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Questions & Answers about Han rister hodet.
What does rister mean in this sentence?
rister is the present tense of the verb riste, meaning “to shake.” So Han rister hodet literally means “He shakes his head.”
What is the infinitive form of rister?
The infinitive is å riste.
Why is hodet in the definite form (with –et)?
In Norwegian, when referring to a body part owned by the subject, you typically use the noun in its definite form instead of adding a possessive pronoun. So hodet (“the head”) is understood as “his head.”
Why don’t we use a possessive pronoun like hans or sitt before hodet?
Norwegian often replaces a possessive pronoun plus noun with the noun in its definite form when ownership is clear from context. Saying han rister hodet is more natural than han rister hans hode or han rister sitt hode.
Can we also say Han rister på hodet? What’s the difference?
Yes. Han rister på hodet uses riste intransitively with the preposition på, while han rister hodet uses riste transitively with a definite object. Both mean “He shakes his head,” though the prepositional form is very common in spoken language.
How do you form the past tense of riste?
You add –et: riste → rister (present) → ristet (past). So “He shook his head” is Han ristet hodet.
Does rister change for different subjects (like “I shake,” “you shake,” etc.)?
No. In Norwegian the present-tense form rister is the same for all persons: jeg rister, du rister, han/hun rister, vi rister, and so on.