og vs å: And vs To | Norwegian Grammar

Here is a rare piece of good news: the mistake this page is about is one that native Norwegians make constantly, while English speakers can almost entirely avoid it. The two words og ("and") and å (the infinitive marker, "to") are pronounced essentially identically in everyday speech — both come out roughly as "aw" — so Norwegians, who learn the language by ear, mix them up in writing all the time. It is regularly cited as the single most common spelling error in Norwegian. But you learned these as two different words with two different meanings, and English gives you a clean test to keep them apart. This page shows the test, the few traps, and how to proofread for it.

The two words

og = "and" — a conjunction joining two things (words, phrases, clauses).
å = "to" — the infinitive marker, placed before the basic form of a verb (å lese "to read", å spise "to eat").

They look different on the page — og has two letters and the special vowel is o; å is the single ring-topped letter — but they sound the same aloud, which is exactly why the eye and the ear disagree.

Jeg liker å lese og skrive.

I like to read and write.

That one sentence contains both: å lese is "to read" (infinitive marker), and og skrive is "and write" (the conjunction joining the two verbs). Get used to seeing them side by side.

The English-substitution test

This is your crutch, and it is reliable. Translate the spot in your head:

If English uses "to" + a verb, write å.
If English uses "and", write og.

Norwegian	English	Which word, and why
Jeg liker å lese.	I like to read.	å — English "to"
lese og skrive	read and write	og — English "and"
Det er fint å være her.	It's nice to be here.	å — English "to"
mor og far	mum and dad	og — English "and"

Jeg prøver å slutte å røyke.

I'm trying to stop smoking.

Vi kjøpte brød og melk.

We bought bread and milk.

Det er vanskelig å lære seg å svømme.

It's hard to learn to swim.

In prøver å slutte the English is "try to stop" → å. In brød og melk the English is "bread and milk" → og. The test does not fail you as long as you actually run it.

💡

Your unfair advantage over native speakers: they hear one sound and have to remember which spelling it is. You can translate. If the English is "to + verb," write å. If it's "and," write og. Lean on this test whenever you're unsure — it is almost always decisive.

The one real trap: pseudo-coordination (sitte og lese)

There is exactly one place where the simple test can mislead you, and it is worth knowing precisely. Norwegian uses a construction called pseudo-coordination, where a posture or motion verb — sitte ("sit"), stå ("stand"), ligge ("lie"), gå ("go/walk"), komme ("come"), drive ("be busy") — is linked to a second verb by og, to describe doing something while in that position.

Jeg sitter og leser.

I'm sitting reading. / I sit and read.

Hun står og venter på bussen.

She's standing waiting for the bus.

Han lå og sov på sofaen.

He was lying asleep on the sofa.

The trap is this: English often renders these with an -ing form ("sitting reading"), not with "and," so the substitution test seems to point nowhere. But the Norwegian word here is genuinely og — it is a real, if bleached, "and," coordinating two verbs in the same tense (sitter og leser: both present). The giveaway is that both verbs share the same form and the same subject, and you could, a bit stiffly, translate it as "sit and read."

Contrast it with a true infinitive after the same verbs, where å is correct because the second verb really is an infinitive complement:

Jeg prøver å lese. (not 'og')

I'm trying to read.

Jeg sitter og leser. (not 'å')

I'm sitting reading.

In prøver å lese, "try to read" → å. In sitter og leser, both verbs are present-tense and coordinated → og. A quick way to tell pseudo-coordination apart: if both verbs carry the same tense ending (sitter ... leser, satt ... leste), it is og; if the second verb is in the bare infinitive (lese, spise) governed by the first, it is å.

How to proofread for it

Because the error is invisible to the ear, you catch it with the eye. When you reread something you have written, stop at every og and every å and run the test:

Find each og / å.
Ask: is English "and" or "to + verb" here?
If "and" → it should be og. If "to + verb" → it should be å. If it's a sitte/stå/ligge/gå
- verb pair in the same tense, it's the pseudo-coordination og.

Two consistency checks help. After a verb that clearly wants an infinitive — liker, prøver, håper, begynner, pleier, glemmer — the word is almost always å. And in a plain list of nouns or adjectives (stor og sterk, "big and strong"), it is always og.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg liker og lese.

Incorrect — 'og' where the infinitive marker is needed.

✅ Jeg liker å lese.

I like to read.

English is "like to read" → å. After liker you almost always want the infinitive marker å.

❌ Det er gøy og reise.

Incorrect — 'og' before an infinitive.

✅ Det er gøy å reise.

It's fun to travel.

"Fun to travel" → å. The verb reise here is an infinitive, so it takes å.

❌ Jeg satt å leste hele kvelden.

Incorrect — 'å' in pseudo-coordination.

✅ Jeg satt og leste hele kvelden.

I sat reading all evening.

Both verbs are past tense (satt ... leste) and coordinated — this is pseudo-coordination, so the word is og, even though English uses "reading," not "and."

❌ Vi pleier og spise ute på fredager.

Incorrect — 'og' where 'å' is needed after pleier.

✅ Vi pleier å spise ute på fredager.

We usually eat out on Fridays.

Pleie ("to usually do") governs an infinitive: "usually to eat" in structure → å spise.

❌ Kan du kjøpe smør å brød?

Incorrect — 'å' joining two nouns.

✅ Kan du kjøpe smør og brød?

Can you buy butter and bread?

"Butter and bread" → og. Two nouns in a list are joined by the conjunction og, never the infinitive marker.

Key Takeaways

og = "and" (conjunction); å = "to" (infinitive marker). They sound identical but mean different things.
The reliable test: English "to + verb" → å; English "and" → og. Use it whenever you're unsure.
The one exception is pseudo-coordination (sitte og lese, stå og vente): here it is og even though English uses "-ing." Tell-tale sign: both verbs share the same tense.
After verbs like liker, prøver, pleier, håper, begynner, expect å; in a list of nouns or adjectives, expect og.
Proofread by eye: this error never shows up in the sound, only on the page.

Now practice Norwegian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Norwegian→