Lesson topic
In this lesson, you will learn basic vocabulary about food and groceries. This continues the practical theme of the module: after talking about home and everyday life, it is important to be able to name simple food items, say what you like to eat, and explain what you want to buy in a shop.
At A1 level, the main goal is to speak briefly and clearly. To begin with, it is enough to know the names of common food items and a few simple patterns: what you eat, what you drink, what you like, and what you buy.
Basic words on the topic
Below are some useful words that often appear in shops, at home, and in cafés.
brød — хлеб
melk — молоко
vann — вода
kaffe — кофе
te — чай
ost — сыр
smør — масло
egg — яйцо, яйца
kjøtt — мясо
fisk — рыба
kylling — курица
ris — рис
pasta — паста, макароны
potet — картофелина, картофель
eple — яблоко
banan — банан
appelsin — апельсин
grønnsaker — овощи
frukt — фрукты
sukker — сахар
Notice that some words are easier to remember as a group rather than one by one. For example, frukt and grønnsaker are often used in everyday speech when there is no need to list everything separately.
What you eat and drink
One of the most useful patterns is the present tense with the verbs spiser and drikker. With them, you can say what you usually eat or drink.
Jeg spiser brød. — Я ем хлеб.
Jeg spiser fisk. — Я ем рыбу.
Jeg drikker vann. — Я пью воду.
Jeg drikker kaffe. — Я пью кофе.
At A1 level, you do not need to build long sentences. A short phrase with a subject, a verb, and one word from the topic already sounds natural and clear.
How to say what you like
To talk about food preferences, the structure Jeg liker ... is very useful. It works with many different foods and drinks.
Jeg liker te. — Мне нравится чай.
Jeg liker ost. — Мне нравится сыр.
Jeg liker frukt. — Мне нравятся фрукты.
Jeg liker ikke kaffe. — Мне не нравится кофе.
The negative word ikke comes after the verb. This is one of the most important patterns for simple communication: first you say the action or attitude, and then you add the negation.
How to say what you want to buy
In a shop, the verb kjøper and the expression vil ha are especially useful. They help you speak simply and politely about shopping.
Jeg kjøper melk. — Я покупаю молоко.
Jeg kjøper egg og brød. — Я покупаю яйца и хлеб.
Jeg vil ha ost. — Я хочу сыр.
Jeg vil ha to epler. — Я хочу два яблока.
At this stage, it is helpful to remember short phrases as complete chunks. This makes them easier to use in a shop without searching for words for too long.
Singular and plural in simple words
In the topic of food, you quickly meet singular and plural forms. At beginner level, you do not need to learn all the rules at once, but it is useful to notice a few common patterns.
et eple — яблоко
to epler — два яблока
en banan — банан
to bananer — два банана
en potet — картофелина
to poteter — две картофелины
In many words, the plural at beginner level is often visible through the endings -er or -r. But more important than the rule itself is recognizing ready-made forms in speech.
Useful phrases for everyday life
Below are a few very common phrases that are useful at home, in a shop, and in conversations about habits.
Jeg spiser frokost. — Я завтракаю.
Jeg drikker te om morgenen. — Я пью чай утром.
Jeg liker ikke fisk. — Я не люблю рыбу.
Jeg kjøper frukt og grønnsaker. — Я покупаю фрукты и овощи.
Vi har melk hjemme. — У нас дома есть молоко.
Vi trenger brød. — Нам нужен хлеб.
The phrases Vi har ... hjemme and Vi trenger ... are especially useful in everyday situations. They help you say what you already have at home and what you need to buy.
Short usage notes
The word mat means “food” in a general sense. If you do not know a specific word, you can use a more general one:
Jeg liker norsk mat. — Мне нравится норвежская еда.
Jeg kjøper mat. — Я покупаю еду.
The word matvarer more often means food products as goods in a shop. In everyday speech, mat is often enough for a beginner, but it is useful to recognize the more precise word matvarer.
How to build a very simple statement
To speak confidently about food, you can rely on three basic patterns:
Jeg spiser ...
Jeg drikker ...
Jeg liker ...
Later, the pattern Jeg kjøper ... is added. These four structures are already enough to talk about your habits, name food items, and explain a simple purchase.
For example:
Jeg spiser brød og ost.
Jeg drikker kaffe.
Jeg liker frukt.
Jeg kjøper melk og egg.
Such short phrases are a good foundation for later lessons about shops, cafés, and everyday dialogues.
Lesson summary
In this lesson, you learned basic words on the topic of food and groceries, as well as simple patterns for everyday communication. You can now name common food items, say what you eat and drink, express a simple preference, and say what you want to buy.
This is an important foundation for the next topics in the module, where food vocabulary will be used in more realistic situations: in a shop, in a café, and in short everyday conversations.