Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by.

Grandpa grew up in a small town.

Breakdown of Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by.

• en: a
• liten: small
• i: in
• bestefaren: the grandfather
• vokse opp: to grow up
• by: the town

Questions & Answers about Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by.

Why is there no word for “my” before Bestefar? In English we say “My grandfather grew up…”, but the Norwegian sentence just has Bestefar.

In Norwegian, close family titles can be used on their own when it’s clear whose family member you’re talking about.
So Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by naturally means “(My) Grandfather grew up in a small town.” in context.
Here Bestefar functions almost like a name, similar to how English sometimes uses “Granddad” or “Grandpa” without my when it’s obvious who you mean.

If I want to say “my grandfather” explicitly, how do I say that in Norwegian?

You have two main options in Bokmål:

• Bestefaren min vokste opp i en liten by.
• Min bestefar vokste opp i en liten by.

Both mean “My grandfather grew up in a small town.”
The pattern bestefaren min (definite noun + possessive after) is the most typical and neutral in everyday Norwegian.
Min bestefar is also correct, but sounds a bit more formal or written.

What is the infinitive of vokste, and how is this verb conjugated?

The infinitive is å vokse (to grow). Basic forms:

• Infinitive: å vokse – to grow
• Present: vokser – grows / is growing
• Past (preterite): vokste – grew
• Present perfect: har vokst – has grown
• Past perfect: hadde vokst – had grown

In the sentence Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by, vokste is the simple past: “grew (up)”.

Why do we say vokse opp instead of just vokse here?

Vokse on its own means to grow (get bigger):

• Planten vokser. – The plant is growing.

Vokse opp is a verb + particle combination that means to grow up (go through childhood and become an adult):

• Hun vokste opp i Norge. – She grew up in Norway.

So in Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by, vokse opp specifically refers to his childhood and upbringing, not just getting physically taller.

Can I change the word order and say Bestefar opp vokste i en liten by?

No, that word order is wrong in Norwegian.
In verb–particle combinations like vokse opp, the particle opp normally comes after the verb and stays together with it: vokste opp, not opp vokste.
So you should say:

• Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by. ✅
• Bestefar opp vokste i en liten by. ❌

Could I also say Bestefar har vokst opp i en liten by? What’s the difference?

You can say Bestefar har vokst opp i en liten by, and it’s grammatically correct, but it slightly changes the feel.

• Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by. – Simple past; a completed event in the past, told as part of his life story. This is the most natural here.
• Bestefar har vokst opp i en liten by. – Present perfect; emphasizes the result or relevance to the present (e.g., why he is the way he is today).

In neutral storytelling about someone’s childhood, Norwegian usually prefers the simple past: vokste opp.

Why is it i en liten by and not i den lille byen?

I en liten by means “in a small town” – it’s indefinite, so the town is not a specific, previously known one.
I den lille byen means “in the small town” – definite, referring to a particular town that the listener is expected to know about or that has already been mentioned.

So:

• Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by. – He grew up in some small town (unspecified).
• Bestefar vokste opp i den lille byen. – He grew up in that specific small town we’ve been talking about.

Why is the article en used with by? How do I know it’s not et by or ei by?

In Norwegian, nouns have grammatical gender. By (town/city) is masculine in standard Bokmål.

So its forms are:

• en by – a town
• byen – the town
• byer – towns
• byene – the towns

Because by is masculine, the correct indefinite article is en, giving i en liten by.
(You may see ei by in some dialect writing, but in standard Bokmål you learn en by.)

Why is the adjective liten used here and not lite or små?

Liten is an irregular adjective in Norwegian. In the attributive form (before a noun), the main patterns are:

• Masculine/feminine singular: liten – en liten by (a small town)
• Neuter singular: lite – et lite hus (a small house)
• Plural (all genders): små – små byer (small towns)

Since by is masculine singular and we’re using it in the indefinite form (en by), the adjective must be liten:
en liten by = a small town.

Could I say Bestefar vokste opp på en liten by instead of i en liten by?

No, you normally use i with by for living in a town or city:

• vokste opp i en by / i Oslo / i Bergen

The preposition på is used with some other place types (e.g. på landet – in the countryside, på en øy – on an island, på en gård – on a farm), but with by the natural choice is i.
So the correct sentence is: Bestefar vokste opp i en liten by.

Is Bestefar normally capitalized in Norwegian, like a name?

In standard Norwegian, family words like bestefar, mamma, pappa are common nouns and are not capitalized in the middle of a sentence.
In your example it’s capitalized only because it’s the first word of the sentence.

So you would normally write, for example:

• Jeg besøker bestefar i helgen. – I’m visiting (my) grandfather this weekend.

Some people may capitalize them in personal letters for affection (e.g. Hei Bestefar), but the general rule is lowercase.