kjenne is one of three Norwegian verbs that all land on the single English word "know" — the others being vite and kunne — and it covers a slice English does not even file under "knowing": physical feeling. kjenne is the verb for being acquainted with a person or place, and for sensing something with your body (a smell, a pain, the cold). It is a clean weak Class 2 verb (-te / -t), and it opens with the famously tricky Norwegian kj-sound.
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 2 (-te / -t). Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å kjenne | to know / feel |
| Presens | kjenner | know(s) / feel(s) |
| Preteritum | kjente | knew / felt |
| Perfektum | har kjent | have/has known / felt |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde kjent | had known / felt |
| Futurum | skal/vil kjenne | will know / feel |
| Imperativ | kjenn! | feel! / know! |
| Presens partisipp | kjennende | knowing / feeling (adjective) |
| Passiv (s-form) | kjennes | to feel / seem (intransitive) |
The kj-sound
The letters kj (and k before i and y) are pronounced as a soft, palatal sound written [ç] in phonetics — roughly the breathy h in English "huge" or "hue," produced with the tongue raised toward the hard palate. It is emphatically not the English "ch" of "chair," and it is not a hard k. So kjenne begins like the start of "huge," not like "Kenny."
A live caution: many younger speakers in Norway now merge kj with the sj/skj sound (the "sh" of "ship"), pronouncing kjenne like "shenne." This is widespread in casual speech but still stigmatised in careful and broadcast Norwegian, where the distinction between kjole [ç] ("dress") and skjole/sjarm [ʃ] is maintained. As a learner, aim for the traditional [ç]; you will be understood either way, but the [ç] is the safer target. See the dedicated kj-sound page for drills.
Jeg kjenner henne ganske godt — vi gikk på skole sammen.
I know her quite well — we went to school together.
Kjente du lukten av nybakt brød da du kom inn?
Did you smell the freshly baked bread when you came in?
Har du kjent ham lenge?
Have you known him long?
kjenne vs vite vs kunne — the three "knows"
This is the distinction that makes kjenne worth a page. English "know" fuses three jobs that Norwegian keeps apart:
- kjenne — to know a person / be acquainted with someone or somewhere; to be familiar with. Takes a direct object that is a person, place, or thing: Jeg kjenner henne, jeg kjenner Oslo godt.
- vite — to know a fact / know that / know whether. Takes a clause or a piece of information: Jeg vet at hun kommer, jeg vet ikke hvorfor.
- kunne — to know how to do something / have a skill; also "can." Jeg kan norsk, jeg kan svømme.
The rule of thumb: kjenne a person, vite a fact, kunne a skill. If you can rephrase the English as "be acquainted with," it is kjenne. If you can rephrase it as "know that…/know whether…," it is vite. If it is "know how to…," it is kunne.
Jeg kjenner mange i Bergen, men jeg vet ikke hvor de fleste bor nå.
I know a lot of people in Bergen, but I don't know where most of them live now.
Hun kan fransk flytende, men hun kjenner ikke landet så godt.
She knows French fluently, but she doesn't know the country very well.
Vet du om butikken er åpen? — Nei, men jeg kjenner eieren, jeg kan ringe ham.
Do you know if the shop is open? — No, but I know the owner, I can call him.
The "feel / sense" meaning
Alongside acquaintance, kjenne is the everyday verb for physical sensation — what you perceive through the body: a smell, a taste, pain, temperature, a touch. Here it has no English "know" equivalent at all; English switches to "feel" or "smell" or "sense."
- kjenne
- direct object = sense it: kjenne lukten (smell it), kjenne smerten (feel the pain), kjenne kulda (feel the cold).
- kjenne på
- noun = feel/touch deliberately, or sense your way into something: kjenne på stoffet (feel the fabric), kjenne på følelsen (sit with the feeling).
Jeg kjente en sterk smerte i ryggen da jeg løftet kassen.
I felt a sharp pain in my back when I lifted the box.
Kjenn på dette teppet — det er utrolig mykt.
Feel this blanket — it's incredibly soft.
Etter en lang dag kjente jeg virkelig trøttheten.
After a long day I really felt the tiredness.
Idioms: kjenne igjen, kjenne til, kjennes
Three high-frequency fixed expressions:
- kjenne igjen — to recognise (someone or something seen before). Word order matters: with a pronoun object, the pronoun slips between kjenne and igjen — kjenne deg igjen, not kjenne igjen deg.
- kjenne til — to be aware of / have heard of / know about something (weaker than kjenne proper). Jeg kjenner til saken = "I'm aware of the matter."
- kjennes (the -s form) — to feel / seem (intransitive, about how something feels). Det kjennes rart = "It feels strange." This is the s-verb sibling of kjenne, where the -s turns the verb intransitive.
Jeg kjente deg nesten ikke igjen med det nye håret!
I almost didn't recognise you with the new haircut!
Jeg kjenner til problemet, men jeg vet ikke hvordan vi løser det.
I'm aware of the problem, but I don't know how we solve it.
Det kjennes rart å være tilbake på den gamle skolen.
It feels strange to be back at the old school.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vet henne fra jobben.
Incorrect — you cannot vite a person; use kjenne for acquaintance
✅ Jeg kjenner henne fra jobben.
I know her from work.
❌ Jeg kjenner at hun kommer i morgen.
Incorrect — for knowing a fact/clause, use vite, not kjenne
✅ Jeg vet at hun kommer i morgen.
I know she's coming tomorrow.
❌ Jeg kjenner ikke igjen deg.
Incorrect word order — the pronoun goes before igjen: kjenne deg igjen
✅ Jeg kjenner deg ikke igjen.
I don't recognise you.
❌ Jeg har kjente henne i mange år.
Incorrect — after har use the supine kjent, not the preterite kjente
✅ Jeg har kjent henne i mange år.
I've known her for many years.
Key Takeaways
- kjenne / kjenner / kjente / har kjent / kjenn! — weak Class 2 (-te / -t); supine drops to one n: kjent.
- Pronounce kj as soft [ç] (like the start of "huge"), not "ch" and not a hard k.
- kjenne a person/place (acquaintance) and a sensation (feel/smell); vite a fact; kunne a skill.
- Learn the idioms: kjenne igjen (recognise — pronoun before igjen), kjenne til (be aware of), kjennes (feel/seem).
Now practice Norwegian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- vite vs kjenne vs kunne: Three Ways to 'Know'A2 — vite knows a fact, kjenne knows a person or place, and kunne knows how to do something or knows a language — English 'know' maps onto three different Norwegian verbs.
- vite (to know a fact)A1 — Full conjugation of the irregular verb vite (vite / vet / visste / har visst) — the bare present vet, the double-s preterite visste, and how vite splits from kjenne and kunne where English has only 'know'.
- The kj and tj Sound /ç/A2 — How to pronounce Norwegian kj, tj, and k before front vowels — the soft /ç/ sound, where it appears, and the ongoing kj→sj merger.