bror
/bruːr/masculine
The Norwegian word for brother is bror. Wiktionary also lists broder.
Meaning: male sibling (noun)
Ways to say it
| Norwegian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| bror | /bruːr/ | masculine |
| broder | masculine |
bror is a masculine noun used to refer to a male sibling. You can specify the age of a brother by placing the words eldre (older) or yngre (younger) before it. For example, min bror means my brother, din bror means your brother and hans bror means his brother.
Which one should you use?
While both bror and broder mean brother, bror is the standard, most common term used in everyday Norwegian. broder is a more formal or archaic form, often found in older literature or used in religious contexts, such as in the title Broder Johannes.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate a specific brother (the brother), you add the suffix -en to the stem to form broren. The plural indefinite form (brothers) is brødre.
How do you pronounce it?
/bruːr/
Did you know?
- In Norwegian, the word bror is used metaphorically in the term blodbror to describe a 'blood brother' who has sworn a lifelong bond of loyalty.
- Although bror is the common word, the more formal broder is still used in Norway to refer to members of a Masonic lodge.
- The change from the singular bror to the plural brødre is an example of 'umlaut', a common linguistic feature in Germanic languages.
Examples in context
- Han er min bror.He's my brother.This sentence is useful for identifying someone as a bror.Tatoeba #2935245 by eirik174, translation #757405 by sctld
- Eg har éin bror.I have one brother.This sentence is useful for stating the number of bror one has.Tatoeba #12602134 by Barend, translation #256071 by CK
- Tom har éin bror.Tom has one brother.This sentence is useful for stating that Tom has one bror.Tatoeba #12479565 by Just_Some_Guy, translation #3168110 by CK
- Dette er min bror.This is my brother.
- min eldre brorMy older brother
- min yngre brorMy younger brother
- 47 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Magnus and Ingrid are talking about their family at a cafe.
- MagnusHar du en bror?Do you have a brother?
- IngridJa, jeg har en bror.Yes, I have a brother.
- MagnusEr broren din eldre?Is your brother older?
- IngridNei, han er yngre enn meg.No, he is younger than me.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “brother” translations and entries bror, broder, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
