This is the conjugation reference for gi, "to give" — a short, extremely common strong verb (not a modal, so unlike the pages around it, it conjugates fully and does have an imperative). It carries two surprises for English speakers: the g is silent, so gi is pronounced roughly "yee," and the verb feeds a rich family of particle idioms — gi opp, gi seg, gi ut — that you cannot guess from "give."
Principal parts
Gi is a strong verb: its past tense is formed by a vowel change, not an -et/-te ending. The preterite is ga (the older, fuller spelling gav is still fully correct and common in writing). The supine is gitt, with a double t.
| Infinitive | Present | Preterite | Perfect (har + supine) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| å gi | gir | ga (also gav) | har gitt | gi! |
| to give | give(s) | gave | have given | give! |
Unlike a modal, gi takes the normal present -r (gir) and has a real imperative (gi!), which is simply the stem.
Kan du gi meg saltet, er du snill?
Can you give me the salt, please?
Hun ga ham en gave til bursdagen.
She gave him a present for his birthday.
Double-object syntax: gi noen noe vs. gi noe til noen
Gi is ditransitive — it can take two objects, a recipient and a thing — and Norwegian, like English, allows two word orders for this. This is one of the verb's most useful patterns to drill.
Order 1 — double object (recipient first, no preposition): gi noen noe
Gi meg boka.
Give me the book.
Læreren ga elevene en oppgave.
The teacher gave the students an assignment.
Order 2 — prepositional, with til (thing first, recipient after til): gi noe til noen
Gi boka til meg.
Give the book to me.
Jeg ga pengene til broren min.
I gave the money to my brother.
The mapping onto English is almost one-to-one: "give me the book" / "give the book to me." The trap is the recipient pronoun's position — in the double-object order it comes straight after the verb (gi meg det), exactly as in English "give me it." Learners coming from languages that force the preposition tend to overuse til; both orders are correct, but gi meg boka is the more natural everyday phrasing.
gi beskjed and other fixed objects
Some objects pair with gi as set expressions. The most common is gi beskjed, "to let (someone) know / give word."
Har du gitt beskjed til sjefen om at du er syk?
Have you let the boss know that you're sick?
Gi meg beskjed når du er framme.
Let me know when you've arrived.
Particle verbs: where gi gets idiomatic
Add a particle and the meaning shifts in ways "give" doesn't predict. These are core vocabulary, not optional extras.
gi opp — to give up, to quit trying:
Ikke gi opp nå — du er nesten i mål!
Don't give up now — you're almost at the finish!
gi seg — to stop, to give in, to let up (note the reflexive seg):
Regnet ga seg endelig etter lunsj.
The rain finally let up after lunch.
Du har rett, jeg gir meg.
You're right, I give in.
gi ut — to publish, to release, to issue:
Forlaget skal gi ut romanen hennes til høsten.
The publisher is releasing her novel this autumn.
gi bort — to give away; gi tilbake — to give back:
Vi ga bort alle de gamle klærne.
We gave away all the old clothes.
Kan du gi meg tilbake pennen min?
Can you give me back my pen?
Note how the reflexive gi seg changes meaning entirely: gi = "give," but gi seg = "stop / give in." Treat each particle combination as its own vocabulary item.
More idioms with gi
Beyond the particles, gi anchors several fixed expressions that are pure vocabulary:
- gi blaffen (i) — not to care / not give a damn (informal): jeg gir blaffen i hva de mener.
- det gir mening — it makes sense: forklaringen gir mening nå.
- gi seg i kast med — to throw oneself into (a task).
Forklaringen gir mening nå som jeg har lest hele kapittelet.
The explanation makes sense now that I've read the whole chapter.
Han ga blaffen i reglene og gjorde det på sin egen måte.
He didn't give a damn about the rules and did it his own way. (informal)
Register and spelling: ga vs. gav
Both preterite spellings are correct: ga is the modern default and dominant in contemporary writing and speech; gav is the older full form, still standard, common in formal and literary prose and among older writers. Choose one and be consistent within a text; ga is the safe everyday choice.
Forfatteren gav i sin tid ut flere diktsamlinger. (formal/literary)
In his day the author published several poetry collections.
The supine is always gitt (double t) and the imperative always gi — neither has a variant to worry about.
Common Mistakes
❌ gi (pronounced with a hard English 'g')
Incorrect — the g is silent; gi sounds like 'yee'.
✅ gi (pronounced 'yee')
to give
❌ Hun givet ham en gave.
Incorrect — gi is strong; the past is ga (or gav), not a -t/-et form.
✅ Hun ga ham en gave.
She gave him a present.
❌ Har du git beskjed?
Incorrect — the supine has a double t: gitt.
✅ Har du gitt beskjed?
Have you let them know?
❌ Gi det til meg det. / Gi til meg boka.
Incorrect — pick one order: double-object or til-order, not a blend.
✅ Gi meg det. / Gi det til meg.
Give me it. / Give it to me.
❌ Ikke gi seg opp! (meaning 'don't give up')
Incorrect — 'give up' is gi opp; gi seg means 'stop / give in'.
✅ Ikke gi opp!
Don't give up!
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Double Objects and Ditransitive VerbsB1 — Verbs like gi, sende and vise take two objects, and Norwegian offers two orders — gi noen noe (recipient first, no preposition) or gi noe til noen (with til) — with a special constraint when both objects are pronouns.
- Particle (Phrasal) VerbsB1 — Verb + stressed particle (partikkelverb) — gi opp, finne ut, slå på — how the particle carries the stress and the meaning, how the object slots in, and how this differs from joined, unstressed prefix verbs.
- 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).
- Strong Verbs: Ablaut and the Vowel-Change ClassesA2 — Strong verbs build the past by changing the stem vowel instead of adding an ending (drikke → drakk → drukket) — the main ablaut series, grouped, with full tables and English cognate hooks.