Lesson goal
Learn to recognize and use common irregular verbs in three main forms: presens, präteritum, and perfektum partisipp. This is necessary to talk about what is happening now, what happened earlier, and what has already been done.
New vocabulary
å være — to be
å ha — to have
å gå — to go, walk
å komme — to come, arrive
å se — to see, watch
å gjøre — to do
å få — to get, receive
å ta — to take
er / var / vært — forms of the verb å være
har / hadde / hatt — forms of the verb å ha
går / gikk / gått — forms of the verb å gå
kommer / kom / kommet — forms of the verb å komme
ser / så / sett — forms of the verb å se
gjør / gjorde / gjort — forms of the verb å gjøre
får / fikk / fått — forms of the verb å få
tar / tok / tatt — forms of the verb å ta
Useful phrases
Jeg er hjemme nå. — I am at home now.
Han gikk til jobb. — He went to work.
Vi har fått en e-post. — We have received an email.
Hun tok bussen i går. — She took the bus yesterday.
Jeg har sett filmen før. — I have seen this film before.
De kom sent hjem. — They came home late.
Han gjorde leksene sine. — He did his homework.
Vi har hatt mye å gjøre. — We have had a lot to do.
Grammar
Irregular verbs do not form their forms according to one simple pattern, so they need to be memorized as a set: infinitive, presens, präteritum, perfektum partisipp. Presens usually describes an action happening now or regularly: «er», «har», «går». Präteritum shows a completed action in the past: «var», «hadde», «gikk», «tok». Perfektum is formed with «har» + perfektum partisipp: «har vært», «har hatt», «har gått», «har fått». In many common verbs, the stem vowel changes, so you cannot always guess the form from the infinitive. It is useful to learn verbs in groups of three right away: «går – gikk – gått», «ser – så – sett», «får – fikk – fått». The verbs «å være» and «å ha» are especially important because they are very common both on their own and in other constructions.
Examples
Jeg er trøtt i dag. — I am tired today.
Hun var hjemme i går. — She was at home yesterday.
Vi har vært i Oslo. — We have been to Oslo.
Jeg har en ny bok. — I have a new book.
Han hadde ikke tid. — He did not have time.
De har hatt møte. — They have had a meeting.
Jeg går til skolen hver dag. — I go to school every day.
Han gikk til jobb klokka åtte. — He went to work at eight o’clock.
Vi har gått mye i dag. — We have walked a lot today.
Hun kommer snart. — She will come soon.
De kom for sent. — They arrived too late.
Jeg har kommet hjem. — I have come home.
Jeg ser på TV nå. — I am watching TV now.
Hun så læreren på skolen. — She saw the teacher at school.
Vi har sett denne serien. — We have seen this series.
Hva gjør du nå? — What are you doing now?
Han gjorde alt alene. — He did everything alone.
Jeg har gjort oppgaven. — I have done the task.
Hun får en melding. — She gets a message.
Vi fikk svar i går. — We received an answer yesterday.
De har fått en ny lærer. — They have got a new teacher.
Jeg tar toget til byen. — I take the train to the city.
Han tok bussen i går. — He took the bus yesterday.
Hun har tatt bilder. — She has taken pictures.