Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• værene

Noun

væra n

1. definite plural of vær (Etymology 2)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse vera. Cognate with Nynorsk, Icelandic and Faroese vera, Swedish vara and Danish være.

Verb

(Until 2005) væra (present tense er; past tense var; past participle vært)

1. To be.

Usage notes

Since kløyvd infinitiv (lit. “split infinitive”, should however not be confused with split infinitive) was removed from the official spelling rules in july of 2005, væra is no longer considered correct (see være). However, it may still appear and is still in use in the spoken dialects of Eastern Norway. Most verb infinitives in Bokmål end in -e. The kløyvd infinitiv system allowed a few of them to end in -a instead.

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• været

Verb

væra

1. simple past of være (Etymology 2)
2. past participle of være (Etymology 2)

Scanian

Alternative forms

• vara

Etymology

From Old Norse vera, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʋàː]

Verb

væra ‎(preterite singular var, supine væreð)

1. to be

   Sílðen var stórer í sǫmmar var.‎

   The herrings were large last summer.

Conjugation

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