Norwegian (Nynorsk) style guide¶
Write natural Nynorsk with the house voice and the terminology used in the product. Nynorsk has its own grammar and vocabulary; editing a Bokmål text by substitution is not enough. Check forms in Nynorskordboka. Use the shared localization review for factual accuracy, accessibility and testing.
Address and meaning¶
Address the reader as du, with deg and the appropriate possessive. Use vi for an action the organization actually performs. Keep the actor visible where it matters, including an application that writes or deletes a file. Calm, direct wording suits errors and warnings; marketing can vary its rhythm without adding unsupported claims.
Use familiar, precise language. Kan conveys possibility or permission, bør a recommendation, and må a requirement. Do not turn an opportunity into permission or information into help simply because a shorter word is available. Følgjeleg expresses a consequence; it does not mean neste. Bruke is a useful house choice, but nytte is not intrinsically incorrect.
Keep the complete meaning of the source: quantities, conditions, temporary limits, actors and data categories. Datamaskinnamn is a computer name, not a person's name. Asking for personal and domain information still requires both categories after translation. Technical vocabulary belongs where readers need the distinction; avoid both unexplained jargon and vague substitutes.
Use idioms only when they preserve intent and tone. Keep factual names and currencies, and use clearly fictional people or organizations for sample data where appropriate. Do not adopt an old supplier's campaigns, English word-choice lists or cultural generalizations as Norwegian rules.
People and ownership¶
Use accurate role names such as administrator or møteleiar. An inclusive rewrite must preserve access rights and whose information changes: Administratorar med nødvendig tilgang kan endre passorda til andre brukarar. Entering an existing password is a different operation from setting or changing one.
Use a person's stated pronouns. For an unspecified person, use a role name, direct address or hen where suitable. Hen serves as subject and object; hens expresses possession. These forms are accepted in both Norwegian written standards. See Språkrådet on hen. Do not replace a single person with a group if the number matters.
Grammatical gender is separate from a person's gender. In Nynorsk, han can refer to a masculine noun and ho to a feminine noun, including objects. A feminine noun such as fil does not become neuter merely because it denotes data. Repeat the noun when a pronoun's reference would be unclear.
Possessives commonly follow the definite noun: kontoen din, fila di, dokumentet ditt, filene dine. A preceding possessive can emphasize contrast. Mappa til Noor and Noor si mappe can both express ownership. S-genitives remain valid in proper names and certain other constructions; they are not banned from Nynorsk. Choose a preposition according to the relationship, not automatically til. See Språkrådet on genitives.
For an arbitrary owner name, mappa til {name} avoids generating a possessive ending from unknown text. It still needs an unambiguous owner. Preserve the difference between reflexive sin, si, sitt, sine and another person's possession.
Forms, agreement and variables¶
Choose accepted forms consistently. This page uses vi, e-infinitives such as å lagre, and bli. Other valid choices include me, a-infinitives and the system called kløyvd infinitiv. That last term concerns infinitive endings, not an adverb between å and a verb. See Språkrådet's consistency guidance.
Nynorsk has masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. Check the actual noun rather than deriving its gender or plural from Bokmål.
| Context | Example |
|---|---|
| Masculine singular | ein tenar; tenaren |
| Masculine plural | tenarar; tenarane |
| Feminine singular | ei fil; fila |
| Feminine plural | filer; filene |
| Neuter singular | eit dokument; dokumentet |
| Neuter plural | dokument; dokumenta |
| New file | ei ny fil; den nye fila |
| New document | eit nytt dokument; det nye dokumentet |
| New plural | dei nye filene; dei nye dokumenta |
The digital noun fil has plural filer, filene, as shown in Nynorskordboka. Use 1 fil, 2 filer, 1 dokument, 2 dokument for these counts. Do not use filane or append an English plural s. Keep the correct gender in a longer phrase too: ei oppstartbar USB-eining.
Strong participles normally agree: Teksten er skriven., Brevet er skrive., Tekstane er skrivne. Weak participles must agree before a noun; after vere, bli or verte, agreement is optional. Choose one consistent pattern for weak predicative participles. Check exceptional forms in the dictionary rather than extending a pattern to every verb.
A role can appear without an article: som administrator. Do not turn a singular object into a plural merely to avoid an article. For a known filename token, Fila «{filename}» er lagra. supplies the grammatical noun. A token representing different object types needs full phrases or separate variants, not a fallback neuter article.
Do not expose parenthetical endings in an interval: use kvar dag, kvar veke or kvart år as appropriate. Test zero, one, several and any supported fractional counts. Keep token names, escaping and parser syntax exact; check long names and punctuation in the actual message and layout. Follow the shared message guidance.
Compounds and abbreviations¶
Join ordinary compounds: filnamn, skriftstorleik, brukarkonto. Keep established linking letters; do not copy English word spacing. If a long compound obscures the relationship, use a clear phrase.
