Weak Class 4: -dde / -dd (bo, tro) | Norwegian Grammar

Class 4 is tiny — only a handful of verbs — but you cannot avoid it, because those verbs are some of the most common words in the language: bo "live", tro "believe", nå "reach", snu "turn". They all share one feature: the infinitive ends in a stressed vowel with nothing after it. With no consonant to attach a dental ending to, Norwegian doubles the d: preterite -dde, supine -dd. Å bo → bodde ("lived") → har bodd ("have lived"). This page covers the whole membership, why the doubling happens, and the closely related irregular ha → hadde → hatt.

The pattern

Infinitive	Present	Preterite	Supine (har + …)	English
å bo	bor	bodde	har bodd	live (reside)
å tro	tror	trodde	har trodd	believe / think
å nå	når	nådde	har nådd	reach
å snu	snur	snudde	har snudd	turn
å bety	betyr	betydde	har betydd	mean
å gni	gnir	gnidde	har gnidd	rub

The rule: take the bare vowel-final stem and add -dde for the preterite, -dd for the supine. Notice the present tense is just the vowel + -r (bor, tror, når, snur), so these verbs look minimal in every form — the doubled d in the past is what makes them stand out.

Vi bodde i en liten leilighet i Grünerløkka.

We lived in a small flat in Grünerløkka.

Jeg trodde du hadde reist allerede.

I thought you'd already left.

Toget nådde Bergen akkurat i tide.

The train reached Bergen just in time.

Why the doubled d?

The doubling is not decoration — it does spelling work. A single d after a vowel in Norwegian is often silent or signals a long vowel (compare god "good", where the d is silent). To make clear that the d is pronounced and that the vowel stays as it is, the spelling doubles it: bodde is read "bod-de", with an audible d. The doubled consonant is the standard Norwegian device for "the preceding vowel is short / this consonant is sounded". So bodde, trodde, nådde all keep their vowels crisp and their d clearly heard.

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Think of the doubled d as the verb's way of holding onto a consonant it never had. Class 2 verbs attach -te to an existing consonant (kjøp-te); Class 4 verbs have no consonant, so they manufacture one by doubling the d of the ending. Same dental-suffix family, just a vowel-final spelling solution.

The å-stem verbs keep å: nå, få

The verbs whose stem vowel is å (nå "reach", få "get/receive" — though få is strong, see below) keep the å before the doubled d: nå → nådde → har nådd. Do not let the consonant cluster tempt you into dropping or changing the å.

Vi nådde aldri toppen — det var for mye snø.

We never reached the summit — there was too much snow.

Har du nådd målet ditt for i år?

Have you reached your goal for this year?

A useful contrast: å nå "to reach" is Class 4 (nådde, nådd), but å få "to get" is strong (får → fikk → har fått). They rhyme in the infinitive but behave completely differently in the past — a pairing worth memorising together so you don't confuse them.

Å ha "to have" is the most frequent verb in this neighbourhood and looks like a Class 4 verb in the preterite — hadde — but its supine is irregular: hatt, not *hadd. Learn it as its own item; it sits right beside Class 4 but breaks the supine pattern.

Infinitive	Present	Preterite	Supine	English
å ha	har	hadde	har hatt	have

Because ha is also the auxiliary of the perfect tense, you constantly stack it: har hatt "have had", hadde hatt "had had".

Vi hadde det kjempegøy på festen.

We had a great time at the party.

Jeg har aldri hatt så vondt i hodet.

I've never had such a bad headache.

Hun hadde allerede dratt da vi kom.

She had already left when we arrived.

More everyday members in context

Han snudde i døra og gikk rett ut igjen.

He turned in the doorway and walked straight back out.

Hva betydde det egentlig at han ikke svarte?

What did it actually mean that he didn't reply?

Trodde du virkelig på det han sa?

Did you really believe what he said?

Common Mistakes

1. Single -de instead of doubled -dde. The defining feature of the class is the doubling.

❌ Vi bode der i fem år.

Incorrect — 'bo' doubles the d: 'bodde'.

✅ Vi bodde der i fem år.

We lived there for five years.

2. Regularising to Class 1 (-et). Vowel-stems never take -et; boet is not a word.

❌ Jeg har boet i Oslo i to år.

Incorrect — supine of 'bo' is 'bodd'.

✅ Jeg har bodd i Oslo i to år.

I've lived in Oslo for two years.

3. Keeping -dd- in the present tense. The doubling is only in the past; the present is just vowel + -r.

❌ Jeg bodder i Trondheim nå.

Incorrect — the present is 'bor', not 'bodder'.

✅ Jeg bor i Trondheim nå.

I live in Trondheim now.

4. Treating ha's supine as regular. Ha breaks the pattern: supine is hatt, not *hadd.

❌ Jeg har hadd en lang dag.

Incorrect — supine of 'ha' is irregular: 'hatt'.

✅ Jeg har hatt en lang dag.

I've had a long day.

Key takeaways

Class 4 holds vowel-final verbs that double the d: preterite -dde, supine -dd (bo → bodde → har bodd).
The doubling exists to keep the d audible and the vowel short.
The class is tiny but high-frequency: bo, tro, nå, snu, bety, gni.
å nå (Class 4: nådde) and å få (strong: fikk, fått) rhyme but conjugate differently.
å ha uses the Class-4-looking preterite hadde but an irregular supine hatt.

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