Jeg vil gjøre det selv.

In this sentence, vil usually means want to.

So Jeg vil gjøre det selv is most naturally understood as I want to do it myself.

Norwegian vil can sometimes look like English will, but it often expresses desire or intention, not just future tense. Context decides the best translation.

• Jeg vil spise = I want to eat
• Det vil regne i morgen = It will rain tomorrow

So in your sentence, vil is best understood as want to.

Because gjøre comes after the modal verb vil.

In Norwegian, modal verbs like vil, kan, skal, må, and bør are followed by the bare infinitive, without å.

So:

• Jeg vil gjøre det
• Jeg kan gjøre det
• Jeg må gjøre det

Not:

• Jeg vil å gjøre det

This is similar to English:

• I want to do it uses to
• but I will do it does not

Norwegian modals work like the second pattern: no å.

Gjøre is the infinitive form of the verb, meaning to do.

Some common forms are:

• å gjøre = to do
• gjør = do / does
• gjorde = did
• har gjort = have/has done

In your sentence, it stays in the infinitive because it follows vil:

• Jeg vil gjøre det

Because det means it, and Norwegian usually keeps that object when the meaning requires it.

So:

• gjøre det = do it

If you only say Jeg vil gjøre selv, it sounds incomplete or unnatural in most situations, because the sentence is missing the thing being done.

The object det is important here:

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv = I want to do it myself

Here, selv means myself in the sense of personally or without someone else doing it for me.

So:

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv = I want to do it myself

It adds emphasis to the subject: I will do it, not someone else.

It is not a reflexive pronoun like English myself in I hurt myself. In this sentence, selv is more like an emphatic word meaning myself / on my own / personally.

This is a very common question.

• selv = myself / yourself / himself, emphasizing that the person does it personally
• alene = alone, emphasizing that no one is with the person

So:

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv = I want to do it myself

  • focus: I will do it, not someone else

• Jeg vil gjøre det alene = I want to do it alone

  • focus: I will do it without company or help

Sometimes both ideas overlap, but they are not the same.

Because that is a very natural position for it in Norwegian when it emphasizes who is doing the action.

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv

Putting selv at the end gives a clear meaning: I want to do it myself.

This end position is extremely common with words like selv.

Yes, you can, but the emphasis changes slightly.

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv = the most neutral and common way to say I want to do it myself
• Jeg vil selv gjøre det = stronger emphasis on I myself want to do it

The second version sounds a bit more marked or deliberate. It is grammatical, but the first one is the most natural default sentence for everyday use.

Gjøre can be tricky for English speakers.

A rough guide is:

• gj at the beginning sounds like a y-like sound in many accents
• ø is a vowel that does not exist in standard English
• the final e is usually a weak vowel

A very rough approximation might sound something like YUR-eh or YOE-reh, but that is only approximate.

Important points:

• g is not pronounced like a hard English g
• ø is the hardest part; it is a rounded front vowel

If you already know words like French peu or German schön, the vowel is somewhat similar.

This sentence is Bokmål:

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv

In Nynorsk, the equivalent would usually be:

• Eg vil gjere det sjølv

So the differences are:

• Jeg → Eg
• gjøre → gjere
• selv → sjølv

Both are correct, but your original sentence is clearly Bokmål.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Jeg vil gjøre det selv = I want to do it myself
• Jeg skal gjøre det selv = I will do it myself / I’m going to do it myself

So:

• vil focuses more on wanting
• skal focuses more on plan, decision, or determination

If you are talking about desire, use vil. If you are talking about what you are going to do, use skal.

You add ikke after vil:

• Jeg vil ikke gjøre det selv

That means:

• I do not want to do it myself

This follows normal Norwegian word order with a modal verb:

• subject + modal verb + ikke
  • infinitive

So:

• Jeg
  • vil
    • ikke
      • gjøre det selv

Yes. In Norwegian, yes/no questions usually use verb-second inversion, which means the verb comes before the subject.

So:

• Statement: Jeg vil gjøre det selv
• Question: Vil jeg gjøre det selv?

That literally looks like Want I do it myself?, but in natural English it would be something like:

• Do I want to do it myself?
• or, depending on context, Will I do it myself?

With vil, context still decides whether it means want to or will.