Negation in Norwegian is built around one small, busy word: ikke ("not"). Master where ikke sits and you can negate almost any sentence. This page maps the whole territory — the core adverb ikke and its position, the dedicated negative words ingen ("no/none"), ingenting ("nothing") and aldri ("never"), and one structural fact that saves English speakers a lot of effort: there is no "do not" in Norwegian. The fine detail of ikke-placement and the ingen vs ikke noen choice each have their own page; here is the overview that holds them together.
ikke means "not" — and there is no "do not"
To make a sentence negative, you add ikke. That is the entire mechanism. English needs a helper — I smoke becomes I *do not smoke — but Norwegian simply drops *ikke in.
Jeg røyker ikke.
I don't smoke.
Hun liker ikke fisk.
She doesn't like fish.
Vi forstår ikke spørsmålet.
We don't understand the question.
Read the Norwegian literally and it is "I smoke not," "She likes not fish," "We understand not the question." There is no do, no does, no don't — just the verb, then ikke. This is structurally the old English pattern, the one preserved in fixed phrases like "fear not" and "I know not." Norwegian never developed the do-helper that modern English uses, so it still negates the simple way.
Where ikke goes: after the finite verb in main clauses
In a normal main clause, ikke comes right after the finite verb.
Jeg snakker ikke norsk.
I don't speak Norwegian.
Han kommer ikke i dag.
He isn't coming today.
If there is an object pronoun, ikke usually slips to after it (Jeg kjenner ham ikke — "I don't know him"), but the default mental model — ikke sits just behind the conjugated verb — will serve you correctly in the great majority of sentences. The detailed placement rules, including these pronoun cases, are on the dedicated ikke-placement page.
There is one shift worth previewing now, because it surprises every English speaker: in a subordinate clause (a clause introduced by words like at "that", fordi "because", hvis "if", som "who/which"), ikke moves to before the finite verb.
Jeg vet at han ikke kommer.
I know that he isn't coming.
Hun sa at hun ikke liker fisk.
She said that she doesn't like fish.
Compare Han kommer ikke (main clause: verb, then ikke) with ...at han ikke kommer (subordinate clause: ikke, then verb). The adverb jumped to the other side of the verb. You do not need to master this today — just register that the position is not random; it depends on whether the clause is main or subordinate. This is one of the genuinely tricky points of Norwegian word order, and it has its own full treatment.
The negative words: ingen, ingenting, aldri
Besides ikke, Norwegian has dedicated negative words for specific meanings. The three you meet first:
| Word | Meaning | Replaces |
|---|---|---|
| ingen | no / none / nobody | "not a / not any (person or thing)" |
| ingenting | nothing | "not anything" |
| aldri | never | "not ever" |
Det er ingen her.
There's no one here.
Jeg har ingenting å gjøre i dag.
I have nothing to do today.
Han har aldri vært i Norge.
He has never been to Norway.
Each of these already contains the negation, so you do not add ikke on top of it. Aldri sits in the same slot ikke would — right after the finite verb (Han kommer *aldri for sent*, "He's never late").
One negation per clause — avoid the double negative
This is the point that trips English speakers most, and it is a real difference between the two languages' logic. Standard Norwegian, like standard English, uses one negative per clause. The complication is that English speakers, translating word for word, tend to produce ikke ... ingen, which is a double negative.
The fix is a built-in rule: when a negated verb (with ikke) governs a noun, use noen ("any") for that noun, not ingen ("no"). You choose one of two structures:
- ikke ... noen — "not ... any"
- ingen (and then no ikke) — "no ..."
Jeg har ikke noen penger.
I don't have any money.
Jeg har ingen penger.
I have no money.
Both are correct and mean the same thing. What you must not do is combine them into Jeg har ikke ingen penger — that is the double negative, ungrammatical in standard Bokmål just as "I don't have no money" is non-standard in English. So the rule of thumb is clean: if there is already an ikke in the clause, the noun takes noen, not ingen.
Det er ikke noe melk igjen.
There isn't any milk left.
Jeg kjenner ikke noen her.
I don't know anyone here.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg gjør ikke like fisk.
Incorrect — English do-support imported into negation.
✅ Jeg liker ikke fisk.
I don't like fish.
There is no "don't." Conjugate the real verb (liker) and add ikke after it. Gjør is the verb "do/make," not a negation helper.
❌ Jeg vet ikke ingenting.
Incorrect — double negative.
✅ Jeg vet ingenting.
I know nothing.
✅ Jeg vet ikke noe.
I don't know anything.
Pick one negation. Either ingenting ("nothing", no ikke) or ikke ... noe ("not ... anything"). Never both together.
❌ Han har ikke aldri vært der.
Incorrect — ikke and aldri stacked.
✅ Han har aldri vært der.
He has never been there.
Aldri already means "never" = "not ever." Adding ikke doubles the negation. Use aldri alone.
❌ Jeg har ikke ingen tid.
Incorrect — ikke plus ingen.
✅ Jeg har ikke noen tid.
I don't have any time.
✅ Jeg har ingen tid.
I have no time.
When ikke is in the clause, the noun takes noen ("any"), not ingen ("no"). Or drop ikke and use ingen on its own.
❌ Jeg ikke snakker norsk.
Incorrect — ikke before the verb in a main clause.
✅ Jeg snakker ikke norsk.
I don't speak Norwegian.
In a main clause, ikke comes after the finite verb, not before it. (It moves before the verb only inside subordinate clauses — ...at jeg ikke snakker norsk.)
Key Takeaways
- Negate with the single adverb ikke; there is no "do/don't" helper.
- In a main clause, ikke follows the finite verb; in a subordinate clause it precedes it.
- ingen ("no/none"), ingenting ("nothing") and aldri ("never") are self-contained negatives — do not add ikke to them.
- Standard Norwegian uses one negation per clause. If ikke is present, a noun takes noen ("any"), not ingen.
- Note the spelling: ikke, with a double k.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Placing ikkeA2 — Everything about where ikke sits: after the finite verb in main clauses, before it in subordinate clauses, before a non-finite verb, and the object-shift rule — a pronoun jumps in front of ikke, but a full noun stays behind it.
- ingen vs ikke noenB1 — ingen ('no/none/nobody') is a one-word negative that works as a simple subject or object (Ingen kom; Jeg så ingen), but it is BARRED after a finite auxiliary or modal — there you must unpack it into ikke … noen/noe (Jeg har ikke sett noen, never 'har sett ingen'). The same split governs ingenting/ikke noe, ingen steder/ikke noe sted.
- Placing ikke and Sentence Adverbs (Main Clause)A2 — In a main clause ikke and adverbs like alltid, aldri, ofte and kanskje sit right after the finite verb — but before a non-finite verb and before the object — so their position is fixed by the verb, not the object, the reverse of English.