gripe (to grab/seize) | Norwegian Grammar

gripe ("to grab, seize, grip") is a strong verb of the i–e family, conjugating gripe / grep / grepet. Beyond physically grabbing something, it carries a strong figurative load: you seize an opportunity, you intervene in a situation, a story grips you emotionally. It also gives Norwegian the noun et grep ("a grip, a hold, a move/measure"). The verb belongs to the same pattern as skrike, bite and bli, where the i of the infinitive becomes e in both the preterite and the supine.

Conjugation

Class: strong, ablaut i–e–e. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å gripe	to grab / seize
Presens	griper	grab(s), seize(s)
Preteritum	grep	grabbed, seized
Perfektum	har grepet	have/has grabbed
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde grepet	had grabbed
Futurum	skal/vil gripe	will grab
Imperativ	grip!	grab!
Presens partisipp	gripende	gripping, moving (adjective)
Passiv (infinitiv)	å gripes	to be grabbed / seized

💡

Here the vowel changes but the consonant pattern is the giveaway: the preterite grep has a single p, while the supine grepet adds -et to that same single-p stem. Both have e; don't be tempted to write greppet with a double p — it's grepet, one p.

The ablaut and the form to watch

gripe follows the i → e → e pattern, where preterite and supine share the same vowel:

i: gripe, griper
e: grep (preterite)
e: grepet (supine)

There is a faint English echo — gripe is cognate with English "grip" and "grab" via the old Germanic root — but English "grip" is a weak verb (grip/gripped), so it offers no help with the strong vowels. You learn grep and grepet as fixed forms. The most common learner error is regularising the verb to gripet (weak), so anchor the single, correct preterite grep firmly.

Hun griper telefonen så snart den ringer.

She grabs the phone as soon as it rings.

Han grep tak i rekkverket for ikke å falle.

He grabbed hold of the railing so he wouldn't fall.

Politiet har grepet inn flere ganger i kveld.

The police have intervened several times tonight.

gripe inn and gripe fatt i — intervene and take hold of

Two particle/prepositional idioms do a lot of work:

gripe inn means "to intervene, step in" — to take action in a situation that is going wrong.

Læreren måtte gripe inn da krangelen ble stygg.

The teacher had to step in when the argument turned nasty.

gripe fatt i means "to take hold of, to tackle (a problem), to get to grips with."

Vi må gripe fatt i problemet før det vokser.

We have to tackle the problem before it grows.

Regjeringen har grepet fatt i klimaspørsmålet.

The government has taken hold of the climate issue.

gripe sjansen and figurative uses

gripe sjansen / gripe muligheten — "to seize the chance / opportunity." This is the standard collocation; you grip an opportunity in Norwegian just as you "seize" it in English.

Da sjefen sluttet, grep hun sjansen til å søke jobben.

When the boss quit, she seized the chance to apply for the job.

💡

Notice that Norwegian "grips" abstract things English would "seize" or "take": gripe sjansen, gripe muligheten, gripe makten ("seize power"), gripe ordet ("take the floor / start speaking"). When in doubt about an opportunity or a turn to speak, gripe is usually the verb — not ta.

The present participle gripende has become an adjective in its own right, meaning "moving, touching, gripping" (of a film, a story, a speech):

Det var en gripende tale — flere i salen gråt.

It was a moving speech — several people in the hall cried.

Note the related noun et grep ("a grip, a hold," and figuratively "a measure, a move, a knack"): Det var et smart grep = "That was a clever move."

Common Mistakes

❌ Han gripet ballen i siste sekund.

Incorrect — gripe is strong; the preterite is grep, not gripet

✅ Han grep ballen i siste sekund.

He grabbed the ball at the last second.

❌ Jeg har grep sjansen.

Incorrect — grep is the preterite; after har use the supine grepet

✅ Jeg har grepet sjansen.

I've seized the chance.

❌ Vi har greppet fatt i saken.

Incorrect — the supine is grepet with one p, not greppet

✅ Vi har grepet fatt i saken.

We've taken hold of the matter.

❌ Politiet måtte gripe in.

Incorrect — the particle in 'intervene' is inn (double n), not in

✅ Politiet måtte gripe inn.

The police had to intervene.

Key Takeaways

gripe / griper / grep / har grepet / grip! — strong, i–e–e (preterite and supine share the vowel e).
Spelling: one p throughout the past forms — grep, grepet, never greppet; the common learner slip is the weak gripet (wrong).
gripe inn = intervene; gripe fatt i = take hold of / tackle; gripe sjansen = seize the chance.
gripende (adjective) = moving / gripping; et grep (noun) = a grip / a clever move.

Now practice Norwegian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Norwegian→