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A verb tells something about what is happening or the action taken. Associated with a verb is the tense of the verb. Norwegian verbs can use one of four tenses: presens, preteritum, futurum and perfektum.
But before we can start learning about verbs with tenses let us look at the infinitiv form of the verb. The infinitiv form is the dictionary form of the verb. So whenever you read verbs in a dictionary you will find them in this form. Below are some verbs in their infinitive form.
| Norwegian | English |
| å lese | to read |
| å reise | to travel |
| å kjøpe | to shop |
| å lage | to make |
| å sparke | to kick |
| å gjøre | to do |
| å gå | to go |
| å feire | to celebrate |
Now that you know about the infinitive form of the Norwegian verbs, let us continue learning about the tenses of Norwegian verbs beginning with the present tense.
Presens (Present Tense)
A Norwegian verb in the presens could indicate something that:
1) is happening now.
2) which happens often.
3) which happens always.
Note that the presens form is created by adding a r to the infinitiv as below.
| Infinitiv | Presense | Example | English |
| å lese | leser | Han leser nå. | He reads now. |
| å reise | reiser | Hun reiser i dag. | She travels today. |
| å kjøpe | kjøper | Jeg kjøper is akkurat nå. | I buy ice cream just now. |
| å lage | lager | Han lager middag nå. | He makes dinner now. |
| å sparke | sparker | De sparker fotball nå. | They kick football now. |
| å gjøre | gjør | Hun gjør leksene sine nå. | She does her lessons now. |
| å gå | går | Vi går på ski i dag. | We go to ski today. |
| å feire | feirer | De feirer i Italia nå. | They celebrate in Italy now. |
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