høre (to hear) | Norwegian Grammar

høre ("to hear") is one of the core perception verbs, and it carries a rich cluster of particle idioms — høre på, høre til, høre etter, høre hjemme — that go far beyond plain hearing. It is a weak Class 2 verb, which means its past tenses use -te / -t (not the -et of Class 1). The single most important thing to get right is the ø: it runs through every single form, and a missing or mistyped ø is a spelling error, not a typo.

Conjugation

Class: weak, Class 2 (-te / -t). Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å høre	to hear
Presens	hører	hear(s), am/is/are hearing
Preteritum	hørte	heard
Perfektum	har hørt	have/has heard
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde hørt	had heard
Futurum	skal/vil høre	will hear
Imperativ	hør!	hear! / listen!
Presens partisipp	hørende	hearing (adjective)

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Class 2 splits its two past forms: the preterite takes -te (hørte) and the supine takes -t (hørt) — different endings, unlike Class 1 where both are the same. So it's jeg hørte ("I heard") but jeg har hørt ("I have heard"). Every form keeps the ø: høre, hører, hørte, hørt, hør.

How the conjugation works

The stem is hør-. Class 2 forms the preterite with -te → hørte, and the supine with -t → hørt. This split is the defining feature of Class 2 and the thing English speakers most often get wrong, because they over-apply the -et ending of Class 1 verbs like jobbe and lage. There is no hørtet and no høret — the forms are hørte and hørt, full stop.

Why -te and not -et? As a rule of thumb, verb stems ending in a voiced consonant or a long vowel tend to take Class 2 -te/-t, while many others take Class 1 -et. The pattern is not perfectly predictable, so the safest route is to learn the class together with the verb. For høre, lock in hørte / hørt.

The ø is non-negotiable. Hore (without the slash) is a different, vulgar word — so this is a case where the diacritic genuinely changes the meaning. Type it carefully every time.

Jeg hører at noen banker på døra.

I hear someone knocking on the door.

Hørte du hva han sa? Jeg fikk ikke med meg slutten.

Did you hear what he said? I didn't catch the end.

Har du hørt den nye sangen til Aurora?

Have you heard Aurora's new song?

Hør her, vi må snakke sammen.

Listen, we need to talk.

The particle idioms

høre anchors a set of fixed combinations that you must learn as units, since several are non-literal:

høre på — to listen to (deliberately give your attention to a sound). Jeg hører på radio = "I'm listening to the radio." Plain høre is passive ("hear"); høre på is active ("listen to").
høre etter — to pay attention, listen properly (often what a parent tells a child). Hør etter når jeg snakker! = "Pay attention when I'm talking!"
høre til — to belong to (a group, category, owner). Dette hører til fortiden = "This belongs to the past."
høre hjemme — to belong (in a place), to have one's rightful place. Sånt språk hører ikke hjemme her = "Language like that has no place here."
høre fra — to hear from (someone). Jeg håper å høre fra deg snart.

Jeg hører på en podkast mens jeg lager mat.

I listen to a podcast while I cook.

Du må høre etter, ellers går du glipp av det viktige.

You have to pay attention, otherwise you'll miss the important part.

Disse bøkene hører til på øverste hylle.

These books belong on the top shelf.

Det var hyggelig å høre fra deg igjen.

It was nice to hear from you again.

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Mind the gap between høre (passive perception — sound reaches your ears) and høre på (active attention — you deliberately listen). Jeg hører deg = "I can hear you"; jeg hører på deg = "I'm listening to you." Adding på is what turns hearing into listening.

høre vs lytte

Both can translate "listen," but they are not equals:

høre / høre på — the ordinary, everyday verb. Høre alone is the passive perception ("hear"); add på and you get the normal "listen to." This is what people say in nine cases out of ten.
lytte — to listen attentively, to listen with focus and care (more formal/elevated). Lytte foregrounds concentration and is common in careful or emotional contexts: lytte til hjertet sitt ("listen to your heart"), en god lytter ("a good listener"). lytte is itself Class 2: lytte / lytter / lyttet / har lyttet — note it takes -et, an exception to the Class 2 tendency.

In short: to say "I'm listening to music," reach for jeg hører på musikk. Save lytte for when the attentiveness itself is the point.

Legen lyttet tålmodig til alle bekymringene mine.

The doctor listened patiently to all my worries.

Vi må lære å lytte til hverandre.

We have to learn to listen to one another.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg har høret om det.

Incorrect — Class 2 supine is 'hørt', not 'høret'

✅ Jeg har hørt om det.

I've heard about it.

❌ Jeg hørte musikk hele kvelden.

Misleading — plain 'høre' is passive 'hear'; for 'listen to' use 'høre på'

✅ Jeg hørte på musikk hele kvelden.

I listened to music all evening.

❌ Jeg horer ikke hva du sier.

Incorrect — the stem keeps ø throughout: hører, not horer

✅ Jeg hører ikke hva du sier.

I can't hear what you're saying.

❌ Hørtet du det?

Incorrect — the preterite is 'hørte', not 'hørtet'

✅ Hørte du det?

Did you hear that?

Key Takeaways

høre / hører / hørte / har hørt / hør! — weak Class 2, with split endings -te (preterite) and -t (supine).
Keep the ø everywhere — without the slash it becomes an unrelated vulgar word.
høre alone = passive "hear"; høre på = active "listen to."
Learn the idioms whole: høre på, høre etter, høre til, høre hjemme, høre fra.
lytte is the attentive, more formal "listen"; reserve it for when focus is the point.

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