Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen.

Infinitive: å vente – to wait
Present: venter – wait / am waiting
- Jeg venter – I wait / I am waiting
Past (preterite): ventet – waited
- Jeg ventet – I waited
Present perfect: har ventet – have waited
- Jeg har ventet – I have waited

So jeg ventet simply means “I waited” in the past.

What is the difference between jeg ventet and jeg har ventet in this sentence?

Both are past, but they focus slightly differently on time:

Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen.
→ A simple past event. The waiting is placed in the past, finished, and we’re just reporting what happened.
Jeg har ventet for lenge på bussen.
→ Present perfect. It usually connects the past to the present situation.
This is more natural if:
- You are still waiting, or
- The fact that you waited too long is directly relevant now (you are annoyed, you missed something, etc.).

In everyday speech, Norwegians sometimes use jeg ventet where English would prefer “I’ve waited”, so the line between them is a bit looser than in English.

Does for lenge mean “for a long time” or “too long”?

In this sentence, for lenge means “too long”, not just “for a long time”.

lenge = (for) a long time
- Jeg ventet lenge på bussen.
  → I waited a long time for the bus. (neutral description)
for lenge = too long (longer than is acceptable)
- Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen.
  → I waited too long for the bus. (there’s a sense of complaint or excess)

You can strengthen it with:

altfor lenge = way too long
- Jeg ventet altfor lenge på bussen.

Is the for in for lenge the same as the English preposition “for”?

No. In for lenge, for is an adverb/degree word meaning “too”, not the preposition “for”.

Compare:

for kaldt – too cold
for dyrt – too expensive
for lenge – too long (time)

As a preposition, Norwegian for can mean for, because of, in front of, etc., but here it does not have that role. So:

for lenge = too long
Not “for long” and not “for a long time” (that’s just lenge).

Why is it på bussen and not something like for bussen for “for the bus”?

In Norwegian, the usual pattern is:

å vente på noe / noen = to wait for something / someone

So you say:

vente på bussen – wait for the bus
vente på toget – wait for the train
vente på henne – wait for her

Using for here is incorrect:

✗ vente for bussen – not idiomatic Norwegian.

So på is just the required preposition with vente when you mean “wait for”.

Can på bussen also mean “on the bus”? How do I know which meaning is intended?

Yes, på bussen can mean either:

“For the bus”, after å vente på
- Jeg ventet på bussen.
  → I waited for the bus.
“On the bus”, after verbs of being / sitting / standing / traveling, etc.
- Jeg satt på bussen.
  → I was sitting on the bus.
- Jeg var på bussen.
  → I was on the bus.

You tell the meaning from the verb:

With vente på, it’s “wait for”.
With verbs like sitte, være, stå, kjøre, på bussen is “on the bus”.

Why is it bussen and not just buss?

Bussen is the definite form: “the bus”.

en buss – a bus (indefinite singular)
bussen – the bus (definite singular)
busser – buses
bussene – the buses

In jeg ventet for lenge på bussen, using the definite form suggests a specific bus, usually one both speaker and listener can identify:

the bus you usually take
the bus that was supposed to arrive
the bus mentioned in the conversation

You could say jeg ventet for lenge på en buss (I waited too long for a bus), but that sounds more like you just needed any bus, not a particular one.

Can I change the word order, like jeg ventet på bussen for lenge?

Yes, that is possible, and both versions are grammatical:

Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen.
Jeg ventet på bussen for lenge.

The difference is subtle and mostly about rhythm and focus:

1 (original) sounds more neutral and natural, with for lenge (too long) closely tied to the verb ventet.
2 may put a slightly heavier end focus on how long the bus-waiting lasted.

In everyday speech, Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen is often the more typical choice, but both are acceptable.

Could I say jeg ventet lenge for bussen to mean “I waited long for the bus”?

No. That would mix up English and Norwegian patterns.

Correct options:

Jeg ventet lenge på bussen.
→ I waited a long time for the bus. (neutral)
Jeg ventet for lenge på bussen.
→ I waited too long for the bus. (complaint)

So:

Use lenge or for lenge for the duration.
Use på (not for) after vente when you mean “wait for” something.

Is å vente på the same as English “to wait on someone” (as in “serve” in a restaurant)?

No. Å vente på in Norwegian is only “to wait for” someone/something in time.

Jeg venter på deg.
→ I’m waiting for you.

English “to wait on someone” in the sense “serve a customer” is not expressed with vente.

For “serve (a customer)” in Norwegian, you would use other verbs, for example:

å servere – to serve (food/drink)
å ekspedere – to serve/attend to (in a shop)
å betjene – to serve/operate (a customer, a machine)

So don’t use vente på when you mean “serve someone”.

How do you pronounce jeg ventet for lenge på bussen?

Approximate Bokmål (standard East Norwegian) pronunciation in IPA:

jeg – /jæi/ or /jæ/ (often reduced in fast speech)
ventet – /ˈvɛn.tət/ (second t is weak; sounds a bit like VEN-tet)
for – /fɔr/ or reduced /fə/
lenge – /ˈlɛŋə/
på – /poː/
bussen – /ˈbʉsːən/ (long s)

Said together, something like:

/jæi ˈvɛn.tət fə ˈlɛŋə poː ˈbʉsːən/

In connected speech, for often weakens, and the sentence flows quite smoothly as one rhythm group.

Can I replace bussen with other nouns the same way, and do they also take a definite ending?

Yes. The pattern is:

vente for lenge på + definite noun

Examples:

Jeg ventet for lenge på toget.
→ I waited too long for the train.
Jeg ventet for lenge på filmen.
→ I waited too long for the movie (to start).
Jeg ventet for lenge på legen.
→ I waited too long for the doctor.

In each case, you use the definite form of the noun (typically ending in -en, -a, -et) when you mean a specific, known thing or person.