ta (to take) | Norwegian Grammar

ta ("to take") is one of the most productive verbs in Norwegian. On its own it means take in the obvious physical sense, but its real power is in idioms and particle combinations: ta bussen (catch the bus), ta en pause (take a break), ta feil (be wrong), ta med (bring along), ta på (touch / put on). Learning ta well is your gateway into Norwegian phrasal verbs, because so many everyday actions are built from ta + a small particle. It is a strong verb, and its forms are short and irregular: preterite tok, supine tatt (double t).

Conjugation

Class: strong. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å ta	to take
Presens	tar	take(s); am/is/are taking
Preteritum	tok	took
Perfektum	har tatt	have/has taken
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde tatt	had taken
Futurum	skal/vil ta	will take
Imperativ	ta!	take!
Presens partisipp	takende	taking (rare as adjective)

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Chant the principal parts: ta – tar – tok – tatt. Two short irregular forms to lock in: the preterite tok (with an o, like English "took") and the supine tatt with a double t.

The strong preterite: tok, not "taet"

ta is strong, so the past tense comes from a vowel change, not from adding -et or -te. The preterite is tok — the same in every person: jeg tok, du tok, vi tok. A common beginner reflex is to regularise it to "taet" or "tadde"; both are wrong. Think of the English cognate took and you will remember it: ta → tok mirrors take → took.

Han tok pengene og gikk.

He took the money and left.

Jeg tok bussen til byen.

I took the bus into town.

Vi tok feil av tiden.

We got the time wrong. (ta feil = be mistaken)

The supine: har tatt (double t)

After the auxiliary ha, use the supine tatt — with a double t. Like every common verb in modern Bokmål, ta takes ha in the perfect, never være: it is har tatt, never "er tatt" (except in the passive, which is a different construction). The spelling trap is the double t: not "tat," not "taet."

Har du tatt medisinen din?

Have you taken your medicine?

Jeg har tatt bilder av hele turen.

I've taken photos of the whole trip.

Hun hadde allerede tatt en avgjørelse.

She had already made a decision.

Sense 1: take — and the wide idiomatic range

The core meaning is physical: to take something — grasp it, pick it up, carry it off. But Norwegian uses ta in a wide band of fixed expressions where English chooses other verbs. A few you will meet constantly:

ta bussen / toget / taxi — "catch / take the bus / train / taxi" (transport you board).
ta en pause — "take a break"; ta en kaffe — "grab a coffee."
ta feil — "be wrong, be mistaken" (literally "take wrong").
ta det med ro — "take it easy, relax."
ta bilde — "take a photo"; ta tiden — "time it / take the time."
ta eksamen — "sit / pass an exam."

Ta det med ro — vi har god tid.

Take it easy — we've got plenty of time.

Skal vi ta en kaffe etterpå?

Shall we grab a coffee afterwards?

Beklager, jeg tok feil — det var ikke i dag.

Sorry, I was wrong — it wasn't today.

Particle verbs: ta med, ta på, ta av, ta opp, ta igjen

This is where ta earns its keep, and where English speakers must be careful, because the particle completely changes the meaning. Learn each combination as a single unit — you cannot reliably guess them.

ta med — "bring (along), take with you." This is the everyday word for bring: Ta med deg paraplyen ("Bring your umbrella"). Norwegian has no separate verb like English bring vs take; it says ta med.
ta på — "touch," and also "put on (clothes)": Ikke ta på maleriet ("Don't touch the painting"); ta på seg jakka ("put on your jacket"). The reflexive ta på seg is the clothing sense.
ta av — "take off (clothing); take off (a plane); leave / set off." Ta av deg skoene ("Take off your shoes"); Flyet tar av kl. 8 ("The plane takes off at 8").
ta opp — "take up; pick up; record; bring up (a topic)": ta opp en sang på telefonen (record a song), ta opp et tema (raise a topic).
ta igjen — "catch up (with); make up for; get one's own back."
ta seg av (reflexive) — "take care of, look after, deal with": Hun tar seg av barna ("She takes care of the children").

Husk å ta med deg nøklene!

Remember to bring your keys! (ta med = bring along)

Ta på deg jakka, det er kaldt ute.

Put your jacket on, it's cold outside. (ta på seg = put on)

Kan du ta deg av oppvasken i dag?

Can you take care of the dishes today? (ta seg av = deal with)

Vi løp for å ta igjen de andre.

We ran to catch up with the others. (ta igjen = catch up)

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For English bring, Norwegian says ta med (literally "take with"). There is no single verb that splits bring from take the way English does — direction is carried by the particle, not by a separate verb. Ta med deg… = "bring your…"

Common Mistakes

❌ Han taet pengene.

Incorrect — ta is strong; the preterite is tok (compare English took)

✅ Han tok pengene.

He took the money.

❌ Har du tat medisinen?

Incorrect — the supine has a double t: tatt

✅ Har du tatt medisinen?

Have you taken your medicine?

❌ Kan du bringe vin til festen?

Unidiomatic — Norwegian uses ta med, not a single 'bring' verb, for everyday situations

✅ Kan du ta med vin til festen?

Can you bring wine to the party?

❌ Ta på skoene.

Incomplete for 'put on' — the clothing sense is reflexive: ta på deg

✅ Ta på deg skoene.

Put your shoes on.

Key Takeaways

ta / tar / tok / har tatt / ta! — strong verb; preterite tok (like English took), supine tatt (double t).
Wide idiomatic range: ta bussen, ta en pause, ta feil, ta det med ro, ta bilde.
Particle verbs change the meaning completely — learn them as units: ta med (bring), ta på (seg) (touch / put on), ta av (take off / set off), ta opp (record / raise), ta igjen (catch up), ta seg av (take care of).
For English bring, say ta med — direction lives in the particle, not in a separate verb.

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