huske (to remember) | Norwegian Grammar

Huske is the everyday verb "to remember" — to retain or recall something in your mind. It is the natural partner of glemme ("to forget"), and the two are best learned as a pair. Grammatically it is one of the friendliest verbs in Norwegian: a regular weak Class 1 verb, whose endings (-et throughout the past) you can apply on autopilot once you know the class. The one thing to watch is that huske is also a noun meaning a playground swing — same spelling, unrelated meaning.

Conjugation

Class: weak, Class 1 (preterite -et, supine -et). Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å huske	to remember
Presens	husker	remember(s)
Preteritum	husket	remembered
Perfektum	har husket	have/has remembered
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde husket	had remembered
Futurum	skal/vil huske	will remember
Imperativ	husk!	remember!
Presens partisipp	huskende	remembering (adjective)

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Class 1 is the easy class: the preterite and the supine are identical — both husket. So jeg husket ("I remembered") and jeg har husket ("I have remembered") share the same word. Contrast its pair-verb glemme, which is Class 2 (glemte / glemt) — so the two halves of "remember/forget" actually sit in different conjugation classes.

Sense: remember / recall

Huske takes a direct object (a thing, a name, a moment) or an at-clause / question word. The English range "remember, recall, recollect" all map onto it.

Husker du navnet på hotellet vi bodde på i Roma?

Do you remember the name of the hotel we stayed at in Rome?

Jeg husket plutselig at jeg hadde glemt nøklene hjemme.

I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten my keys at home.

Hun husker ikke hvor hun la mobilen.

She doesn't remember where she put her phone.

Vi har alltid husket bursdagen din — i år glemte vi den dessverre.

We've always remembered your birthday — this year we sadly forgot it.

huske på — keep in mind / remember to

The phrasal huske på adds the sense "keep in mind," "remember to," "not forget." Before a verb it pairs with å: huske på å + infinitive = "remember to (do)." This å is obligatory and is the most common place English speakers slip.

Husk på å ta med passet — vi reiser utenlands.

Remember to bring your passport — we're travelling abroad.

Du må huske på at hun ikke spiser kjøtt.

You have to keep in mind that she doesn't eat meat.

Jeg prøver å huske på alle som hjalp meg den gangen.

I try to keep in mind everyone who helped me back then.

Note the difference from English: plain huske is "remember (a fact)," while huske på leans toward "bear in mind / not let slip" — often about a future obligation. Husk å ringe! and Husk på å ringe! both mean "Remember to call!"; the på version stresses "don't let it slip your mind."

huske vs glemme — the remember/forget pair

These two are mirror images, and learners gain a lot by drilling them together. Note that they belong to different weak classes, so their past tenses look different even though the verbs are siblings in meaning.

Verb	Meaning	Class	Preterite	Supine
huske	remember	Class 1	husket	husket
glemme	forget	Class 2	glemte	glemt

Jeg husker ansiktet hennes, men jeg har glemt navnet.

I remember her face, but I've forgotten the name.

Husk å låse døra, så slipper du å angre på at du glemte det.

Remember to lock the door, so you won't regret having forgotten it.

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A memory hook for the spelling: huske is Class 1, so its past is the lazy, all-the-same husket / husket; glemme is Class 2, so it takes the crisper glemte / glemt. The double m in glemme is the visual cue that it's Class 2.

Homonym: ei/en huske = a swing

Identical in spelling, unrelated in meaning: ei huske (also en huske) is the playground swing — the seat on chains that children swing on. As a noun it has its own forms (huska / husken "the swing," husker "swings"), and there is even a verb huske "to swing (on a swing)." Context makes the difference obvious, but it is worth recognising so a sentence about a playground doesn't confuse you.

Barna sitter på huska i parken.

The kids are sitting on the swing in the park.

Han husket henne så høyt at hun skrek av glede.

He swung her so high that she shrieked with joy. (the 'swing' verb, not 'remember')

The second sentence shows the trap perfectly: out of context han husket henne could read as "he remembered her" — only the situation tells you it is the swing. Both are entirely correct Norwegian.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg husket å ringe deg, men glemte tiden.

(grammar ok, but watch the wrong-class temptation:) the preterite is husket, not *huskte.

✅ Jeg husket å ringe deg, men glemte tiden.

I remembered to call you, but lost track of time.

❌ Husk ta med passet.

Incorrect — 'remember to do' needs å: husk å ta / husk på å ta.

✅ Husk å ta med passet.

Remember to bring your passport.

❌ Jeg har huskt navnet hennes.

Incorrect supine — Class 1 takes -et: husket, not *huskt.

✅ Jeg har husket navnet hennes.

I've remembered her name.

❌ Husker du å låse døra?

If you mean a future reminder, prefer 'husk å'; 'husker du' asks whether you recall doing it.

✅ Husk å låse døra.

Remember to lock the door.

Key Takeaways

huske / husker / husket / har husket / husk! — weak Class 1 (preterite and supine both husket).
Its pair-verb glemme ("forget") is Class 2 (glemte / glemt) — different class, different endings.
huske på = keep in mind / remember to; huske på å
- infinitive (keep the å).
Homonym alert: ei/en huske is a playground swing (and there's a verb huske "to swing").

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