vaske ("to wash, to clean") is not an exciting verb, and that is exactly why it earns a page: it is the cleanest possible model of a weak Class 1 verb. Where strong verbs like finne or la change their stem vowel, Class 1 verbs do nothing of the sort — they keep the stem untouched and bolt -et onto the end for both the preterite and the supine. If you can conjugate vaske, you can conjugate the largest and most regular group of Norwegian verbs. On top of that, vaske drags along two everyday constructions English speakers regularly get wrong: the reflexive vaske seg ("wash oneself") and the idiom vaske opp ("do the dishes").
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (-et / -et). Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å vaske | to wash |
| Presens | vasker | wash(es), am/is/are washing |
| Preteritum | vasket (also vaska) | washed |
| Perfektum | har vasket (also har vaska) | have/has washed |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde vasket | had washed |
| Futurum | skal/vil vaske | will wash |
| Imperativ | vask! | wash! |
| Presens partisipp | vaskende | washing (adjective) |
| Passiv (infinitiv) | å vaskes / bli vasket | to be washed |
The -et / -et pattern, and the -a variant
Norwegian Bokmål gives Class 1 verbs two officially accepted endings: the bookish -et (vasket) and the more colloquial, radical-Bokmål -a (vaska). Both are correct; they are not different words and they do not mean different things.
- vasket — the neutral, written-default form, common in formal prose and most textbooks.
- vaska — equally standard, more frequent in speech and in informal writing, and the norm in most Norwegian dialects (which is where it comes from).
Pick one and be consistent within a text. For a learner aiming at clear written Bokmål, -et is the safe default; just be unsurprised when you hear and read vaska everywhere.
Jeg vasker bilen hver søndag, enten det regner eller ikke.
I wash the car every Sunday, whether it rains or not.
Hun vasket gulvet to ganger fordi katten hadde vært ute i søla.
She washed the floor twice because the cat had been out in the mud.
Vi har akkurat vasket vinduene, så ikke ta på dem.
We've just washed the windows, so don't touch them.
Why vaske is the model regular verb
English makes you sort verbs into "regular" (walk / walked) and "irregular" (sing / sang / sung). Norwegian does the same, but it splits the regular weak verbs into four sub-classes by how they form the past. vaske sits in Class 1, and Class 1 is the one with the least to remember: nothing changes in the stem, and the past ending is -et for both past forms. Compare it with the other classes so the contrast lands:
| Class | Infinitive | Preterite | Supine |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (-et/-et) | vaske | vasket | vasket |
| 2 (-te/-t) | kjenne | kjente | kjent |
| 3 (-de/-d) | leve | levde | levd |
| 4 (-dde/-dd) | bo | bodde | bodd |
Notice that in Class 1 alone the preterite and supine look the same. That is genuinely helpful: when you reach for "have washed" you do not have to derive a separate form — har vasket reuses the past you already know. Most verbs ending in a stem with two or more consonants before the -e (snakke → snakket, jobbe → jobbet, handle → handlet) behave exactly like vaske, so this single template unlocks hundreds of verbs.
vaske seg — the reflexive
When the washer and the washed are the same person, Norwegian makes that explicit with a reflexive object: vaske seg, literally "wash oneself." English usually drops the object entirely ("I'm going to wash" / "go wash up"), which is precisely why learners forget the seg. In Norwegian, leaving it out makes the verb transitive and dangling — jeg vasker alone sounds like you are about to name what you are washing.
The reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: meg, deg, seg, oss, dere, seg.
Vask deg på hendene før du spiser.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Barna vasket seg motvillig før middag.
The kids washed up reluctantly before dinner.
Jeg må vaske meg — jeg er helt skitten etter hagearbeidet.
I need to wash up — I'm filthy after the gardening.
vaske opp and vaske klær — the particle idioms
Two collocations are worth learning as fixed units, because the English equivalents do not map word-for-word:
- vaske opp — to do the dishes. This is the standard everyday phrase; it is not "wash up" in the British sense of cleaning yourself. Vaske opp always means dishes.
- vaske klær — to do the laundry, to wash clothes. Norwegian says vaske klær (or ta en vask), where English often uses "do laundry."
Note the contrast that catches English speakers: British "wash up" = do the dishes, American "wash up" = clean yourself. Norwegian keeps these separate and unambiguous — vaske opp (dishes) versus vaske seg (yourself).
Kan du vaske opp mens jeg legger barna?
Can you do the dishes while I put the kids to bed?
Jeg må vaske klær i dag — jeg har ikke rene sokker igjen.
I have to do laundry today — I'm out of clean socks.
Vi vasket opp etter festen først dagen etter.
We didn't do the dishes after the party until the next day.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vaskte gulvet i går.
Incorrect — Class 1 takes -et (or -a), never the Class 2 ending -te
✅ Jeg vasket gulvet i går.
I washed the floor yesterday.
❌ Du må vaske før middag.
Incomplete — without an object this says 'you must wash [something]'; for washing yourself you need seg
✅ Du må vaske deg før middag.
You have to wash up before dinner.
❌ Kan du vaske deg etter middagen? (om oppvasken)
Incorrect — vaske seg = wash yourself; for the dishes use vaske opp
✅ Kan du vaske opp etter middagen?
Can you do the dishes after dinner?
❌ Har du vasket dine hender?
Awkward — Norwegian uses the reflexive plus a body-part phrase, not the English possessive
✅ Har du vasket hendene?
Have you washed your hands?
Key Takeaways
- vaske / vasker / vasket / har vasket / vask! — the model Class 1 verb; stem never changes.
- Preterite and supine are identical (vasket = vasket); the colloquial variant is vaska.
- vaske seg = wash oneself (don't drop the reflexive); vaske opp = do the dishes; vaske klær = do laundry.
- If you can run vaske, you can run hundreds of two-consonant verbs: snakke, jobbe, handle, lage.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- 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).
- Weak Class 1 (-et) vs Class 2 (-te)B1 — A phonological heuristic for predicting whether a regular Norwegian verb takes the Class 1 -et ending or the Class 2 -te/-t — the stem's final sound usually tells you which.
- 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).