When you want information rather than a plain yes or no, you front a question word. Norwegian's question words form a tidy family that nearly all begin with hv- — and, helpfully, they line up almost one-to-one with English "wh-" words. This page covers each word, the two pronunciation traps, the inversion that follows fronting, and the two genuinely tricky points: hvor doubling as "how", and hvilken changing shape to agree with its noun.
The hv- family and the silent h
Here is the full inventory:
| Word | Meaning | Pronounced roughly |
|---|---|---|
| hva | what | "va" |
| hvem | who / whom | "vem" |
| hvor | where; how (+ adjective/adverb) | "vor" |
| hvorfor | why | "vor-for" |
| hvordan | how (manner) | "vor-dan" |
| når | when | "nor" |
| hvilken / hvilket / hvilke | which | "vil-ken" etc. |
Two things to lock in immediately. First, the h is silent in every hv- word — you say "va", "vem", "vor". The spelling keeps an h that the mouth ignores. Second, når ("when") is the odd one out: it has no hv- at all, and its å is pronounced like the "o" in English "more".
Hva gjør du?
What are you doing?
Hvem er det?
Who is that?
Når kommer du?
When are you coming?
Inversion: the verb follows the question word
Fronting the question word is only half the job. After it, you must invert — verb before subject — just as in a yes/no question. The pattern is: hv-word + verb + subject + (rest). This is the V2 rule again: the question word fills first position, the finite verb must be second.
Hvor bor du?
Where do you live?
Hvorfor gråter barnet?
Why is the child crying?
Hva sa han?
What did he say?
English speakers often forget this inversion because English subject questions ("Who called?") look like statements. Keep the verb in second position and you will be right.
hva — what
Hva is "what". It can be the object, the subject, or stand after a preposition (Norwegian usually strands the preposition at the end — see the preposition-stranding page).
Hva heter du?
What is your name? (lit. What are you called?)
Hva snakker dere om?
What are you talking about?
To ask "what kind of", Norwegian uses hva slags or hva for en/ei/et (informal): Hva slags musikk liker du? ("What kind of music do you like?").
hvem — who / whom
Hvem covers both English "who" and "whom". Norwegian does not distinguish them — the same form works as subject and object.
Hvem ringte deg?
Who called you?
Hvem snakket du med?
Who(m) did you talk to?
To say "whose", use hvem sin / hvem sitt / hvem sine in speech (informal) or the genitive hvems (more formal/written): Hvem sin bil er det? / Hvems bil er det? ("Whose car is that?").
hvor — where, and "how" before an adjective
This is the single most important point on the page. hvor means "where" on its own — but in front of an adjective or adverb it means "how".
Hvor er du?
Where are you?
Hvor gammel er han?
How old is he?
Hvor mye koster det?
How much does it cost?
Hvor ofte trener du?
How often do you exercise?
So "how old", "how much", "how many", "how far", "how often" all start with hvor: hvor gammel, hvor mye, hvor mange, hvor langt, hvor ofte. The word hvordan is not used here. Hvordan means "how" only in the sense of in what manner.
| English "how" | Norwegian |
|---|---|
| How are you? (manner/state) | Hvordan har du det? |
| How did you do it? (manner) | Hvordan gjorde du det? |
| How old / big / much / many (+ adjective) | Hvor gammel / stor / mye / mange |
hvorfor — why, and hvordan — how (manner)
Hvorfor is "why" and is transparent: it is literally hvor + for ("where-for", like archaic English "wherefore").
Hvorfor lærer du norsk?
Why are you learning Norwegian?
Hvordan kom du deg hit?
How did you get here?
når — when
Når asks about time. (As a subordinating conjunction it also means "when" in statements, but as a question word here it simply means "at what time".)
Når åpner butikken?
When does the shop open?
hvilken / hvilket / hvilke — which (with agreement)
Hvilken means "which", and unlike the other question words it agrees with the noun it asks about — in gender and number, just like an article or adjective. This is the one place where a Norwegian question word changes shape.
| Form | Used with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hvilken | masculine / feminine singular | hvilken bil (which car), hvilken jente (which girl) |
| hvilket | neuter singular | hvilket hus (which house) |
| hvilke | plural (all genders) | hvilke bøker (which books) |
Hvilken bil liker du best?
Which car do you like best?
Hvilket land kommer du fra?
Which country are you from?
Hvilke språk snakker du?
Which languages do you speak?
The choice mirrors the en / ei / et gender of the noun: en bil → hvilken bil; et hus → hvilket hus; plural → hvilke. In casual speech many Norwegians sidestep the whole agreement issue with hva for en / hva for et / hva for noen ("what for a", structurally like German was für ein) — Hva for en bil? (informal). It means the same as hvilken bil? and avoids picking a form.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hvordan gammel er du?
Incorrect — 'how' before an adjective is hvor, not hvordan.
✅ Hvor gammel er du?
How old are you?
The flagship error. "How + adjective/adverb" is always hvor: hvor gammel, hvor mye, hvor mange.
❌ Hvor du bor?
Incorrect — no inversion; the verb must follow the question word.
✅ Hvor bor du?
Where do you live?
After fronting an hv-word, invert: question word, then verb, then subject.
❌ Hvilke bil er din?
Incorrect — 'bil' is singular common gender, so it needs hvilken, not the plural hvilke.
✅ Hvilken bil er din?
Which car is yours?
Hvilken/hvilket/hvilke must agree with the noun's gender and number.
❌ Hva gjør du? – pronounced 'hwa'
Incorrect pronunciation — the h is silent; say 'va', not 'hwa'.
✅ Hva gjør du? – pronounced 'va'
What are you doing?
The h in every hv- word is silent. Pronouncing it marks you instantly as a beginner.
❌ Hvår kommer toget?
Incorrect — 'when' is når, with å and no hv-; don't model it on the hv- words.
✅ Når kommer toget?
When does the train come?
Når breaks the pattern: no hv-, and it is spelled with å.
Key Takeaways
- Question words start with hv- (silent h); når is the exception (no hv-, spelled with å).
- After fronting, always invert: hv-word + verb + subject.
- hvor = "where" alone, but "how" before an adjective/adverb (hvor gammel, hvor mye).
- hvordan = "how" only in the sense of manner.
- hvilken / hvilket / hvilke agree with the noun (common / neuter / plural).
Now practice Norwegian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Questions with Prepositions (Stranding)B1 — When a Norwegian question targets the object of a preposition, the preposition stays stranded at the end of the clause — Hvem snakker du med? — never fronted as 'with whom'.
- Embedded and Indirect QuestionsB2 — How indirect questions take subordinate (no-inversion) word order, use om for embedded yes/no, and require som when the wh-word is the subject (jeg vet ikke hvem som ringte).
- Silent LettersA2 — Norwegian's systematic silent letters — silent d, the -ig ending, the hv- question words, and the silent -t of det and the neuter definite — with rules of thumb and the errors English speakers make.
- Questions: OverviewA1 — How Norwegian builds questions — yes/no questions by putting the verb first, hv-questions by fronting a question word, and why there is no English-style 'do'.