Jeg kjøpte en sykkel for to uker siden.

I bought a bike two weeks ago.

Breakdown of Jeg kjøpte en sykkel for to uker siden.

• jeg: I
• en: a
• kjøpe: to buy
• for to uker siden: two weeks ago
• sykkelen: the bike

Questions & Answers about Jeg kjøpte en sykkel for to uker siden.

Why is the verb kjøpte used here? How do you form the past tense of kjøpe?

kjøpe is a weak (regular) verb in Norwegian Bokmål. For most weak verbs, you form the past (preterite) by adding -te or -et to the stem. Here’s the pattern for kjøpe:
• Infinitive: kjøpe (to buy)
• Present tense: kjøper (buy/buys)
• Past tense: kjøpte (bought)
• Present perfect: har kjøpt (have bought)

Because a specific time in the past is mentioned (“for to uker siden”), you must use the simple past kjøpte rather than the present perfect.

Why is it en sykkel and not ei sykkel or et sykkel? How do you pick the right article?

Norwegian nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. In Bokmål:
• Masculine nouns typically take en in the indefinite singular.
• Feminine nouns can take ei (less common in modern Bokmål) or en.
• Neuter nouns take et.

sykkel (“bike”) is treated as a masculine (common) noun in Bokmål, so the correct indefinite article is en: en sykkel.

Why does uke become uker? How do you form plurals?

To talk about more than one week, you need the plural. In Bokmål, most masculine and feminine nouns form the indefinite plural by adding -er to the singular stem. For uke (week):
• Singular indefinite: en uke
• Plural indefinite: uker (weeks)

Thus to uker means “two weeks.”

Why is there a for before to uker siden? Can it be left out?

The full expression for “ago” in Norwegian is for … siden. You need both parts to say “X ago”:
• for = for
• to uker = two weeks
• siden = ago

You cannot leave out for in this construction. (Note: siden alone can mean “since” in other contexts, but not in the “ago” phrase.)

Can you start the sentence with For to uker siden? What happens to the word order?

Yes. Norwegian follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses: if you place an adverbial first, the finite verb must follow immediately, then the subject. So you can also say:
For to uker siden kjøpte jeg en sykkel.
Here:

1. For to uker siden (time adverbial)
2. kjøpte (verb)
3. jeg (subject)
4. en sykkel (object)

Why not use har kjøpt (“have bought”) with for to uker siden? In English we say “I have bought a bike two weeks ago.”

In Norwegian, you don’t use the present perfect with a definite past-time expression. Once you specify when something happened (e.g. for to uker siden), you must use the simple past (preterite) kjøpte. The present perfect (har kjøpt) is reserved for actions without a fixed time, or to emphasize the present relevance of an unspecified past action.

Could you say jeg kjøpte sykkelen for to uker siden instead? What changes?

Yes. That sentence is grammatically correct but uses the definite object sykkelen (“the bike”) instead of the indefinite en sykkel (“a bike”). Use sykkelen if you’re referring to a specific bike already known in the conversation. The rest of the structure and meaning remain the same.