vente ("to wait" / "to expect") packs two meanings into one verb, and both are A1–A2 essentials. It is a regular weak Class 1 verb, so the conjugation is easy. The hard part — and the place where English speakers slip almost every time — is the preposition: you wait for something with på, never with for. This page nails that down, separates "wait" from "expect," and contrasts vente with the more formal forvente.
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (-et / -a). Auxiliary: ha.
| Tense / mood | Norwegian | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitiv | å vente | to wait / to expect |
| Presens | venter | wait(s), am/is/are waiting |
| Preteritum | ventet | waited |
| Perfektum | har ventet | have/has waited |
| Pluskvamperfektum | hadde ventet | had waited |
| Futurum | skal/vil vente | will wait |
| Imperativ | vent! | wait! |
| Presens partisipp | ventende | waiting (adjective) |
How the conjugation works
The stem is vent-. Class 1 adds -et for both past forms: vent- → ventet. No vowel change, no surprises. The colloquial -a ending also applies — venta (preterite and supine) is standard in casual speech and writing (informal). Jeg venta i en time and jeg har venta lenge are both fine; ventet is the more neutral written form.
Because the stem ends in -t, the perfect/preterite ending sits cleanly: vent + et = ventet. Take care not to drop a t (venet is wrong) or double it.
Jeg venter på bussen — den er ti minutter forsinket.
I'm waiting for the bus — it's ten minutes late.
Vi ventet i over en time, men hun kom aldri.
We waited for over an hour, but she never came.
Har du ventet lenge? Beklager at jeg er sen.
Have you been waiting long? Sorry I'm late.
Vent litt — jeg må bare hente jakka mi.
Wait a sec — I just need to grab my jacket.
vente på — wait FOR (the cardinal preposition trap)
To wait for something or someone, Norwegian uses vente på — with the preposition på ("on"), not for. This is one of the most reliable transfer errors English speakers make, because English glues "wait" to "for." In Norwegian, vente for is simply wrong in this meaning.
- vente på bussen — wait for the bus
- vente på svar — wait for an answer
- vente på deg — wait for you
The logic, if you want one, is that Norwegian construes the waiting as resting on the awaited thing — but really the safest move is to memorise vente på as an inseparable unit and never let for near it. (Norwegian for exists and means "for" in many other contexts, which is exactly why the pull is so strong — see the page on for.)
Hvor lenge må vi vente på maten her?
How long do we have to wait for the food here?
Hun venter på at regnet skal gi seg.
She's waiting for the rain to stop.
Ikke vent på meg — jeg kommer senere.
Don't wait for me — I'll come later.
vente = expect, and vente seg / vente barn
vente also means to expect — to anticipate that something will happen. In this sense it often takes a direct object or a clause, with no på:
- Jeg venter en pakke i dag — "I'm expecting a parcel today."
- Vi venter gjester — "We're expecting guests."
- Jeg venter at det blir regn — "I expect it'll rain."
A special, very common use is vente barn — to be expecting a baby. You can also say vente seg in the reflexive for "to expect (for oneself)," and the warm idiom de venter sitt første barn ("they're expecting their first child") is everyday Norwegian.
De venter sitt andre barn til våren.
They're expecting their second child in the spring.
Jeg venter en viktig telefon, så jeg lar mobilen ligge fremme.
I'm expecting an important call, so I'm keeping my phone out.
Du kan ikke vente deg mirakler over natta.
You can't expect miracles overnight.
vente vs forvente
Both can translate "expect," but they differ in register and shade:
- vente (på) — the everyday verb. For "expect," it means to anticipate something coming (a parcel, a guest, a baby, an event). Neutral, spoken.
- forvente — to expect in the sense of anticipate as likely or demand as a requirement (more formal). It carries a flavour of expectation that may be disappointed, or of a standard being held: forvente respekt, forvente resultater. It is Class 1 too: forvente / forventer / forventet / har forventet. The related noun is forventning ("expectation").
Rule of thumb: for a parcel, a baby, or a friend who's late, use vente. For expectations as standards, demands, or formal anticipation, reach for forvente.
Sjefen forventer at alle møter presis.
The boss expects everyone to arrive on time.
Resultatet var bedre enn vi hadde forventet.
The result was better than we had expected.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg venter for bussen.
Incorrect — 'wait for' is 'vente på', never 'vente for'
✅ Jeg venter på bussen.
I'm waiting for the bus.
❌ Vi har vente i en time.
Incorrect — the supine after 'har' is 'ventet' (or venta)
✅ Vi har ventet i en time.
We've waited for an hour.
❌ De venter på et barn til våren.
Misleading — for 'expecting a baby' it's 'vente barn' (no på)
✅ De venter barn til våren.
They're expecting a baby in the spring.
❌ Vente! Jeg er ikke klar.
Incorrect — the imperative is 'vent!' (one t, no -e)
✅ Vent! Jeg er ikke klar.
Wait! I'm not ready.
Key Takeaways
- vente / venter / ventet / har ventet / vent! — weak Class 1, preterite and supine identical; colloquial venta.
- Wait FOR = vente på, never vente for — the single most important point on this page.
- vente also means expect (a parcel, guests, an event), usually with no preposition.
- vente barn = to be expecting a baby; vente seg = expect (for oneself).
- forvente is the more formal "expect," used for standards, demands, and anticipated likelihoods.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Weak Verbs: The Four ClassesA2 — A map of the four regular Norwegian past-tense classes (-et/-a, -te, -de, -dde) — how to predict a verb's class from its stem and how the supine differs from the preterite.
- 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).
- 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).
- Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB1 — Verbs that govern a fixed, unpredictable preposition you must memorise as a unit: vente på (wait for), tenke på (think about), lete etter (look for), be om (ask for), glede seg til (look forward to), bestemme seg for (decide on) — where the Norwegian preposition almost never matches English.
- for: For, Too, AgoB1 — for does several jobs: 'too / excessively' before an adjective (for stor, altfor dyrt), the time frame 'ago' (for tre dager siden), benefit and reason (takk for hjelpen, kjent for), the conjunction 'for/because', and fixed verb collocations (være redd for, sørge for) — with the recurring for-vs-til competition for 'for/to'.