Regular adjectives
The adjectives with a regular inflection come in five major classes, which will be introduced in the tables below.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| turr1 | turt | turre | turrare | turrast | turraste | ||
| dry | drier | driest | (the) driest | ||||
- 1:The parallel form tørr is more common in use, while turr is the traditional form.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| norsk | norske | meir norsk | mest norsk | den/det mest norske | |||
| Norwegian | more Norwegian | most Norwegian | the most Norwegian | ||||
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| direkte | meir direkte | mest direkte | den/det mest direkte | ||||
| direct | more direct | most direct | the most direct | ||||
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vaken | vake or vakent | vakne | meir vaken | mest vaken | den/det mest vakne | ||
| awake | more awake | most awake | the most awake | ||||
Note that the -are, -ast, -aste comparative and superlative inflection may also be used for this class. It might vary from adjective to adjective which inflection is the most common one.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| frosen | frose | frosne | meir frosen | mest frosen | den/det mest frosne | ||
| frozen | more frozen | most frozen | the most frozen | ||||
What separates a5 from a4, is that a5 is derived from the past participles of verbs. Just as with a4, the -are, -ast, -aste comparative and superlative inflection may also be used for this class.
Irregular adjectives
Several adjectives have an irregular inflection. Note, however, that parts of their inflection typically are regular.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stor | stort | store | større | størst | største | ||
| large | larger | largest | (the) largest | ||||
In this case, the irregularity is the fact that the root vowel changes (o → ø) while the -are, -ast(e) suffixes are not used.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gam(m)al | gam(m)alt | gamle | eldre | eldst | eldste | ||
| old | older | oldest | (the) oldest | ||||
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| god | godt | gode | betre | best | beste | ||
| good | better | best | (the) best | ||||
This adjective was highly irregular (just as with the previous one, the root isn't kept for the last forms), but, the irregularity is almost identical to the English one!
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| liten | lita | lite | litle or vesle | små or småe | mindre | minst | minste |
| little | smaller | smallest | (the) smallest | ||||
This adjective also has some similarity with its English counterpart, but it is, nonetheless, inflected in quite a different manner.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mykje | meir | mest | det/den mest | ||||
| much | more | most | the most | ||||
| masculine | feminine | neuter | definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ung | ungt | unge | yngre | yngst | yngste | ||
| young | younger | youngest | (the) youngest | ||||
| definite singular | plural | comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| få or fåe | få or fåe | færre | færrast | færraste |
| few | fewer | fewest | (the) fewest | |
| comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|
| verre | verst | verste |
| worse | worst | (the) worst |
This adjective can be employed as degree forms of vond and dårleg (both meaning, among other things, "bad"), although both those adjectives have such forms of their own.
| comparative | indef. superlative | def. superlative |
|---|---|---|
| øvre | øvst | øvste |
| upper | upmost | (the) upmost |
Note the regularity of the defininte superlative being equal to indefinite superlative + e, just as with e.g. a1 (for all adjectives not employing det/den).