holde (to hold/keep) | Norwegian Grammar

holde ("to hold / to keep") is one of the most idiomatically rich verbs in Norwegian. The bare verb means to hold something in your grip or to keep something in a state, but the real reason to study it is its particle combinations: holde på alone gives you the language's main way of saying "to be in the middle of doing something." This page lays out the conjugation, then walks through the idioms that make holde so useful — and so easy to get wrong.

Conjugation

Class: strong. The past keeps the vowel o and adds -t: holde → holdt. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å holde	to hold, to keep
Presens	holder	hold(s)/keep(s), am/is/are holding
Preteritum	holdt	held, kept
Perfektum	har holdt	have/has held/kept
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde holdt	had held/kept
Futurum	skal/vil holde	will hold/keep
Imperativ	hold!	hold!, keep!
Presens partisipp	holdende	holding (adjective)
Passiv (infinitiv)	å holdes	to be held/kept (s-passive)

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The preterite and the supine are identical here: both are holdt. So jeg holdt ("I held") and jeg har holdt ("I have held") use the same word — the difference is only whether har/hadde is present. Note the silent d: holdt is written with -ld- but pronounced roughly "holt."

The cognate, and the strong pattern

English hold / held / held is strong, and Norwegian holde / holdt / holdt matches that shape exactly: a single special past form doing double duty as preterite and supine. Where English changes the vowel (hold → held), Norwegian keeps the o and signals the past with -t on the -ld- stem. So your English instinct ("this verb is irregular, and its past = its participle") transfers perfectly; you just keep the Norwegian vowel.

The pronunciation deserves a moment, because the spelling hides it. In holdt the d is silent, so the word comes out roughly like "holt" — and since the present holder also has a soft, barely-there d, the whole paradigm sounds smoother than it looks on the page. Do not let the silent d tempt you into dropping it in writing, though: holdt keeps -ld-, and a spelling like *holt or the weak-looking *holdte is wrong. This is the single most common slip with the verb, and the Common Mistakes section returns to it.

Kan du holde døra for meg? Hendene mine er fulle.

Can you hold the door for me? My hands are full.

Hun holdt en tale i bryllupet som fikk alle til å gråte.

She gave a speech at the wedding that made everyone cry.

Vi har holdt kontakten i tjue år nå.

We've kept in touch for twenty years now.

Core senses

holde spreads across several meanings that English splits between "hold" and "keep":

to hold / grip: holde en kopp — hold a cup.
to keep / maintain a state: holde det varmt — keep it warm; holde orden — keep order.
to give / hold (an event): holde en tale, holde et møte, holde fest — give a speech, hold a meeting, throw a party. (Norwegian uses holde where English uses "give/hold/throw" depending on the noun.)
to keep a promise: holde et løfte — keep a promise; Jeg holder ord — "I keep my word."

Vi holder fest på lørdag — du er hjertelig velkommen!

We're throwing a party on Saturday — you're very welcome!

Han lovte å hjelpe, og han holdt løftet.

He promised to help, and he kept his promise.

holde på — the key idiom

This is the construction worth the price of admission. holde på has two related senses:

holde på med (noe) — to be busy with, be in the middle of (a thing): Jeg holder på med leksene — "I'm doing my homework (right now)."
holde på å (gjøre noe) — to be in the middle of doing something, OR, depending on context, to be on the verge of / nearly do something: Jeg holdt på å falle — "I almost fell."

Norwegian has no progressive tense ("I am -ing"), so holde på (å) is one of the main ways to express that an action is ongoing right now.

Hva holder du på med? Jeg holder på å lage middag.

What are you up to? I'm in the middle of making dinner.

Jeg holdt på å glemme nøklene — godt du minnet meg på det!

I almost forgot my keys — good thing you reminded me!

De har holdt på med oppussingen i et halvt år.

They've been working on the renovation for half a year.

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holde på å gjøre takes the infinitive marker å — never og. The two are pronounced almost identically, so even Norwegians mistype "holde på og gjøre," but it is wrong: the slot after holde på is an infinitive (å gjøre), not a second main verb. When the object is a noun rather than an action, use med instead: holde på med leksene.

More particle idioms

holde med (noen) — to agree with someone. Jeg holder med deg = "I agree with you."
holde ut — to endure, put up with, last. Jeg orker ikke holde ut lenger = "I can't stand it any longer."
holde opp — to stop, quit (an activity). Hold opp! = "Stop it!"
holde fast (på/ved) — to hold on tight; figuratively, to stick to (a view, a plan).
holde seg — to keep (oneself) in a state; also "to keep / not go off" (of food), and "to hold it" (need the toilet). Maten holder seg i kjøleskapet = "the food keeps in the fridge."

Der holder jeg med deg — vi bør utsette møtet.

There I agree with you — we should postpone the meeting.

Hvordan holder du ut med all den støyen?

How do you put up with all that noise?

Hold fast i rekkverket når du går ned trappa.

Hold on to the railing when you go down the stairs.

Melka holder seg ikke så lenge i varmen.

The milk doesn't keep that long in the heat.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg holder på og lage mat.

Incorrect — after 'holde på' the infinitive needs å, not og

✅ Jeg holder på å lage mat.

I'm in the middle of making food.

❌ Han holdte talen i går.

Incorrect — holde is strong; the preterite is holdt, not 'holdte'

✅ Han holdt talen i går.

He gave the speech yesterday.

❌ Jeg er enig med deg om det.

Acceptable, but to say 'I agree' the idiom is 'holde med'

✅ Jeg holder med deg om det.

I agree with you about that.

❌ Vi har hold møtet allerede.

Incorrect — the supine is holdt, with the final -t

✅ Vi har holdt møtet allerede.

We've already held the meeting.

Key Takeaways

holde / holder / holdt / har holdt / hold! — strong; preterite and supine are the same word, holdt.
holde covers English "hold," "keep," "give/throw (an event)," and "keep (a promise)."
holde på (å …) is a main way to say "be in the middle of -ing" or "almost"; the marker is å, not og.
Learn the idioms: holde med (agree), holde ut (endure), holde opp (stop), holde fast (hold on), holde seg (keep).

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