velge (to choose) | Norwegian Grammar

velge ("to choose, to elect") is one of those mid-frequency verbs that looks tame in the present tense and then surprises you in the past. The infinitive and present are perfectly regular-looking — velge, velger — but the past forms swap the vowel and the consonant cluster all at once: valgte, valgt. It is not a textbook strong verb (the past isn't formed by pure ablaut), nor a tidy weak one; it sits in the small group of irregular verbs that take a weak -te ending on a changed stem. Learn it as its own little package.

Conjugation

Class: irregular (stem-change + weak -te/-t ending). Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å velge	to choose
Presens	velger	choose(s), am/is/are choosing
Preteritum	valgte	chose
Perfektum	har valgt	have/has chosen
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde valgt	had chosen
Futurum	skal/vil velge	will choose
Imperativ	velg!	choose!
Presens partisipp	velgende	choosing (adjective)
Passiv (s-form)	velges	be chosen

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The whole story is in the vowel: present has e (velger), past has a (valgte, valgt). The g stays put on paper but goes silent before -t, so valgte is pronounced roughly "VALL-te" and valgt like "valt." Spell the g; don't say it.

The e → a stem change

In the infinitive and present, the stem vowel is e: velge, velger. In both past forms it becomes a: valgte, valgt. This is the same vowel switch you see in selge → solgte's cousin family, and once you spot the pattern in one verb you'll recognise it across the group.

Crucially, the ending is the weak -te / -t, not a strong zero-ending. That is what makes velge "irregular" rather than "strong" in the classic sense: a true strong verb like finne has fant with no dental ending at all, whereas velge keeps the -te. So you change the vowel and add the weak ending — both at once.

The supine and the preterite happen to look almost identical here — valgte (preterite) versus valgt (supine) — differing only by that final -e. Keep them straight: the preterite stands alone as a past tense (jeg valgte), while the supine valgt needs har or hadde in front of it.

Jeg velger alltid vindusplass når jeg flyr.

I always choose the window seat when I fly.

Til slutt valgte vi den billigste leiligheten.

In the end we chose the cheapest apartment.

Har du valgt hva du vil ha til middag?

Have you chosen what you want for dinner?

velge mellom, velge ut and other patterns

velge takes a handful of fixed partners that are worth learning as units:

velge mellom — to choose between (two or more options). Norwegian uses mellom where English also says "between," so this one transfers cleanly: velge mellom A og B.
velge ut — to pick out, select (from a larger set). The particle ut adds the sense of singling something out: velge ut de beste.
velge bort — to opt out of, deselect, choose to drop. Hun valgte bort tysk på skolen — "She dropped German at school."
velge å + infinitive — to choose to do something. Jeg valgte å bli hjemme — "I chose to stay home."

The related noun is et valg — "a choice," and also "an election" (plural valg, definite valget). So et vanskelig valg is "a difficult choice," while valget in a political context is "the election." A voter velger (chooses/elects), and the people you elect are de valgte — "the elected." Keeping the verb and noun side by side helps both stick.

Du må velge mellom kaffe og te — vi har ikke begge deler.

You have to choose between coffee and tea — we don't have both.

Treneren valgte ut fem spillere til finalen.

The coach selected five players for the final.

Det var et tøft valg, men jeg valgte å si opp jobben.

It was a tough choice, but I chose to quit my job.

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English "choose / chose / chosen" is itself a strong verb with three distinct forms, so the idea of a vowel-changing past is already familiar — you're just learning which vowels Norwegian picks. The handy bridge: English "chosen" and Norwegian "valgt" both signal "this needs a helper verb (have / har)."

velges — the passive

Like most transitive verbs, velge forms an easy s-passive: drop nothing, add -s to the stem. Presidenten velges hvert fjerde år — "The president is elected every four years." This is extremely common in formal and journalistic writing about elections and selections, where the agent is unimportant or obvious.

Styrelederen velges på årsmøtet i mars.

The chairperson is elected at the annual meeting in March.

Vinneren ble valgt ut av en uavhengig jury.

The winner was selected by an independent jury.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vi velgde restaurant etter anmeldelsene.

Incorrect — the past is valgte (with a), not the regular-looking velgde

✅ Vi valgte restaurant etter anmeldelsene.

We chose a restaurant based on the reviews.

❌ Jeg har valgte feil kø igjen.

Incorrect — valgte is the preterite; after har use the supine valgt

✅ Jeg har valgt feil kø igjen.

I've chosen the wrong queue again.

❌ Hun valte å reise alene.

Incorrect — keep the g in writing: valgte, even though it's silent

✅ Hun valgte å reise alene.

She chose to travel alone.

❌ Du må velge blant kaffe og te.

Incorrect — with two options it's velge mellom, not velge blant

✅ Du må velge mellom kaffe og te.

You have to choose between coffee and tea.

Key Takeaways

velge / velger / valgte / har valgt / velg! — irregular: vowel change e → a plus a weak -te/-t ending.
Spelling trap: keep the silent g in valgte and valgt; don't write valte/valt.
Preterite valgte stands alone; supine valgt needs har/hadde.
Learn the partners: velge mellom, velge ut, velge bort, velge å; and the noun et valg ("a choice / an election").

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