300 Norwegian Words that English Speakers Already Know

Are you learning Norwegian and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of new vocabulary you need to learn? Good news! You already know more Norwegian words than you think! Thanks to the shared history and linguistic roots of English and Norwegian, there are many words that are nearly identical in both languages. In this “cheat sheet” I have compiled around 300 Norwegian words that you probably already know if you're an English speaker.

I’ve also added gender-tags to the nouns to help you study without having to look them up:
n - neuter (intetkjønn)
m - masculine
f - feminine
m/f - can be used with either one
PS: The more advanced words are towards the bottom

Adjectives and Descriptions:

1. High - Høy

2. Orange - Oransje

3. Red - Rød

4. Rotten - Råtten

5. Salt - Salt

6. Pepper - Pepper

7. Sick - Syk

8. Sour - Sur

9. Thick - Tykk

10. White - Hvit

11. Wise - Vis

12. Brilliant - Brilliant

13. Fantastic - Fantastisk

14. Extravagant - Ekstravagant

15. Social - Sosial

Verbs and Actions:

1. Float - Flyte

2. Clap - Klappe

3. Come - Komme

4. Feel - Føle

5. Like - Like

6. Mean - Mene

7. Sit - Sitte

8. Steal - Stjele

9. Weigh - Veie

Parts of the Body:

1. Arm - Arm (m)

2. Ankle - Ankel (m)

3. Breast - Bryst (n)

4. Mouth - Munn (m)

5. Neck - Nakke (m)

6. Nose - Nese (m/f)

7. Shoulder - Skulder (m)

8. Foot - Fot (m)

9. Finger - Finger (m)

10. Hand - Hand (m/f)

11. Toe - Tå (m/f)

12. Tounge - Tunge (m/f)

13. Knee - Kne (n)

14. Heel - Hæl (m)

Animals

1. Ape - Ape (m/f)

2. Elephant - Elefant (m)

3. Frog - Frosk (m)

4. Cat - Katt (m)

5. Fish - Fisk (m)

6. Hare - Hare (m)

7. Giraffe - Sjiraff (m)

8. Gorilla - Gorilla (m)

9. Mouse - Mus (m/f)

10. Whale - Hval (m)

11. Zebra - Sebra (m)

Family and Relatives:

1. Sister - Søster (m/f)

2. Brother - Bror (m)

3. Son - Sønn (m)

4. Daughter - Datter (f)

Everyday Objects:

1. House - Hus (n)

2. Book - Bok (m/f)

3. Door - Dør (m/f)

4. Window - Vindu (n)

5. Clock - Klokke (m/f)

6. Telephone - Telefon (m)

7. Mobile - Mobil (m)

8. PC - PC (m)

9. TV - TV (m)

10. Camera - Kamera (n)

11. Bus - Buss (m)

12. Paper - Papir (n)

13. Pen - Penn (m)

14. Toilet - Toalett (n)

15. Bank - Bank (m)

16. Sock - Sokk (m)

Nature and Environment:

1. Sun - Sol (m/f)

2. Tree - Tre (n)

3. Night - Natt (m/f)

4. Day - Dag (m)

5. Moon - Måne (m)

6. Sand - Sand (m)

7. Rose - Rose (m/f)

8. Grass - Gress (n)

9. Apple - Eple (n)

10. Pear - Pære (m/f)

11. Plum - Plomme (m/f)

12. Moss - Mose (m/f)

13. Stone - Stein (m/f)

14. Ice - Is

15. Frost - Frost

16. Rain - Regn

17. Wind - Vind

18. Storm - Storm

Food and Drink:

1. Bacon - Bacon (n)

2. Drink - Drikke (m)

3. Apple - Eple (n)

4. Hat - Hatt (m)

5. Coffee - Kaffe (m)

6. Egg - Egg (n)

7. Fruit - Frukt (m)

8. Glass - Glass (n)

9. Bread - Brød (n)

10. Milk - Melk (m)

11. Pizza - Pizza (m)

12. Soup - Suppe (m/f)

13. Tomato - Tomat (m)

14. Potato - Potet (m)

15. Burger - Burger (m)

16. Pasta - Pasta (m)

Miscellaneous:

1. Ball - Ball (m)

2. Music - Musikk (m)

3. Jacket - Jakke (m/f)

4. Knife - Kniv (m)

5. Lamp - Lampe (m)

6. Soap - Såpe (m/f)

7. Summer - Sommer (m)

8. Winter - Vinter (m)

9. Flag - Flagg (n)

10. Gold - Gull (n)

11. Silver - Sølv (n)

12. Problem - Problem (n)

13. Ski - Ski (m)

14. Data - Data (m)

15. Test - Test (m)

16. Festival - Festival (m)

17. Ship - Skip (n)

18. Religion - Religion (m)

19. Theatre - Teater (n)

20. Over - Over

21. Under - Under

22. Central - Sentral

23. National - Nasjonal

24. International - Internasjonal

25. Mental - Mental

26. Vertical - Vertikal

“ion” endings that become “sjon”

