How to Say "But" in Norwegian

bortsett fra

The Norwegian word for 'but' (in the sense of 'except') is bortsett fra. Wiktionary also lists unntatt and foruten.

Meaning: except (conj)

Ways to say it

The phrase bortsett fra literally translates to 'aside from' or 'set aside from'.

A common mistake for English learners is to use the Norwegian word for 'but' (the contrastive 'men') when they actually mean 'except' (the exclusionary 'bortsett fra').
The word foruten can mean 'except' but also carries an archaic meaning of 'in addition to' in older literature.
In colloquial Norwegian, people often omit the formal phrase and use utenom to mean 'except for' when talking about people or specific objects.

Det var ingen der bortsett fra dem.
There was no one there but them.
This sentence shows how to use bortsett fra to indicate a single exception to a group.
Tatoeba #12268147 by augine, translation #3919175 by CH
Jeg liker å sykle, men jeg hater å løpe.
I like cycling, but I hate running.
Du har gjort en god jobb, men du må forbedre deg enda mer.
You have done a good job, but you need to improve even further.
Men den pizzaen der ser utrolig god ut!
But that pizza looks incredibly delicious!
Jeg er veldig sliten, likevel gidder jeg ikke å legge meg tidlig.
I'm really tired, yet/still I don't feel like going to bed early.
Det regner, dog tror jeg vi bør gå en tur likevel.
It's raining, however, I think we should still go for a walk.
Jeg liker alle frukter bortsett fra banan.
I like all fruits except banana.
Alle kom på festen bortsett fra ham.
Everyone came to the party except him.

Sofie and Kristoffer are talking about their weekend plans.

Sofie

Jeg er ledig hele lørdagen bortsett fra klokken to.
I am free all Saturday except at two o'clock.
Kristoffer

Det går fint, vi kan møtes etter det.
That is fine, we can meet after that.
Sofie

Hva vil du gjøre?
What do you want to do?
Kristoffer

La oss gå på kino.
Let's go to the cinema.

Sources

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