sove (to sleep) | Norwegian Grammar

sove ("to sleep") is a high-frequency strong verb, and it sits at the centre of a small family of words that English packs into looser phrasing. Where English has the single verb "sleep" plus separate phrases "go to bed" and "fall asleep," Norwegian carves out three distinct verbs — sove (be asleep), legge seg (go to bed), sovne (drop off) — and keeping them apart is the real skill here. The conjugation itself is a clean strong pattern with a short, one-syllable preterite: sov.

Conjugation

Class: strong. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å sove	to sleep
Presens	sover	sleep(s), am/is/are sleeping
Preteritum	sov	slept
Perfektum	har sovet	have/has slept
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde sovet	had slept
Futurum	skal/vil sove	will sleep
Imperativ	sov!	sleep!
Presens partisipp	sovende	sleeping (adjective)

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The preterite is just sov — one syllable, one v, no ending. English speakers want to add a regular ending (sovte) — don't. And the supine sovet keeps both the v and adds -et: har sovet, not har sovd.

sove in everyday use

The presens sover covers both English "sleep" and "am sleeping" — Norwegian has no separate continuous form, so context tells you which.

Jeg sover godt for tiden, takk som spør.

I'm sleeping well these days, thanks for asking.

Vær stille — barna sover.

Be quiet — the kids are sleeping.

Han sov hele dagen etter nattevakten.

He slept all day after the night shift.

Har du sovet i det hele tatt? Du ser sliten ut.

Have you slept at all? You look tired.

The imperative sov! appears in the warmest set phrase in the language: sov godt — "sleep well," the standard Norwegian goodnight. You'll also hear sov søtt ("sleep sweetly"), said to children.

God natt, sov godt!

Goodnight, sleep well!

sove vs sovne vs legge seg — three verbs English blurs

This is the part to drill. The three verbs describe three different points in the night:

Norwegian	Forms	Meaning
legge seg	legger seg / la seg / har lagt seg	go to bed (the act of lying down for the night)
sovne	sovner / sovnet / har sovnet	fall asleep (the moment of dropping off)
sove	sover / sov / har sovet	be asleep / sleep (the state)

The sequence is: first you legger deg (get into bed), then you sovner (fall asleep), then you sover (are asleep). Using sove for any of the others is the classic learner error — sove never means the act of going to bed or the moment of dropping off; it's the ongoing state.

Jeg legger meg tidlig i kveld, jeg er helt utslitt.

I'm going to bed early tonight, I'm completely worn out.

Jeg sovnet foran TV-en igjen.

I fell asleep in front of the TV again.

Da jeg endelig sovnet, sov jeg som en stein.

When I finally fell asleep, I slept like a log.

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Map the three to English honestly: legge seg = "go to bed," sovne = "fall asleep," sove = "sleep / be asleep." If you can replace it with "be asleep," it's sove; if it's the act of lying down, it's legge seg; if it's the instant of dropping off, it's sovne.

Idioms with sove

A few fixed expressions built on sove are worth knowing as units:

sove ut — to sleep in / catch up on sleep, to sleep as long as you need. Jeg skal sove ut i morgen = "I'm going to sleep in tomorrow."
sove over seg — to oversleep (and be late). The over seg is what flips it from "sleep in" to "overslept."
sove på det — to sleep on it (postpone a decision). Same image as English.
sove tungt / sove som en stein — to sleep heavily / like a log (literally "like a stone").

Endelig helg — i morgen skal jeg bare sove ut.

Finally the weekend — tomorrow I'm just going to sleep in.

Beklager at jeg er sen, jeg sov over meg.

Sorry I'm late, I overslept.

La oss sove på det og bestemme oss i morgen.

Let's sleep on it and decide tomorrow.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg sovte dårlig i natt.

Incorrect — sove is strong; the preterite is sov, not sovte

✅ Jeg sov dårlig i natt.

I slept badly last night.

❌ Jeg sover klokka elleve hver kveld.

Wrong verb — for going to bed at eleven use legge seg, not sove

✅ Jeg legger meg klokka elleve hver kveld.

I go to bed at eleven every night.

❌ Jeg sov med en gang hodet traff puta.

Wrong verb — the moment of dropping off is sovne, not sove

✅ Jeg sovnet med en gang hodet traff puta.

I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

❌ Har du sovd godt?

Incorrect supine — it's sovet, not sovd

✅ Har du sovet godt?

Did you sleep well?

Key Takeaways

sove / sover / sov / har sovet / sov! — strong; preterite sov (one v), supine sovet.
sov godt is the standard "sleep well / goodnight."
Keep three verbs apart: legge seg (go to bed) → sovne (fall asleep) → sove (be asleep).
Idioms: sove ut (sleep in), sove over seg (oversleep), sove på det (sleep on it).

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