for: For, Too, Ago | Norwegian Grammar

for looks like English for, and sometimes it is — but its most frequent everyday use catches English speakers completely off guard: for before an adjective means "too / excessively" (for stor = too big, not for big). It also forms the "ago" frame for ... siden, marks benefit and reason, and even works as a conjunction meaning "for / because." Meanwhile, the English for of a recipient ("a gift for you") is usually til, not for. So this little word pulls in two directions: it does jobs English for doesn't (= "too"), and it loses a job English for does (= recipient). This page sorts them out.

for = "too / excessively" — the big surprise

Put for in front of an adjective or adverb and it means too much of that quality — beyond the acceptable limit. This is an adverbial use, and it is enormously common: for stor (too big), for sent (too late), for dyrt (too expensive), for mye (too much).

Denne jakka er for liten — har du en størrelse til?

This jacket is too small — do you have it in the next size up? (for liten = too small)

Vi kom for sent til toget og måtte vente en time.

We were too late for the train and had to wait an hour. (for sent = too late)

Det er for kaldt til å bade i dag.

It's too cold to swim today. (for kaldt = too cold)

To intensify it, prefix alt-: altfor means "far too / way too." Altfor dyrt = far too expensive.

Leiligheten var fin, men altfor dyr for studenter.

The flat was nice, but far too expensive for students. (altfor dyr = far too expensive)

💡

Before an adjective, for means "too," not "for": for stor = too big, for sent = too late. English speakers expect "for" to introduce a recipient and miss this high-frequency "excessively" sense entirely. When you see for + adjective, read it as "too."

for ... siden = "ago"

To say how long ago something happened, Norwegian wraps the time span in a discontinuous frame: for [time span] siden. Both pieces are obligatory — you can't drop either one.

Vi flyttet hit for tre år siden.

We moved here three years ago. (for tre år siden = three years ago)

Hun ringte for en time siden, men du var ute.

She called an hour ago, but you were out. (for en time siden = an hour ago)

For lenge siden bodde det troll i disse fjellene.

Long ago, trolls lived in these mountains. (for lenge siden = long ago)

The English temptation is to render "ago" with siden alone, leaving off the for. But siden by itself means "since," and "three years ago" is for tre år siden, never tre år siden. Treat for ... siden as a single bracket you wrap around the time expression.

Benefit and reason

In its closest-to-English uses, for marks something done on behalf of / for the sake of someone, or the reason something is known or valued.

Han gjorde alt dette for meg, helt frivillig.

He did all this for me, entirely of his own accord. (for meg = for my sake/benefit)

Lofoten er kjent for sin spektakulære natur.

Lofoten is famous for its spectacular scenery. (kjent for = known for — reason)

Tusen takk for hjelpen i går!

Thanks so much for the help yesterday! (takk for = thanks for)

The fixed phrase takk for ("thanks for") is everywhere in Norwegian social life — takk for maten (after a meal), takk for sist (greeting someone you last saw a while ago), takk for hjelpen. Bank these as set expressions.

for vs til: the recipient problem

Here is the mirror-image trap. English uses for freely for a recipient — "a present for you," "I bought it for her." Norwegian usually uses til for the recipient (the person who receives), and reserves for for benefit / sake / purpose.

til (recipient — who receives)	for (benefit / sake)
en gave til deg (a gift for you)	Han gjorde det for deg. (He did it for your sake.)
Jeg kjøpte blomster til henne. (I bought flowers for her.)	Det er for mye for meg. (It's too much for me.)
et brev til moren min (a letter to/for my mother)	kjent for sin natur (known for its nature)

Jeg har kjøpt en bursdagsgave til deg.

I've bought a birthday present for you. (recipient → til, not for)

Det var veldig snilt gjort av deg å gjøre det for oss.

It was very kind of you to do that for us. (for our sake → for)

The rule of thumb: if you could rephrase it as "to someone" (the thing goes to them), use til. If you mean "for the benefit/sake of" someone, use for.

for = "in exchange for / at a price"

A use that maps cleanly onto English: for marks the price or thing you get something in exchange for. Selge for (sell for), kjøpe for (buy for an amount), bytte for (swap for). This is a comfortable one — here the English and Norwegian for agree.

