Subject Pronouns | Norwegian Grammar

Subject pronouns are the words that stand in for the person or thing doing the action — "I," "you," "she," "they." Norwegian's set is small and mostly maps cleanly onto English, with two twists worth your full attention: the word for "it" splits in two depending on grammatical gender (den vs det), and the plural "you" is a separate word (dere) from "they" (de). Get those two things right and the rest is straightforward.

The full set

Norwegian	English	Notes
jeg	I	pronounced "yai"
du	you (singular)	informal, but used with nearly everyone
han	he	also "it" for a male animal
hun	she
den	it	for masculine/feminine (common-gender) nouns
det	it	for neuter nouns; also the "weather/dummy" it
vi	we
dere	you (plural)	"you all" / "you guys"
de	they	pronounced "dee"

Remember that none of these change the verb — jeg er, du er, han er, vi er, de er all use the same er (see No Person Agreement). The pronoun changes; the verb does not.

Jeg er her, hvor er du?

I'm here, where are you?

Han heter Lars, og hun heter Kari.

His name is Lars, and her name is Kari.

Vi drar nå, men dere kan bli.

We're leaving now, but you (all) can stay.

"It" splits by gender: den vs det

This is the one feature with no English equivalent, so spend time on it. English has a single word — "it" — for every inanimate thing. Norwegian has two, chosen by the grammatical gender of the noun being replaced.

Use den for masculine and feminine nouns (together called common gender in many textbooks).
Use det for neuter nouns.

Crucially, this has nothing to do with whether the object is "really" male, female, or a thing. En bil ("a car") is grammatically masculine, so a car is den. Et hus ("a house") is neuter, so a house is det. The choice follows the noun's gender, which you simply learn with the noun.

Liker du bilen? — Ja, den er fin.

Do you like the car? — Yes, it's nice. (bil is common gender → den)

Hvor er huset? — Det ligger der borte.

Where's the house? — It's over there. (hus is neuter → det)

Klokka er ny — den var dyr.

The clock is new — it was expensive. (klokke is common gender → den)

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The trick: when you say "it," first picture the Norwegian noun and its article. En/ei noun → den. Et noun → det. So katten ("the cat," from en katt) is den, but barnet ("the child," from et barn) is det. English "it" hides a gender choice that Norwegian forces you to make.

det as the "dummy" subject

Beyond replacing neuter nouns, det also serves as the empty placeholder subject — the equivalent of English "it" in "it's raining" or "there is." It carries no real meaning here; it just fills the subject slot.

Det regner ute.

It's raining outside.

Det er kaldt i dag.

It's cold today.

Det er noen ved døra.

There's someone at the door. (Norwegian uses 'det er', not 'der er')

Note especially that Norwegian says det er where English says "there is/are." Don't translate "there" literally; use det.

du for almost everyone

In many languages you must choose between a familiar and a polite "you." Modern Norwegian has almost entirely dropped that distinction: du is used with strangers, shopkeepers, your boss, and the prime minister alike. Norway is a strikingly informal society, and reaching for a "polite you" with everyone marks you as a non-native who hasn't read the room.

Unnskyld, vet du hvor stasjonen er?

Excuse me, do you know where the station is? (du even to a stranger)

Kan du sende meg saltet?

Can you pass me the salt?

There is a formal "you," capitalised De (with the object form Dem), historically used to show deference. It is now archaic in everyday life — you'll meet it in old letters, very formal correspondence, or occasionally addressed to the elderly or royalty — but using it in normal conversation sounds stiff and dated. Recognise it; don't reach for it.

(archaic/very formal) Hva ønsker De å bestille?

What would you like to order? — the old polite 'De', rare today.

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Default to du with everyone. The capitalised De ("you," formal) is essentially archaic in spoken Norwegian; using it day-to-day sounds quaint. Note that it's written with a capital D to distinguish it from de ("they").

dere (you-plural) vs de (they) vs De (formal you)

These three look and sound similar, so pin them down now:

dere = "you all" / "you guys" — addressing more than one person.
de = "they" — talking about other people (pronounced "dee").
De = the archaic formal "you," capitalised to tell it apart from de.

Dere må skynde dere, bussen går snart!

You (all) need to hurry, the bus is leaving soon!

De kommer til middag i morgen.

They're coming for dinner tomorrow.

A useful contrast: Dere points at the people you're speaking to; de points at people you're speaking about. English uses "you" for both singular and plural, which is exactly the gap that trips learners up.

han and hun for people (and sometimes animals)

Han ("he") and hun ("she") work just like English for people. With animals, Norwegian often uses den (because the noun is grammatically common-gender), but a pet or a familiar animal frequently gets han or hun based on its actual sex — just as an English speaker says "he" about the family dog.

Hunden vår er gammel, men han er fortsatt sprek.

Our dog is old, but he's still spry.

Katten sover — den ligger i sofaen.

The cat is sleeping — it's lying on the sofa.

Common Mistakes

❌ Bilen er fin. Det er rød.

Incorrect — 'det' used for a common-gender noun.

✅ Bilen er fin. Den er rød.

The car is nice. It's red.

Bil is common gender, so its "it" is den, not det. English speakers default to one "it" and reach for det — but you must match the noun's gender.

❌ Huset er stort. Den er hvitt.

Incorrect — 'den' used for a neuter noun.

✅ Huset er stort. Det er hvitt.

The house is big. It's white.

Hus is neuter, so its "it" is det. The choice runs in both directions — neuter nouns take det.

❌ De må skynde dere — bussen går!

Incorrect — 'de' (they) used to address the people you're speaking to.

✅ Dere må skynde dere — bussen går!

You (all) need to hurry — the bus is leaving!

Addressing a group is dere, not de. De would mean "they" — some other people, not the ones you're talking to.

❌ Der er noen på kjøkkenet.

Incorrect — English 'there' translated literally.

✅ Det er noen på kjøkkenet.

There's someone in the kitchen.

Norwegian "there is/are" is det er, using the dummy subject det — never der (which means the location "there").

Key Takeaways

The subject pronouns: jeg, du, han, hun, den/det, vi, dere, de. None of them changes the verb.
"It" splits by gender: den for common-gender nouns (bilen → den), det for neuter (huset → det).
det is also the dummy subject for weather and "there is/are" (det regner; det er noen her).
du is used with nearly everyone; the formal De is archaic.
Don't confuse dere (you-plural, those you address) with de (they, those you discuss).

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