new.

Wrong gender form — denne on a neuter noun. Match the demonstrative to the noun's gender.

❌ denne huset

Incorrect — 'hus' is neuter: 'dette huset'.

✅ dette huset

this house

Using the singular for a plural. "These/those" is disse / de, never denne / den.

❌ denne skoene

Incorrect — plural needs 'disse': 'disse skoene'.

✅ disse skoene

these shoes

Misspelling dette / disse with a single consonant. The double letters are obligatory.

❌ dete husene

Misspelling — it's 'dette' (double t), and plural needs 'disse husene'.

✅ disse husene

these houses

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