gjelde is a verb English has no single word for. Depending on the sentence it means "to be valid," "to apply (to)," "to be at stake," or "to be about / concern." It is most alive in a handful of fixed, often impersonal patterns — above all det gjelder ("it's about / it concerns") and når det gjelder ("as for / when it comes to") — and you will meet it constantly in contracts, rules, news, and ordinary conversation. Learn the patterns, not just the gloss.
Conjugation
Class: irregular weak (mixed strong/weak). It takes a vowel-changing preterite gjaldt like a strong verb, but a weak supine gjeldt. Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å gjelde | to apply / concern / be valid |
| Presens | gjelder | applies, concerns, is valid |
| Preteritum | gjaldt | applied, concerned, was valid |
| Perfektum | har gjeldt | has applied / been valid |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde gjeldt | had applied / been valid |
| Futurum | skal/vil gjelde | will apply / be valid |
| Imperativ | (gjeld!) | apply! (rare — see below) |
| Presens partisipp | gjeldende | applicable, current, in force |
det gjelder — the impersonal core
The single most important thing to know about gjelde is that its commonest use is impersonal, with the dummy subject det. Det gjelder X means "it's about X / it concerns X / X is what's at stake." There is no real-world "it" doing anything — det is a placeholder, the way English uses "it" in "it's raining."
This impersonal det gjelder carries weight: it often signals that something serious is on the line. Det gjelder livet is not "it concerns life" in a casual sense — it means "this is a matter of life and death."
Hør nå godt etter — det gjelder livet.
Listen carefully now — this is a matter of life and death.
Hva gjelder det?
What is it about? / What's this regarding?
Det gjelder sønnen din. Han har vært i et uhell.
It's about your son. He's been in an accident.
når det gjelder — "as for / when it comes to"
A second fixed pattern you will use daily: når det gjelder X = "when it comes to X / as for X / regarding X." It frames a topic before you comment on it.
Når det gjelder pris, er denne klart best.
When it comes to price, this one is clearly the best.
Han er flink på jobben, men når det gjelder matlaging, er han håpløs.
He's good at his job, but when it comes to cooking, he's hopeless.
gjelde for — "apply to / be valid for"
With a personal subject, gjelde means "to be valid" or, with the preposition for, "to apply to (someone / something)." A ticket, a rule, an offer, or a passport gjelder. The governed preposition is for when you name who or what is covered.
Billetten gjelder i to timer fra du stempler den.
The ticket is valid for two hours from when you stamp it.
Den nye regelen gjelder for alle ansatte.
The new rule applies to all employees.
Tilbudet gjaldt bare den helgen, så nå er det for sent.
The offer was only valid that weekend, so now it's too late.
Reglene har gjeldt siden januar.
The rules have been in force since January.
Note the everyday adjective gyldig ("valid") next to the participle gjeldende ("current, in force"): a passport that gjelder is gyldig, and the rules currently in force are de gjeldende reglene. They come from the same root, so meeting one helps you remember the other.
gjelde vs handle om — "be about"
When the meaning is "the book / film / story is about X," Norwegian more often uses handle om, while gjelde leans toward "concern / be a matter of / be at stake." Boka handler om krigen ("the book is about the war") describes content; det gjelder krigen ("it concerns the war") flags relevance or stakes. Keep handle om for plots and topics, gjelde for what's at issue.
Common Mistakes
❌ Regelen gjeldte fra i fjor.
Incorrect — the preterite is gjaldt (vowel change), not the weak gjeldte
✅ Regelen gjaldt fra i fjor.
The rule applied from last year.
❌ Reglene har gjaldt siden januar.
Incorrect — gjaldt is the preterite; after har use the supine gjeldt
✅ Reglene har gjeldt siden januar.
The rules have been in force since January.
❌ Gjelder det meg?
Not wrong, but for 'does this apply to me?' Norwegians add 'for'
✅ Gjelder dette for meg?
Does this apply to me?
❌ Filmen gjelder om en familie i Bergen.
Incorrect — for a plot summary use handle om, not gjelde
✅ Filmen handler om en familie i Bergen.
The film is about a family in Bergen.
Key Takeaways
- gjelde / gjelder / gjaldt / har gjeldt — mixed: strong-style preterite gjaldt, weak supine gjeldt.
- Its heart is the impersonal det gjelder ("it's about / it's at stake") and når det gjelder ("as for").
- With for it means "apply to / be valid for": gjelde for alle.
- The related words gyldig (valid) and gjeldende (current, in force) are worth learning alongside it.
- For "the book/film is about…" prefer handle om, not gjelde.
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.
- hende (to happen)B1 — Full conjugation of the weak verb hende (hende / hender / hendte / har hendt), the impersonal det hender ('it happens / sometimes'), the noun en hendelse, and how hende differs from its near-synonym skje.