The Three Genders (en / ei / et)
Every noun has a gender. It decides the word for 'a' and how you say 'the'.
- •Three genders: masculine (en), feminine (ei), neuter (et).
- •You can almost always use 'en' instead of 'ei', feminine is optional in standard Bokmål.
- •Gender isn't logical, learn each noun WITH its gender, like 'en bil', not just 'bil'.
What gender does
Gender is just a label attached to each noun. It controls the indefinite article ('a/an') and the ending you add to say 'the'. There's no reliable rule for guessing it, so the trick is to always store the article with the word.
Good news: feminine is optional
In standard Bokmål you're allowed to treat feminine nouns as masculine. 'Ei jente' can become 'en jente'. Many Norwegians, especially around Oslo, do exactly this. So if you're unsure between en/ei, default to 'en' and you'll be fine.
Neuter is the one to watch
'Et' (neuter) nouns behave differently later (definite form, adjective endings), so neuter is worth memorising. Common neuter words: et hus, et barn, et år, et eple, et brød, et tog.
Quick check
3 questions. Get them right to lock in the lesson.