fly (to fly) | Norwegian Grammar

fly ("to fly") is a strong verb whose forms an English speaker can almost read off the English cognate — fly / flew / flown lines up neatly with fly / fløy / fløyet — once you get used to the Norwegian diphthong øy standing in for English "ew/ow". It belongs to the y/ju–ø–ø ablaut class (the bryte family), and it carries a useful double life: the very same word et fly is the noun "an aeroplane". This page nails the spelling of fløy and fløyet, places fly against the everyday reise med fly, and gives you the rushing idiom fly av gårde.

Conjugation

Class: strong, ablaut y–øy–øy (the bryte/y–ø–ø family). Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å fly	to fly
Presens	flyr	fly/flies, am/is/are flying
Preteritum	fløy	flew
Perfektum	har fløyet	have/has flown
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde fløyet	had flown
Futurum	skal/vil fly	will fly
Imperativ	fly!	fly!
Presens partisipp	flygende	flying (adjective)

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The whole verb turns on one diphthong: the preterite is fløy and the supine is fløyet — both with øy (ø + y), never plain ø or øi. A frequent slip is writing *fløi or *fløet; the correct sequence is f-l-ø-y, then -et for the supine: fløyet.

The ablaut and the English cognate

fly runs the y → øy → øy path. Its preterite vowel is the class-typical ø, here realised as the diphthong øy:

y: fly, flyr (infinitive and present)
øy: fl*øy* (preterite)
øy: fl*øy*et (supine)

The English cousin is fly / flew / flown. English changed both the vowel (flew) and the participle ending (flown); Norwegian keeps a single øy vowel across preterite and supine and adds the strong-verb supine ending -et. If you hold "fly, flew, flown" in your head and substitute øy for the English "ew/ow", you arrive at fly, fløy, fløyet.

This is the same class as bryte / brøt / brutt and skyte / skjøt / skutt, but fly keeps the diphthong in the supine (fløyet) rather than shortening to -utt — a small irregularity worth memorising, since it breaks the class's usual -utt supine.

Fuglene flyr sørover hver høst.

The birds fly south every autumn.

Vi fløy til Tromsø rett før uværet stengte flyplassen.

We flew to Tromsø just before the storm closed the airport.

Jeg har aldri fløyet i et så lite fly før.

I've never flown in such a small plane before.

et fly — when the verb is also the noun

A small gift for the learner: the noun et fly ("an aeroplane") is spelled exactly like the verb's infinitive. Context tells them apart — an article (et fly, flyet, fly, flyene) or a verb slot is the giveaway.

This matters because the everyday way to say "I'm flying to Oslo" in Norwegian often uses the noun, not the verb: reise/dra med fly ("travel by plane") is at least as common as fly for talking about catching a commercial flight. Jeg flyr til Oslo is perfectly correct and natural, but you will also constantly hear Jeg tar flyet til Oslo and Vi reiser med fly. Use the verb fly freely for the act of flying; reach for ta flyet / reise med fly when you're framing it as a trip.

Flyet til Bergen er forsinket på grunn av tåka.

The flight to Bergen is delayed because of the fog.

Vi reiser med fly til Roma, men tar tog hjem.

We're flying to Rome but taking the train home.

Det står tre fly på rullebanen og venter.

There are three planes on the runway waiting.

Idiom: fly av gårde and other rushing senses

Like English "fly", Norwegian fly extends from literal flight to rushing, hurrying, dashing about:

fly av gårde — to dash off, fly off (set off in a great hurry). Note the spelling av gårde (with å).
fly rundt / fly omkring — to rush around, be all over the place.
tiden flyr — time flies (exactly the English idiom).

There is also a colloquial, vivid idiom fly i flint ("fly into a rage" — literally "fly into flint", which shatters violently when struck), worth recognising though you needn't use it.

Hun fløy av gårde så snart hun hørte at bussen kom.

She flew off the moment she heard the bus coming.

Tiden flyr når man har det gøy.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Jeg har flydd rundt hele dagen og rukket ingenting.

I've been rushing around all day and gotten nothing done.

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You'll meet two supines in the wild: the strong fløyet (the standard, recommended form, "have flown") and a regularised flydd that some speakers use, especially in the "rushed around" sense. For literal flight, stick with fløyet; it's the form examiners and editors expect.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vi flydde til København i går.

Incorrect — fly is strong; the preterite is fløy, not the regularised flydde

✅ Vi fløy til København i går.

We flew to Copenhagen yesterday.

❌ Har du noen gang fløy med SAS?

Incorrect — fløy is the preterite; after har use the supine fløyet

✅ Har du noen gang fløyet med SAS?

Have you ever flown with SAS?

❌ Flyet fløi over byen.

Incorrect — the diphthong is øy, not øi: it's fløy

✅ Flyet fløy over byen.

The plane flew over the city.

❌ Hun flydde av gårde.

Incorrect spelling — the particle is av gårde (with å), and the preterite is fløy

✅ Hun fløy av gårde.

She dashed off.

Key Takeaways

fly / flyr / fløy / har fløyet / fly! — strong, y–øy–øy, mirroring English fly / flew / flown.
Spelling trap: the diphthong is øy — fløy (preterite), fløyet (supine), never *fløi/*fløet.
The noun et fly = "an aeroplane", spelled like the infinitive; for trips, reise med fly / ta flyet are as common as the verb.
Idioms: fly av gårde (dash off), tiden flyr (time flies).

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