Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Bestefar er eldst i familien. - Grandpa is the eldest in the family.

Bestefar (capitalized) = Grandpa (used as a name)
- Example: Bestefar er eldst i familien. – Grandpa is the oldest in the family.
bestefar (not capitalized) = grandfather (the role)
- Example: Min bestefar er eldst i familien. – My grandfather is the oldest in the family.

Norwegian often capitalizes kinship words (Bestefar, Mamma, Pappa, Farmor, etc.) when they are used like names.

Is Bestefar definite or indefinite? Why is there no word for “the” or “my”?

Grammatically, bestefar is a masculine noun:

Indefinite: en bestefar – a grandfather
Definite: bestefaren – the grandfather

In the sentence Bestefar er eldst i familien, it is neither of those; it’s functioning like a name. When kinship terms are used as names, Norwegian usually:

Drops the article (en, den)
Drops the possessive (min, vår)

So Bestefar here really means my/our grandpa, but the possession is understood from context, just like in English when you say Grandpa is tired.

Could you also say Bestefaren er eldst i familien? What would be the difference?

Yes, Bestefaren er eldst i familien is grammatically correct, but the meaning changes slightly:

Bestefar er eldst i familien.
- Natural if you’re talking about your own grandpa, using his “name”.
Bestefaren er eldst i familien.
- Literally The grandfather is the oldest in the family.
- Sounds more like you’re talking about the grandfather in that family, not necessarily your own, and not using it as a personal name.

Using Bestefar (no article) is warmer and more personal; bestefaren is more neutral and descriptive.

Why is it eldst and not eldste or gammelst?

The adjective gammel (old) has an irregular comparative and superlative:

Positive: gammel – old
Comparative: eldre – older
Superlative: eldst – oldest

You cannot say gammelst.

The form eldste also exists, but eldst and eldste are used in different positions:

Predicative superlative (after er, blir, etc.): generally eldst
- Bestefar er eldst i familien. – Grandpa is oldest in the family.
Attributive superlative (directly before a noun): eldste
- Den eldste sønnen – the oldest son
- Hun er den eldste i familien. – She is the oldest in the family.

So in this sentence, eldst is correct because it comes after er and does not have a noun directly after it.

Could I say Bestefar er den eldste i familien instead? What is the difference?

Yes, Bestefar er den eldste i familien is also correct. The difference is mostly style and emphasis:

Bestefar er eldst i familien.
- Short, typical pattern in Norwegian with superlative + i + group.
Bestefar er den eldste i familien.
- Slightly more explicit; it treats den eldste like a full noun phrase: the oldest (one) in the family.

Both are natural; eldst i familien is very common in everyday speech.

How is eldst pronounced, especially the -ldst cluster?

In standard Eastern Norwegian:

eldst is roughly like [elst] in English
- The d is usually not clearly pronounced; it often disappears or merges in the cluster.
- You’ll hear something close to “elst”.

Word by word:

Bestefar ≈ BEH-ste-fahr
er ≈ air (short, like English “air” but very quick)
eldst ≈ elst
i ≈ English “ee”
familien ≈ fa-MEE-lee-en (with a light final -en)

So the sentence flows a bit like:
BEH-ste-fahr air elst i fa-MEE-lee-en.

Why is it i familien and not av familien or something else?

Norwegian normally uses i (in) with superlatives when talking about being the “most X” within a group:

best i klassen – best in the class
størst i byen – biggest in the city
eldst i familien – oldest in the family

Using av would sound wrong here. av (“of”) appears in other patterns (like en av de eldste – one of the oldest), but not in this simple “X is the oldest in group Y” structure.

Why does familien have -en at the end? Where is “the”?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the:

familie – family (indefinite)
familien – the family (definite)

So i familien literally is in the family.

This pattern is very common:

en bil – a car → bilen – the car
en stol – a chair → stolen – the chair
en familie – a family → familien – the family

Could I say i vår familie or i familien vår instead of i familien?

Yes, and the meanings are close but not identical:

i familien – in the family (often understood as our family from context)
i vår familie – in our family (focus on our)
i familien vår – in our family (slightly more natural in speech than i vår familie for many speakers)

Examples:

Bestefar er eldst i familien vår. – Grandpa is the oldest in our family.

In many contexts, i familien alone is enough because it is clear you mean your own family.

What gender is familie? How would I say “a family” and “the family”?

Familie is a feminine noun in Norwegian, but it can be treated as either feminine or masculine in Bokmål. The most common forms are:

Indefinite: en familie – a family
Definite: familien – the family

Feminine forms (ei familie, familia) exist but are much less common in standard written Bokmål.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Eldst i familien er bestefar?

You can say Eldst i familien er bestefar, and it is correct Norwegian. It sounds a bit more stylistic or written, with emphasis on eldst i familien:

Bestefar er eldst i familien.
- Neutral, everyday word order: subject – verb – rest.
Eldst i familien er bestefar.
- Emphasizes that the oldest one in the family is Grandpa.

The meaning is the same; the normal, default version is the one you were given.