forklare ("to explain") is one of the workhorse verbs of the classroom, the workplace, and any conversation where someone needs to make something clear. It is a regular weak verb, but it teaches two things at once: how the inseparable prefix for- behaves, and a preposition pattern that English speakers get wrong almost every time — you explain something for noen ("to someone"), not til noen. Lock that down and forklare becomes a reliable everyday tool.
Conjugation
Class: weak, -te / -t on the stem -klar-; inseparable prefix for-. Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å forklare | to explain |
| Presens | forklarer | explain(s) |
| Preteritum | forklarte | explained |
| Perfektum | har forklart | have/has explained |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde forklart | had explained |
| Futurum | skal/vil forklare | will explain |
| Imperativ | forklar! | explain! |
| Presens partisipp | forklarende | explanatory |
| Perfektum partisipp (adj.) | forklart | explained |
The inseparable prefix for-
forklare is built from the prefix for- plus a root tied to klar ("clear") — literally something like "to make clear." The prefix for- is, like an- and be-, an inseparable, unstressed element borrowed from Low German via Danish, and it sits at the head of a large family of common verbs: forstå (understand), forsvinne (disappear), fortelle (tell), forandre (change), forsøke (try). In every one of these the prefix is fused — you never break forstå into «står for» with the explaining meaning.
Because it is fused, you treat the verb as a single weak verb on the stem forklar-. Note the spelling: there is only one for- and the stem keeps its r, so the present is forklarer (with the -er ending stacked on) — not forklar or forklarrer.
A warning about the prefix for-: it is not a unit you can analyse for meaning the way English phrasal verbs can be analysed. forstå is not "stand for," fortelle is not "tell for," and forklare is not "clear for." The Low-German for- often intensifies or transitivises the root, but the result is lexicalised — you learn each verb as a whole word. Treating for- as a meaningful, swappable part is a reliable way to invent verbs that don't exist.
Kan du forklare hvordan dette fungerer?
Can you explain how this works?
Læreren forklarte regelen en gang til.
The teacher explained the rule one more time.
Jeg har allerede forklart dette flere ganger.
I've already explained this several times.
forklare noe for noen — explain TO someone
This is the high-value point on the page. To say you explain something to someone, Norwegian uses the preposition for, not til:
forklare + [thing] + for + [person]
English "to" pushes learners straight toward til, which is wrong here. The logic is that for in Norwegian often marks the audience or beneficiary of an act of communication — you tell, explain, read, or describe something for (in front of, for the benefit of) a person. fortelle for, lese for, beskrive for all work the same way.
Jeg prøvde å forklare problemet for sjefen, men hun skjønte det ikke.
I tried to explain the problem to my boss, but she didn't get it.
Kan du forklare reglene for de nye spillerne?
Can you explain the rules to the new players?
Faren forklarte tålmodig for barnet hvorfor himmelen er blå.
The father patiently explained to the child why the sky is blue.
forklare seg and the noun en forklaring
Two more patterns are worth a line. The reflexive forklare seg means "to explain oneself / account for one's actions," often in a formal or accusatory context: Han måtte forklare seg for politiet ("He had to give an account to the police"). And the action noun is en forklaring ("an explanation"), built with the same -ing suffix you saw on anbefaling.
A near-synonym worth distinguishing is forklare vs forstå: you forklare something to someone so that they forstår ("understand") it. Don't confuse the two prefixed verbs — forklare is the active giving of an explanation, forstå the resulting grasp. And note that forklare leans neutral-to-formal; in very casual speech a Norwegian might just say si hvordan ("say how") or vise ("show") rather than reach for forklare.
Du får forklare deg — hvorfor kom du ikke i går?
You'd better explain yourself — why didn't you come yesterday?
Det finnes en enkel forklaring på alt sammen.
There's a simple explanation for all of it.
Common Mistakes
❌ Kan du forklare det til meg?
Incorrect — explain something TO someone uses for, not til: forklare for meg
✅ Kan du forklare det for meg?
Can you explain it to me?
❌ Læreren forklaret regelen.
Incorrect — the stem is -klar-, so the preterite is forklarte, not forklaret
✅ Læreren forklarte regelen.
The teacher explained the rule.
❌ Jeg har forklarte dette mange ganger.
Incorrect — after har use the supine forklart, not the preterite forklarte
✅ Jeg har forklart dette mange ganger.
I've explained this many times.
❌ Han måtte klare seg for politiet om hva som skjedde.
Incorrect — the verb is forklare seg (account for oneself); the prefix can't be dropped
✅ Han måtte forklare seg for politiet om hva som skjedde.
He had to account to the police for what happened.
Key Takeaways
- forklare / forklarer / forklarte / har forklart / forklar! — weak, on the stem -klar-.
- The prefix for- is inseparable and unstressed (forKLArer); never split it.
- Explain something to someone = forklare noe for noen — use for, not til.
- Supine forklart (no -e) vs preterite forklarte — the standard -t / -te trap.
- forklare seg = account for oneself; the noun is en forklaring.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Weak Verbs: The Four ClassesA2 — A map of the four regular Norwegian past-tense classes (-et/-a, -te, -de, -dde) — how to predict a verb's class from its stem and how the supine differs from the preterite.
- Verb Reference: How to Use These TablesA2 — How to read the Norwegian verb-reference pages — the five principal parts, weak vs strong classes, and the supine (the har-form).
- Prefixed Verbs: be-, for-, an-, unn-B2 — The inseparable, unstressed verb prefixes (mostly Low German) — be- (betale), for- (forstå), an- (anbefale), unn- (unngå), gjen-, mis-, sam- — that fuse to the front of a verb, never separate, and shift its meaning into a more abstract, formal register.
- Danish Influence and Danisms in BokmålC1 — Bokmål descends from written Danish — the legacy of four centuries of union — so its backbone is Danicised: this page maps the Danish substrate (vocabulary doublets like efter/etter historically, the be-/for-/an- loan prefixes from Low German via Danish, the -et participle, soft and silent consonants, spellings reformed away from Danish), shows how conservative Riksmål-style Bokmål leans ever closer to Danish, and gives you the recognition skill that lets you date and place a Norwegian text on a Norwegian–Danish continuum.