Learn the Norwegian Alphabet
Det norske alfabetet
Learn to read the Norwegian Alphabet (Det norske alfabetet): all 29 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.
| Letter | Name | Latin letters | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | A | a | a as in father, long (mat) or short (katt) |
| B b | Be | b | b as in bed |
| C c | Se | c | s before e, i, y (cello); k elsewhere (camping); only in names and loanwords |
| D d | De | d | d as in dog; often silent at the end of a word or after l, n, r (land 'lann') |
| E e | E | e | long e is a pure 'ay' with no glide (se); short e is like e in bed (penn); unstressed e at the end is a soft 'uh' (jente) |
| F f | Eff | f | f as in fish |
| G g | Ge | g | hard g as in go (gate); like y in yes before i and y (gi 'yi'); gj is also y (gjøre) |
| H h | Hå | h | h as in hat; silent before j and v (hva 'va') |
| I i | I | i | long ee as in see (vin); short i as in sit (fisk) |
| J j | Je | j | y as in yes, never the English j (ja) |
| K k | Kå | k | k as in kite (katt); before i and y, and in kj, it becomes a soft hissing 'ç' like a whispered h in 'huge' (kino) |
| L l | Ell | l | l as in lamp |
| M m | Emm | m | m as in man |
| N n | Enn | n | n as in no; ng is one sound as in sing (lang) |
| O o | O | o | often oo as in moon (bok); sometimes a pure 'oh' or o as in hot (sove, ost) |
| P p | Pe | p | p as in pen |
| Q q | Ku | q | k as in kite; only in names and loanwords |
| R r | Ærr | r | tapped r (rød); rs, rt, rd, rn, rl melt into one sound (norsk sounds like 'nosjk') |
| S s | Ess | s | s as in sun; sj and skj are sh (sjø), and so is sk before i and y (ski 'shee') |
| T t | Te | t | t as in top; silent in det and the ending -et (huset 'huse') |
| U u | U | u | a tight 'ee' with rounded lips, between English oo and German ü (hus) |
| V v | Ve | v | v as in van |
| W w | Dobbel-ve | w | the same v sound as V; only in names and loanwords |
| X x | Eks | x | ks as in box (taxi); s at the start of a word (xylofon); rare, since Norwegian usually writes ks |
| Y y | Y | y | say ee while rounding your lips, like German ü (ny); always a vowel |
| Z z | Sett | z | a plain s as in sun; only in loanwords |
| Æ æ | Æ | æ | a as in cat, long or short (være) |
| Ø ø | Ø | ø | say 'ay' with rounded lips, like German ö or French eu (øre) |
| Å å | Å | å | like oa in oar (båt); short like o in hot (åtte); written aa in older names |
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