skyte ("to shoot") is the textbook member of the i–ø–u strong class — and it hides one of Norwegian's nastiest spelling traps inside its preterite. The verb is regular in its vowel pattern (i → ø → u) but the past tense skjøt is spelled with skj-, not the sky- of the present. Getting that shift right is the whole game on this page.
Conjugation
Class: strong, ablaut i–ø–u. Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å skyte | to shoot |
| Presens | skyter | shoot(s) |
| Preteritum | skjøt | shot |
| Perfektum | har skutt | have/has shot |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde skutt | had shot |
| Futurum | skal/vil skyte | will shoot |
| Imperativ | skyt! | shoot! |
| Presens partisipp | skytende | shooting (adjective) |
| Passiv (infinitiv) | å skytes | to be shot |
The i–ø–u ablaut
skyte is the model verb for the whole i/y → ø → u class: present skyter, preterite skjøt, supine skutt. Once you can run skyte, you get a small family almost for free — bryte/brøt/brutt ("break"), fryse/frøs/frosset ("freeze"), nyte/nøt/nytt ("enjoy") all rhyme with it in their pattern.
The English cognate is shoot / shot / shot. English flattened its strong forms into a single "shot," but the deep vowel change is the same Germanic ablaut, and the sh-/sk- correspondence (English shoot, Norwegian skyte) is a regular sound law between the two languages — the same one that links ship/skip, shirt/skjorte. So the verb is more familiar than it looks; you simply have to keep Norwegian's two distinct past forms (skjøt vs skutt) apart, where English merged them.
A word on why the supine vowel is u rather than the ø of the preterite. This is not a typo of the strong system but its defining feature: the old Germanic strong verbs carried three grades of the root vowel — one for the present, one for the preterite, one for the past participle — and the i → ø → u verbs preserve all three intact. The u of skutt is the historical participle grade, the same grade you hear in English drunk, sung, swum. English kept the three-way split only in a handful of verbs (sing/sang/sung) and levelled it everywhere else; Norwegian kept it across the whole skyte/bryte/fryse class. Treating skutt as "wrong because it isn't skjøt" is exactly backwards — the two different vowels are the point.
Politiet skyter aldri med mindre liv står i fare.
The police never shoot unless lives are at risk.
Jegeren skjøt et bilde av elgen før den forsvant.
The hunter snapped a picture of the moose before it vanished.
Han har skutt mot blink siden han var tolv.
He's been shooting at targets since he was twelve.
Idioms and extended senses
Beyond the literal "fire a weapon," skyte drives several useful idioms, often built on the idea of sudden, forceful motion:
- skyte fart — to gather speed, pick up pace. A car, a project, or a career can skyte fart.
- skyte opp — to launch (a rocket, fireworks), or, of plants, to shoot up: raketten ble skutt opp.
- skyte inn — to interject, throw in a remark mid-conversation: "Forresten," skjøt hun inn.
- skyte ned — to shoot down, literally (a plane) or figuratively (an idea, a proposal).
Note also the photography sense in the example above: in casual Norwegian, skyte et bilde means take / snap a shot — a direct loan of the English "shoot a photo."
Salget begynte sakte, men skjøt fart utover høsten.
Sales started slowly but picked up pace through the autumn.
Raketten ble skutt opp fra basen klokka seks.
The rocket was launched from the base at six o'clock.
«Men det stemmer jo ikke,» skjøt han inn.
\"But that's not actually true,\" he interjected.
Common Mistakes
❌ Soldaten skytet to ganger.
Incorrect — skyte is strong; the preterite is skjøt, never a weak -et form
✅ Soldaten skjøt to ganger.
The soldier shot twice.
❌ Han skyøt mot målet.
Incorrect spelling — the past is skjøt (skj-), not *skyøt; the j replaces the y before ø
✅ Han skjøt mot målet.
He shot at the target.
❌ Vi har skjøt opp fyrverkeri.
Incorrect — skjøt is the preterite; after har use the supine skutt
✅ Vi har skutt opp fyrverkeri.
We've set off fireworks.
❌ Prosjektet skutt fart i mars.
Incorrect — needs the preterite skjøt here, not the bare supine skutt
✅ Prosjektet skjøt fart i mars.
The project gathered speed in March.
Key Takeaways
- skyte / skyter / skjøt / har skutt / skyt! — strong, i–ø–u, cousin of English shoot/shot.
- Spelling trap: the preterite is skjøt (with skj- and ø), not skyøt; the supine is skutt (sk + double t).
- Keep the two past forms apart: skjøt (preterite) vs skutt (supine, after har/hadde/ble).
- Idioms: skyte fart (pick up speed), skyte opp (launch), skyte inn (interject), skyte ned (shoot down).
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- The Strong Verb Ablaut ClassesB1 — The ablaut (vowel-change) classes of Norwegian strong verbs grouped by pattern — i–a–u, i–e–e, y/ju–ø–ø, a–o–å, e–a–e — each mapped onto its English cognate class so you can often guess the forms.
- Strong Verbs: Ablaut and the Vowel-Change ClassesA2 — Strong verbs build the past by changing the stem vowel instead of adding an ending (drikke → drakk → drukket) — the main ablaut series, grouped, with full tables and English cognate hooks.
- 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).