8.6 Present Tense
The most common verb tense used by beginning learners is the present tense. Present tense verbs are used to describe current activities, habitual actions, general statements, and future activities.
Use of Present Tense |
Examples |
| Current activities | Jeg leser nå (I am reading now.) |
| Habitual actions | Vi drar på hytta om sommeren. (We go to the cabin in the summer.) |
| General statements | Oslo er hovedstaden i Norge. (Oslo is the capital of Norway.) |
| Future time | Jeg reiser i morgen (I am going to leave tomorrow.) |
Most present tense verbs have an r added to the infinitive form.
| like > liker | bo > bor | arbeide > arbeider | ha > har |
Unlike many other languages, Norwegian has only one present tense form that is used with all the subject pronouns.
Jeg liker Erik. / Du liker Erik / Han liker Erik. / Hun liker Erik.
Vi liker Erik. / Dere liker Erik. / De liker Erik.
Present tense can be translated in three different ways in English:
Jeg arbeider = I work. / I am working. / I do work.
Infinitive |
Present Tense |
Example |
| like | liker | Jeg liker norsk. (I like Norwegian.) |
| bo | bor | Jeg bor i USA. (I live in the USA.) |
| arbeide | arbeider | Jeg arbeider her. (I work here.) |