Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun er sosial.

Hun er sosial.

She is social.

Breakdown of Hun er sosial.

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Questions & Answers about Hun er sosial.

What does “Hun” mean exactly, and is it always feminine?

Hun means “she” and is the standard 3rd person singular feminine subject pronoun in Norwegian.

Hun = she (subject)
- Hun er sosial. = She is social.
Related forms:
- henne = her (object)
  - Jeg liker henne. = I like her.
- hennes = her / hers (possessive)
  - Det er boka hennes. = That is her book.

Norwegian does not capitalize pronouns like English does for “I”. So hun is written with a lowercase h unless at the beginning of a sentence, as here. It is always feminine; there is no gender‑neutral everyday equivalent like English singular “they” (though hen is used in some contexts as a gender‑neutral pronoun, but it’s not yet fully mainstream everywhere).

How do you pronounce “Hun er sosial”?

A simple, common Bokmål-style pronunciation (not tied to a specific dialect) would be:

Hun ≈ “hoon”, but with rounded lips and a short vowel:
- IPA (approx.): [hʉn]
er ≈ “air” or “ehr” (short):
- IPA: [æːr] or [eːr], depending on dialect
sosial ≈ “soo-see-AHL”
- Stress on the last syllable: so-si-AL
- IPA (approx.): [sʊsiˈɑːl]

Put together, fairly slowly:
Hun er sosial → [hʉn ær sʊsiˈɑːl]

Main points:

Stress: on so-si-AL (last syllable).
Hun has a rounded u sound, not like English “hun”.
All words are fairly clearly pronounced; Norwegian generally has more even rhythm than English.

Why is the verb “er” used here, and does it change with the subject like in English?

Er is the present tense of the verb å være (to be).

Conjugation of “å være” in the present tense:

jeg er = I am
du er = you are (singular)
han er = he is
hun er = she is
vi er = we are
dere er = you are (plural)
de er = they are

Notice: it’s always “er” for all subjects.
So unlike English (I am, you are, he is), Norwegian does not change the form of the verb depending on who is doing the action.

In Hun er sosial, er simply corresponds to English “is” here because the subject is hun (she).

What does “sosial” mean here? Is it exactly like English “social”?

In Hun er sosial, sosial means roughly:

sociable / outgoing / enjoys being with other people

So the sentence is close to:

She is sociable / She is a social person.

Nuances:

Like English “social”, sosial can have several meanings depending on context:
- Personality: Hun er sosial. = She likes being around people.
- Social issues / welfare: sosiale problemer = social problems
- Media: sosiale medier = social media

In a simple sentence with er + sosial about a person, it almost always means “sociable / outgoing / interacts easily with people”, not “involved with social work” etc.

Why is the word order “Hun er sosial” and not something else? Is that the standard order?

Yes, Hun er sosial follows the basic S–V–C (Subject – Verb – Complement) sentence order:

Hun = subject (who?)
er = verb (what is she?)
sosial = complement (predicative adjective describing the subject)

This is the standard way to say “She is X” in Norwegian.

Other basic examples:

Han er hyggelig. = He is nice.
De er trøtte. = They are tired.

If you turn it into a yes/no question, you invert the subject and verb:

Er hun sosial? = Is she social?

But in a statement, Subject–Verb–(rest) is the normal pattern.

Why don’t we say “Hun er en sosial” or “Hun er en sosial person” instead?

You cannot say “Hun er en sosial” by itself; that’s ungrammatical, because sosial is an adjective and needs a noun if you put an article (en/ei/et) before it.

✅ Hun er sosial.
- Adjective used directly after er: “She is social (sociable).”
✅ Hun er en sosial person.
- Literally: “She is a social person.”
- Here, en = “a”, sosial = adjective, person = noun.
❌ Hun er en sosial.
- Missing the noun, so it’s wrong in standard Norwegian.

In many cases, Norwegian prefers the bare adjective after er instead of adding “en … person”, especially for simple traits:

Han er snill. = He is kind.
Hun er intelligent. = She is intelligent.
Hun er sosial. = She is social (sociable).

Does the adjective “sosial” change depending on gender or number?

Yes, like most Norwegian adjectives, sosial has different forms, but the form used in Hun er sosial is the basic (uninflected) form used after er for a singular subject.

Main patterns:

Predicative position (after er, blir, etc.)
- Singular:
  - Han er sosial. = He is social.
  - Hun er sosial. = She is social.
- Plural:
  - De er sosiale. = They are social.
Attributive position (before a noun):
- Masculine/feminine singular:
  - en sosial mann = a social man
  - ei sosial jente = a social girl
- Neuter singular:
  - et sosialt barn = a social child
- Plural (all genders):
  - sosiale venner = social friends

So:

Hun er sosial. → basic form because it’s predicative, singular.
If you talk about several people: De er sosiale.

Can I modify it, like “very social” or “not very social”? Where do I put the adverbs?

Yes, you add adverbs or degree words before the adjective, just like in English:

Hun er veldig sosial.
- She is very social.
Hun er ganske sosial.
- She is quite/pretty social.
Hun er ikke sosial.
- She is not social.
Hun er ikke særlig sosial.
- She is not particularly social.

Word order:

Subject – er – (ikke / veldig / ganske / etc.) – adjective
- Hun er ikke veldig sosial. = She isn’t very social.
- Hun er bare litt sosial. = She is only a little social.

What’s the difference between “Hun er sosial” and “Hun er utadvendt”?

Both can describe someone who enjoys being around others, but the nuances differ:

Hun er sosial.
- Emphasis on liking company, taking part in social activities, often meeting people, not being isolated.
Hun er utadvendt. (outgoing, extroverted)
- Emphasis on personality style: she’s open, talkative, easily approaches others, not shy.

They overlap a lot, and in everyday speech they are sometimes used almost interchangeably, but:

A person can be sosial (likes being with people) without being very utadvendt (they might be friendly but not super talkative or attention‑seeking).
Utadvendt is closer to “extroverted/outgoing” as a personality label.

How do I say this in the past tense or future tense?

Using å være (to be) in other tenses:

Present (now):
- Hun er sosial. = She is social.
Past (preterite):
- Hun var sosial. = She was social.
Present perfect (has been):
- Hun har vært sosial. = She has been social.
Future (will be):
- Hun vil være sosial. = She will be social.
- Hun skal være sosial. = She is going to be social / is supposed to be social (depending on context).

Verb forms you need:

er (present)
var (past)
vært (past participle, used with har / hadde)

How do I turn “Hun er sosial” into a yes/no question?

Swap the order of the verb and the subject:

Er hun sosial?
- = Is she social?

Word order:

Statement: Hun er sosial. (Subject – Verb – Adjective)
Question: Er hun sosial? (Verb – Subject – Adjective)

Spoken language might add rising intonation, and you can also add a question word if needed (for more detailed questions):

Hvor sosial er hun? = How social is she?
Hvorfor er hun så sosial? = Why is she so social?

Is “Hun er sosial” formal, informal, or neutral in tone?

Hun er sosial is neutral and perfectly fine in almost any context:

Everyday conversation
Written descriptions (e.g., about a person)
Semi-formal texts (school, work presentations)

If you want it more colloquial or nuanced, you might say:

Hun er veldig sosial av seg. = She is very social by nature.
But the base sentence Hun er sosial. is already natural and common.