Learn Norwegian: The Norwegian Letters Æ Ø Å

Some Norwegian learners struggle because the Norwegian alphabet has three letters that are not included in the standard 26-letter Latin alphabet. These are the letters Ææ, Øø, and Åå. You must master these three vowels to pronounce many Norwegian words.

Do remember that Ææ, Øø, and Åå are not pronounced the same each time they are used.

Examples of how to use Æ – æ, Ø – ø, Å – å

The letter Æ is usually pronounced as Æ but sometimes pronounced as E. It also can be pronounced with a short or long pronunciation.

Some syllables have the Æ sound in the pronunciation without the written Æ. Examples here are sau (sheep), and Europa (Europe).

Here are the main types of ways to pronounce the letter Æ and the ways you can pronounce other words with a Æ pronunciation:

short Æ: å herme (to mock, to imitate), nærmere (closer)

long Æ: jordbær (strawberry), bær (berry), å lære (to learn), her (here),

short E: væske (liquid

long E: bevæpne (to arm), Cæsar

If there is a double consonant after a vocal then the vocal usually has a short pronunciation in Norwegian. If there is a single consonant after the vocal, the vocal most of the time has a long pronunciation.

However, when the single consonant after the vocal is an “m” the vocal is usually short. For example: Røm! (Escape!) Tøm flasken! (Empty the bottle!)

Here are examples of long and short pronounciation of Ø.

short Ø: bøtte (bucket), øl (beer), nøtt (nut), røm (escape), rømme (sour cream)

long Ø: løve, møte, søt

The letter Åå can also have a short or a long pronunciation. Here are examples of short and long Å pronunciation:

short Å: åtte (eight), flom (flood), som (that), brått (suddenly), Spotify

long Å: låt (tune), båt (boat), små (small), våt (wet)

Note that you may install or add the Norwegian keyboard to your smartphone to enter the letters æ, ø, and å. You may also copy and paste these letters as needed.