Jeg kjøpte sykkelen for tusen kroner på loppemarkedet.

I bought the bike for a thousand kroner at the flea market. (for + price)

De solgte huset for langt mer enn de hadde betalt.

They sold the house for far more than they'd paid. (for + amount)

There's also the abstract "in return for" sense — takk for fits here too (thanks in return for the help), as does øye for øye (an eye for an eye) and en gang for alle (once and for all).

for as a conjunction: "for / because"

for can also join two clauses to mean "for / because" — giving the reason for the preceding statement. This is more (formal) or (literary) than the everyday fordi ("because"), and it can only link two main clauses (it doesn't start a subordinate clause the way fordi does).

Vi måtte snu, for stormen var i ferd med å bli farlig.

We had to turn back, for the storm was about to become dangerous. (conjunction for = because — formal/literary register)

In everyday speech you'd more often say fordi stormen var farlig. Reserve the conjunction for for written or elevated style.

A note on for å — "in order to"

One construction you'll meet constantly is for å + infinitive, meaning "in order to / so as to" — it expresses purpose. It's a different beast from everything above (it's not the "too" sense, and not the recipient for), and it gets full treatment on the infinitive uses page. The reason to flag it here is that for + adjective ("too") and for å + verb ("in order to") look deceptively similar at a glance, so train your eye on what follows: an adjective after for means "too"; an infinitive with å means "in order to."

Hun sluttet tidlig for å rekke toget.

She left early in order to catch the train. (for å + infinitive = purpose, not 'too')

for in fixed verb collocations

Several verbs and adjectives govern for as their fixed preposition — memorise these as units (see also verbs with fixed prepositions): være redd for (be afraid of), sørge for (make sure / see to), passe for (be suitable for), bestemme seg for (decide on), interessere seg for (be interested in).

Hun er litt redd for store hunder.

She's a bit afraid of big dogs. (være redd for = be afraid of — note: 'of', not 'for')

Kan du sørge for at døra er låst når du går?

Can you make sure the door is locked when you leave? (sørge for = see to / make sure)

Note that være redd for translates as "afraid of" — yet another spot where the Norwegian and English prepositions diverge, which is exactly why you store the whole chunk.

Common Mistakes

Reading for + adjective as "for" instead of "too." This produces a complete misunderstanding, not just a slip.

❌ Misreading 'Maten er for varm' as 'The food is FOR warm'.

It actually means: 'The food is TOO hot.' — for + adjective = too.

✅ Maten er for varm.

The food is too hot.

Dropping the for in the "ago" frame. "Three years ago" needs both for and siden.

❌ Vi møttes tre år siden.

Incorrect — the frame is 'for ... siden': 'Vi møttes for tre år siden'.

✅ Vi møttes for tre år siden.

We met three years ago.

Using for for a recipient instead of til. A gift "for you" goes to you, so it's til.

❌ Jeg har en gave for deg.

Incorrect — recipient takes 'til': 'Jeg har en gave til deg'.

✅ Jeg har en gave til deg.

I have a gift for you.

Using av or for where redd takes for. "Afraid of" is redd for, not redd av.

❌ Han er redd av mørket.

Incorrect — 'afraid of' is 'redd for': 'Han er redd for mørket'.

✅ Han er redd for mørket.

He's afraid of the dark.

Confusing for (in front of) with foran. The spatial "in front of" is the separate word foran, not for.

❌ Bilen står for huset.

Incorrect — 'in front of' is 'foran': 'Bilen står foran huset'.

✅ Bilen står foran huset.

The car is parked in front of the house.

Key Takeaways

Before an adjective, for means "too / excessively" (for stor, for sent), intensified to altfor ("far too").
"Ago" is the discontinuous frame for ... siden (for tre dager siden) — both pieces are obligatory.
for marks benefit/sake and reason (for meg, kjent for, takk for), but the recipient of something is til (en gave til deg).
As a conjunction, for = "for / because" — (formal/literary); everyday speech uses fordi.
Several verbs/adjectives govern fixed for: være redd for (afraid of), sørge for (see to). Don't confuse for with the separate word foran (in front of).

Now practice Norwegian

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

Start learning Norwegian→