Use a hyphen where the construction requires one, as in USB-port, A4-format and e-post. 10 filer is an ordinary quantity, not a compound. An abbreviation can take a hyphen before an inflectional ending, as in PC-en. Check established forms and exceptions instead of applying one pattern to every loan or acronym. See Språkrådet on hyphens.
Explain unfamiliar abbreviations when readers need them. Til dømes and og så vidare can be clearer than t.d. and osv. in short guidance. Preserve the approved case of technical names and identifiers: OpenType, UTF-8, kB. Not every acronym is uppercase or pronounced letter by letter.
Instructions and message states¶
Use an imperative for a step: Opne fila., Vel ei mappe., Lagre fila. Use the exact wording of an existing control when referring to it. An action noun ending in -ing is not an imperative; do not use nominalizations to make a procedure sound formal.
| State | Example |
|---|---|
| Command | Lagre fila. |
| In progress | Lagring av fila er i gang. |
| Complete | Fila er lagra. |
| Past failure | Fila kunne ikkje lagrast. |
| Current limitation | Fila kan ikkje lagrast. |
Keep these states distinct. A past failure does not establish a permanent limitation, and a progress message does not announce completion. Add a verified cause and useful recovery where available. Noko gjekk gale. is grammatical but less useful than an explanation of what failed. Do not invent the cause or guarantee a retry will succeed.
Present passive normally uses bli or verte with a participle. After a modal, an infinitive passive in -ast is possible: kan lagrast. Do not treat a bare lagrast as the general present-tense passive. Lexical verbs ending in -st require their own analysis. See Språkrådet on active and passive.
Prefer an active construction when it clarifies who acts. Keep passive wording when the actor is unknown or unimportant. Preserve resource and error distinctions: minne differs from lagringsplass, and ugyldig differs from manglar. A warning must retain its consequence and trigger. Choose Merk, Tips or Åtvaring by function; do not add automatic exclamation marks. Follow interface feedback.
Choose prepositions for the relationship: location, movement, source and purpose are not interchangeable. A short adverb can follow å, as in å ikkje lagre fila. Check the scope of negation in the complete sentence rather than imposing a split-infinitive ban. Språkrådet explains the alternatives.
Capitalization and punctuation¶
Use sentence case for new headings and controls. Keep weekday, month and language names lowercase in ordinary prose. Preserve exact case and ellipses in existing labels and product names. Uppercase Norwegian retains its letters: ÆØÅ, ÅTVARING. Use formatting to distinguish a literal label from surrounding prose.
Follow Norwegian clause punctuation. A preceding subordinate clause takes a comma: Når fila er lagra, kan du lukke vindauget. A simple list uses namn, storleik og dato. Do not add a comma after every introductory phrase or between every pair of actions. See Språkrådet's comma rules.
Use «…» for typographic quotations. Preserve straight quotes in literal code. Use a colon for an explanation or list where the grammar supports it. Complete sentences take full stops; parallel fragments need consistent treatment. Keep the normal markers in numbered lists.
Prefer a colon to a parenthetical dash. Space a dash used for an aside, but keep a range unspaced: sidene 3–6. A mathematical minus is a different sign. Do not add an ellipsis to every command; retain one when it belongs to the actual label.
Numbers and spacing¶
Use a decimal comma in ordinary values: 12,5, 0,5. Group large numbers with spaces: 10 250,75; grouping four-digit numbers is optional. Use nonbreaking spaces where groups should stay together and before units or percent signs: 12,5 mm, 50 %, −18 °C. See Språkrådet on spacing and percent signs.
Use digits for measurements, dynamic counts and exact interface values. Preserve magnitude, unit and currency: 1 250 kr must not silently become another currency. Keep required formats for years, versions, identifiers and machine input; 1.2.0 remains a version string.
Make dates clear: 13. september 2026. Numeric ordinals take a full stop. Keep the time format consistent and include the time zone where needed. Use og in ordinary prose, while retaining literal symbols in names, formulas and code. Test rendered and spoken output instead of banning nonbreaking spaces or mathematical signs online.
Keyboard wording and speech¶
Use key names for the actual platform and keyboard layout. Piltastar, venstrepil, høgrepil, pil opp and pil ned are local terms. Other keys may be labeled Retur or Enter. Verify access keys, shortcuts, focus and numeric-keypad requirements in the product; do not rely on an old supplier catalog.
Use Vel for input-independent selection instructions when selection is the action. Keep Klikk or a specific gesture when the task depends on it. Provide meaningful accessible names; replacing every symbol or every device-specific instruction does not establish accessibility.
Use natural Norwegian pronunciation and an approved reading of names. Read every character needed to reproduce a URL, command or version, including a meaningful punktum. Align narration with the action without forcing a new sentence for every screen change. Follow the shared audiovisual guidance.