kaste ("to throw") is the verb every Norwegian course should teach first when it comes to the past tense — not because throwing is so common, but because kaste is the model of weak Class 1, the single largest and most regular conjugation class in the language. Learn its forms and you have a template for hundreds of verbs. On top of that, kaste anchors a handful of everyday idioms (kaste opp, kaste bort, kaste seg, kaste ut) that no learner can do without.
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (-et / -et; colloquial -a / -a). Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å kaste | to throw |
| Presens | kaster | throw(s), am/is/are throwing |
| Preteritum | kastet (also kasta) | threw |
| Perfektum | har kastet (also har kasta) | have/has thrown |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde kastet | had thrown |
| Futurum | skal/vil kaste | will throw |
| Imperativ | kast! | throw! |
| Presens partisipp | kastende | throwing (adjective) |
The model weak Class 1 verb
Class 1 forms its past by adding -et to the stem in both the preterite and the supine. kaste → stem kast- → kastet. That is the whole rule.
Class 1 is the default weak class and the one most verbs whose stem ends in a consonant cluster fall into: vaske → vasket (wash), hoppe → hoppet (jump), snakke → snakket (talk), jobbe → jobbet (work), danse → danset (dance). When you meet a new regular verb and have no other information, guessing Class 1 is your best bet — and crucially, almost every newly borrowed verb joins Class 1: å google → googlet, å chatte → chattet, å logge → logget. The class is still alive and productive, which is exactly why it's the safe default.
A note for English speakers: kaste has no English cognate to lean on (English "cast" comes from the very same Old Norse kasta, but the everyday English word is "throw"). So unlike strong verbs such as finne (find) or drikke (drink), where your English instinct helps, here you simply learn the regular Class 1 forms — which is the easy case anyway.
Han kaster ballen til broren sin.
He throws the ball to his brother.
Jeg kastet feil og knuste en rute.
I threw badly and broke a window.
Har du kastet søpla ennå?
Have you thrown out the rubbish yet?
The colloquial -a variant: kasta
There is a fully correct alternative you must know about. In radical Bokmål and in everyday speech across most of the country, Class 1 verbs take -a instead of -et: kasta (preterite) and har kasta (supine). This is not slang or an error — it is standard, sanctioned Bokmål, and it is what most Norwegians actually say: jeg kasta, vi snakka, hun jobba.
The split is one of register and identity, not correctness. The -et forms read as more conservative, written, and formal; the -a forms as more colloquial, spoken, and modern (and, historically, associated with the labour movement). For learners the practical advice is: be consistent. Pick -et for neutral writing and exams, or -a to sound natural in speech — but don't mix kasta and snakket in the same sentence.
Jeg kasta hele greia i søpla og glemte det.
I chucked the whole thing in the bin and forgot about it.
Vi snakka om det i går, men kom ikke fram til noe.
We talked about it yesterday, but didn't reach any conclusion.
Idioms with kaste
kaste combines with particles to make several non-literal expressions you should learn whole:
- kaste opp — to vomit, throw up. Jeg holder på å kaste opp = "I'm about to be sick."
- kaste bort — to waste (time, money, effort). Ikke kast bort tida = "Don't waste your time."
- kaste ut — to throw out / kick out (a person), or to throw away. De kastet ham ut = "They threw him out."
- kaste seg (reflexive) — to throw oneself, fling oneself. Han kastet seg på sykkelen = "He jumped on his bike."
- kaste seg ut i — to throw oneself into, dive headlong into (a task, an adventure).
Jeg ble sjøsyk og kastet opp over rekka.
I got seasick and threw up over the railing.
Ikke kast bort pengene på noe du aldri kommer til å bruke.
Don't waste your money on something you'll never use.
Hun kastet seg ut i prosjektet uten å nøle.
She threw herself into the project without hesitating.
Vakta kastet de fulle gjestene ut klokka tre.
The bouncer threw the drunk guests out at three o'clock.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg kaste ballen i går.
Incorrect — the present/infinitive stem can't carry past meaning; use kastet or kasta
✅ Jeg kastet ballen i går.
I threw the ball yesterday.
❌ Vi snakte om det.
Incorrect — snakke is Class 1, not Class 2; the preterite is snakket (or snakka)
✅ Vi snakket om det.
We talked about it.
❌ Han har kast søpla.
Incorrect — the supine needs the -et/-a ending: har kastet / har kasta
✅ Han har kastet søpla.
He has thrown out the rubbish.
❌ Jeg må kaste meg opp, jeg er kvalm.
Incorrect — 'throw up' (vomit) is kaste opp, with no reflexive seg
✅ Jeg må kaste opp, jeg er kvalm.
I have to throw up, I feel sick.
Key Takeaways
- kaste / kaster / kastet / har kastet / kast! — the model weak Class 1 verb (-et / -et).
- Preterite and supine are identical: kastet in both.
- kasta / har kasta is fully correct radical Bokmål — natural in speech; stay consistent.
- Class 1 is the default guess for new regular verbs (vaske, hoppe, snakke, jobbe).
- Learn the idioms whole: kaste opp (vomit), kaste bort (waste), kaste ut (throw out), kaste seg (fling oneself).
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.
- Weak Class 1: -et / -a (kaste)A2 — The largest weak verb class — preterite and supine both in -et (kaste → kastet → har kastet) — and the fully correct colloquial -a variant (kasta, snakka).