Jeg har tretti bøker.

I have thirty books.

Breakdown of Jeg har tretti bøker.

• jeg: I
• ha: to have
• boken: the book
• tretti: thirty

Questions & Answers about Jeg har tretti bøker.

What does each word in Jeg har tretti bøker mean?

• Jeg = I
• har = have (present tense of å ha = to have)
• tretti = thirty
• bøker = books (indefinite plural of bok = book)

So the sentence is literally I have thirty books.

Why is it har for I have, and not a special form like has in English?

Norwegian verbs do not change with the subject in the present tense.

So:

• jeg har = I have
• du har = you have
• han/hun har = he/she has
• vi har = we have
• dere har = you (plural) have
• de har = they have

It is always har, no matter who is doing the action. There is no separate form like English has.

How do you pronounce jeg?

In standard Eastern Norwegian (often taught to learners):

• jeg is usually pronounced roughly like yai in English (IPA: /jæi/ or /jai/).

However, in different dialects you may hear:

• je (like ye in yes)
• jæ
• eg

In writing for Bokmål, you will most often see jeg, even though the spoken form varies by region.

How do you pronounce tretti and are there other forms of “thirty”?

tretti is usually pronounced something like tret-ti:

• tre: like treh (short e as in bed)
• tti: a short ti sound, with a doubled t making it slightly sharper

Approximate IPA: /ˈtrɛtːi/

There is also an alternative written form: tredve.
Both tretti and tredve mean thirty.

In everyday speech, many people say something closer to tretti or tredve depending on their dialect, but as a learner, using tretti is perfectly safe and standard.

What is bøker exactly, and what is the singular form?

• The base noun is bok = book (singular, indefinite).
• The plural indefinite is bøker = books.

So the pattern is irregular:

• en bok = a book
• boka / boken = the book (definite singular)
• bøker = books (indefinite plural)
• bøkene = the books (definite plural)

Notice the vowel change from o to ø in the plural: bok → bøker.

Why is it bøker after tretti and not a singular form?

In Norwegian, when you use a number greater than 1 before a countable noun, you use the indefinite plural form of the noun.

So:

• én bok = one book (singular)
• to bøker = two books
• tre bøker = three books
• tretti bøker = thirty books

The same pattern works for most countable nouns:

• én stol / to stoler (one chair / two chairs)
• én bil / to biler (one car / two cars)

How would I say “I have one book”, “I have a book”, and “I have the book”?

Using bok:

• Jeg har én bok. = I have one book.
  
  • én (with accent) is sometimes used in writing to stress the number one.
• Jeg har en bok. = I have a book.
  
  • en is the indefinite article (like a/an in English).
• Jeg har boka. or Jeg har boken. = I have the book.
  
  • Both boka and boken are correct Bokmål; boka is more colloquial/modern, boken a bit more traditional/formal.

With a number higher than one, you do not use an article:

• Jeg har tretti bøker. = I have thirty books. (no en)

Why is jeg capitalized here? Is jeg always written with a capital letter like English I?

In Norwegian, jeg is not normally capitalized, except when it is the first word of a sentence.

So:

• At the start of a sentence: Jeg har tretti bøker.
• In the middle of a sentence: Han sier at jeg har tretti bøker.

Unlike English I, which is always written with a capital letter, jeg follows the normal capitalization rules of the language.

Can I drop jeg and just say Har tretti bøker, like in Spanish or Italian?

No. Norwegian is not a “pro-drop” language.

You normally must include the subject pronoun:

• Jeg har tretti bøker. = correct
• Har tretti bøker. = sounds incomplete / wrong (except in some very specific note-taking or headline-like contexts).

So always keep jeg (or another subject) in ordinary sentences.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Tretti bøker har jeg?

The neutral, normal word order is:

• Jeg har tretti bøker. → Subject – Verb – Object

You can say Tretti bøker har jeg, but that has a special emphasis. It sounds like you are stressing tretti bøker, for example in contrast to someone else’s number:

• Du har fem bøker, men tretti bøker har jeg.
  (You have five books, but thirty books I have.)

So yes, it is grammatically possible, but the default, unmarked form is Jeg har tretti bøker.

How do I turn Jeg har tretti bøker into a yes/no question?

You invert the subject and the verb, just like in English:

• Jeg har tretti bøker. = I have thirty books.
• Har jeg tretti bøker? = Do I have thirty books?

For you:

• Du har tretti bøker. = You have thirty books.
• Har du tretti bøker? = Do you have thirty books?

Norwegian does not use a separate do-auxiliary the way English does. You just move the verb in front of the subject.

How do you pronounce ø in bøker, and how is bøker pronounced overall?

The vowel ø is similar to the vowel in French peu or German schön. It is a rounded front vowel.

bøker is typically pronounced roughly like bø-ker:

• bø: lips rounded, like saying e in bed but with rounded lips
• ker: k like English k, er a bit like air but shorter and less open

Approximate IPA: /ˈbøːkər/ in many accents.

As a learner, focus on rounding your lips for ø, and keeping the r fairly light (not as strong as some English r sounds).

Is there any difference in meaning between Jeg har tretti bøker and Jeg har tretti av bøkene?

Yes, they mean different things:

• Jeg har tretti bøker.

  • General statement: you possess thirty books (no specific set implied).

• Jeg har tretti av bøkene.

  • I have thirty of the books.
  • This refers to a specific group of books already known in the conversation (for example, a certain collection), and you have thirty from within that set.

So tretti bøker is general, tretti av bøkene is part of a specific, known group.