Agreement in Norwegian noun phrases

In the pattern:

  Det		Adj		N

both the determiner and the adjective agree with the noun with respect to gender, number and definiteness:

a     Det [Masc]		Adj [Masc]		N [Masc]

b     Det [Fem]	                Adj [Fem]	        N [Fem]

c     Det [Neut]	        Adj [Neut]	        N [Neut]

d     Det [Sing]		Adj [Sing]		N [Sing]

e     Det [Plur]	        Adj [Plur]	        N [Plur]

f     Det [Definite]		Adj [Definite]		 N [Definite]

g     Det [Indefinite]	        Adj [Indefinite]	 N [Indefinite]
		

The following are examples of these patters:

Singular:
a+d+g
en snill gutt
b+d+g
ei snill jente
c+d+g
et stort hus
a+d+f
den snille gutten
b+d+f
den snille jenta
c+d+f
det store huset

Plural:
a+e+g
noen snille gutter
b+e+g
noen snille jenter
c+e+g
noen store hus
a+e+f
de snille guttene
b+e+f
de snille jentene

c+e+f de store husene

Below we show the sentences with glossing showing each part of the words:

en snill gutt ei snill jente et stort hus den snille gutten den snille jenta det store huset noen snille gutter noen snille jenter noen store hus de snille guttene de snille jentene de store husene

Determiners

Determiners as a category comprise articles, demonstrative pronouns and quantifiers. Some of these items are listed below, in the required forms relative to the specification of the noun:

Occurring with a masculine noun

when ‘indefinite singular’: en (article), noen (quantifier, countable), noe (quantifier, non-countable), hver (univ. quantifier), all (quantifier, non-countable)

when ‘indefinite plural’: noen (quantifier), alle (univ.quantifier), ), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

when ‘definite singular’ : den (article or demonstrative), all (quantifier, non-countable), denne (demonstrative)

when ‘definite plural’.: de (article or demonstrative), alle (univ.quantifier), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

Occurring with a feminine noun

– same as for masculine, except for using indefinite singular ei rather then en.

Occurring with a neuter noun

when ‘indefinite singular’: et (article), noe (quantifier, countable), noe (quantifier, non-countable), hvert (univ. quantifier), alt (quantifier, non-countable)

when ‘indefinite plural’: noen (quantifier), alle (univ.quantifier), ), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

when ‘definite singular’ : det (article or demonstrative), alt (quantifier, non-countable), dette (demonstrative)

when ‘definite plural’.: de (article or demonstrative), alle (univ.quantifier), begge (univ. quantifier for two), disse (demonstrative)

The constellations where a (definite) article or demonstrative occurs together with a definite form of the noun (singular or plural) is generally referred to as ‘double definiteness’. Since these manifestations of 'definiteness' can in principle occur independently of each other, we need to distinguish between noun-definiteness and det-definiteness, the former residing in the definite noun suffix, the latter in a definite article, a demonstrative or - to be seen below - a genitive.

Adjectives

When an adjective occurs in the ‘definite’ pattern, it has a so-called weak form, ending in –e.

In the strong form, i.e., when occurring in the indefinite pattern, the adjective has the following inflections:

with a masculine singular noun: -Ø

with a feminine singular noun: -Ø or –a

with a neuter singular noun: -t

with a plural noun, any gender: -e

(As may be be noted, weak form and strong plural form are identical.)