1. Acceleration - Akselerasjon (m)

2. Addition - Addisjon (m)

3. Adoption - Adopsjon (m)

4. Ambition - Ambisjon (m)

5. Communication - Kommunikasjon (m)

6. Donation - Donasjon (m)

7. Erosion - Erosjon (m)

8. Fiction - Fiksjon (m)

9. Friction - Friksjon (m)

10. Function - Funksjon (m)

11. Generation - Generasjon (m)

12. Infection - Infeksjon (m)

13. Information - Informasjon (m)

14. Invasion - Invasjon (m)

15. Irritation - Irritasjon (m)

16. Mutation - Mutasjon (m)

17. Nation - Nasjon (m)

18. Position - Posisjon (m)

19. Population - Populasjon (m)

20. Presentation - Presentasjon (m)

21. Ration - Rasjon (m)

22. Reduction - Reduksjon (m)

23. Reflection - Refleksjon (m)

24. Repetition - Repetition (m)

25. Reservation - Reservasjon (m)

26. Rotation - Rotasjon (m)

27. Station - Stasjon (m)

28. Situation - Situasjon (m)

29. Transaction - Transaksjon (m)

30. Inflation - Inflasjon (m)

31. Illusion - Illusjon (m)

32. Operation - Operasjon (m)

“ble” endings that become “bel”

1. Acceptable - Akseptabel

2. Admirable - Admirabel

3. Cable - Kabel (m)

4. Capable - Kapabel

5. Double - Dobbel

6. Horrible - Horribel

7. Flexible - Fleksibel

“ance” endings that become “anse / ans”

1. Ambulance - Ambulanse (m)

2. Alliance - Allianse (m)

3. Arrogance - Arroganse (m)

4. Assistance - Assistance (m)

5. Brilliance - Brillianse (m)

6. Distance - Distance (m)

7. Dominance - Dominanse (m)

8. Elegance - Eleganse (m)

9. Finance - Finans (m)

10. Intolerance - Intoleranse (m)

11. Nuance - Nyanse (m)

12. Renaissance - Renessanse (m)

13. Resonance - Resonans (m)

14. Substance - Substans (m)

15. Tolerance - Toleranse

“ct” endings that become “kt”

1. Abstract - Abstrakt

2. Contract - Kontrakt (m)

3. Correct - Korrekt

4. Direct - Direkte

5. Distinct - Distinkt

6. Exact - Eksakt

7. Insect - Insekt (n)

8. Instinct - Instinkt (n)

9. Object - Objekt (n)

10. Perfect - Perfekt

11. Respect - Respekt (m)

12. Suspect - Suspekt

“ent” that keep ending in their “ent”

1. Agent - Agent (m)

2. Client - Klient (m)

3. Compliment - Kompliment (n)

4. Continent - Kontinent (n)

5. Document - Dokument (n)

6. Element - Element (n)

7. Monument - Monument (n)

8. Permanent - Permanent

9. President - President (m)

10. Segment - Segment (n)

11. Talent - Talent (n)

“ary” endings that become “ær/ar”

1. Extraordinary - Ekstraordinær

2. Ordinary - Ordinær

3. Military - Militær (n)

4. Vocabulary - Vokabular (n)

“ical” endings that become “isk”

1. Alphabetical - Alfabetisk

2. Analytical - Analytisk

3. Catholic - Katolsk

4. Chemical - Kjemisk

5. Critical - Kritisk

6. Electrical - Elektrisk

7. Ethical - Etisk

8. Historical - Historisk

9. Identical - Identisk

10. Logical - Logisk

11. Lyrical - Lyrisk

12. Practical - Praktisk

13. Romantic - Romantisk

14. Statistical - Statistisk

15. Symmetrical - Systematisk

16. Typical - Typisk

“ist” endings that become “ist”

1. Activist - Aktivist (m)

2. Artist - Artist (m)

3. Cyclist - Syklist (m)

4. Pacifist - Pasifist (m)

“ity” endings that become “tet”

1. Brutality - Brutalitet (m)

2. Generosity - Generøsitet (m)

3. Publicity - Publisitet (m)

4. Quality - Kvalitet (m)

5. University - Universitet (n)

Others

1. Constant - Constantly

2. Original - Orginal

3. Total - Total

4. Classic - Klassisk

5. Automatic - Automatisk

6. Mechanism - Mekanisme (m)

7. Economy - Økonomi (m)

8. Optimist - Optimist (m)

9. Pessimist - Pessimist (m)

10. Positive - Positiv

11. Negative - Negativ

12. Neutral - Nøytral

13. Photo - Foto (n)

14. Photographer - Fotograf (m)

15. Tourist - Turist (m)

16. Moral - Moral (m)

17. Idea - Ide (m)

18. Extreme - Ekstrem

19. Pragmatic - Pragmatisk

20. Spiritual - Spirituell

21. Estimate - Estimat (n)

22. Emotional - Emosjonell

As you can see, there really are a lot of similarities between the languages. Words like this and the very similar grammar structure is a big part of why Norwegian often ranks as one of the “easier” languages to learn for English speakers.

Easier but still not easy for sure... Hopefully this was helpful to you! I’ll make sure to keep it updated whenever I discover new words that should be added.

-Mvh Martin!