Subject-Verb Inversion in Norwegian

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Subject-Verb Inversion

The subject can occur behind the first verb in a main clause in the following cases:

(1) Main clause yes-no-question:

Hoppet du?

“did you jump?”

Hoppet
hoppe	t
jump	PRET
V

du?

2SG

PN

(2) Main clause constituent question:

Hva skjenket du henne?

“what did you give her?”

Hva

hva

whatNEUTSGQ

PROint

skjenket
skjenke	t
give	PRET
V

du

2SGNOM

PN

henne?

3SGFEMACC

PN

(3) Fronted adverbial in declarative main clause:

Idag har hun hoppet langt.

“today she has jumped far”

Idag

idag

today

ADVtemp

har
ha	r
have	PRES
AUX

hun

3SGFEM

PN

hoppet
hoppe	t
jump	PRFPTCP
V

langt

ADV

(4) Topicalized noun phrase in declarative main clause:

Gaver skjenket hun ham hver dag.

“gifts she gave him every day”

Gaver
gave	r
gift	PL
N

skjenket
skjenke	t
give	PRET
V

hun

she3SGFEMNOM

N

ham

3SGMASCACC

PN

hver

everyCOMMSG

QUANT

dag

day

N

In all cases the subject is moved behind the finite verb; this is generally referred to as Subject-Verb Inversion. In (1) this is all that happens, while in the other cases, an element is 'fronted', so to say taking over the original place of the subject.