søster
feminine
The Norwegian word for sister is søster. Wiktionary also lists storesøster and lillesøster.
Meaning: woman or girl having the same parents (noun)
Ways to say it
| Norwegian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| søster | feminine | |
| storesøster | feminine | |
| lillesøster | feminine | |
| syster | /²sʏstɛr/ /ˈsʏstər/ |
feminine |
The term refers to a woman or girl who has the same parents as another person.
Which one should you use?
søster is the standard form used in Bokmål, while syster is used in Nynorsk and certain dialects. You may also encounter specific terms like storesøster or lillesøster.
Is it said differently in some regions?
syster is used in Nynorsk and in specific dialects.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of søster is søstre. To create the definite form meaning 'the sister', add the suffix -en to get søsteren. All forms provided are feminine nouns.
Did you know?
- The word søster is used to refer to nurses in a traditional or formal sense, similar to the English 'Sister' in British healthcare.
- The term søsken is used when talking about siblings in general, a single word that covers both brothers and sisters.
- The Norwegian word søster is a cognate of the English word 'sister' and shares a common ancestor in the Proto-Indo-European word *swésōr.
Examples in context
- Ho er syster mi.She's my sister.This sentence is useful for using the form syster.Tatoeba #12597946 by Barend, translation #469126 by CK
- Har du en søster?Do you have a sister?This sentence is useful for using the form søster.Tatoeba #10943239 by Mayk, translation #5429996 by CK
- Har hun en søster?Does she have a sister?Tatoeba #10943242 by Mayk, translation #7284705 by Hybrid
- Min søster er veldig snill.My sister is very kind.
- 24 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Andreas and Ingrid are talking about their families.
- AndreasHvor gammel er søster din?How old is your sister?
- IngridHun er femten år.She is fifteen years old.
- AndreasBor hun i samme by?Does she live in the same city?
- IngridJa, søster min bor her.Yes, my sister lives here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sister” translations and entries søster, storesøster, lillesøster, syster, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries lillesøster, storesøster, syster, søster, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
