hva
/ʋɑː/
The English word "what" translates to Norwegian as hva. Wiktionary also lists kva.
Meaning: what? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
Ways to say it
| Norwegian | IPA |
|---|---|
| hva | /ʋɑː/ |
| kva | /kvaː/ |
hva is an interrogative pronoun. If you are asking to identify a specific type or kind of thing, you should use hva for en instead. For questions involving a specific choice or selection, such as "which" or "what kind of" in English, use hvilken or hvilket.
Which one should you use?
hva is used for general questions, while hva for en is used when asking to identify a specific type or kind of thing. To ask about a specific selection, hvilken and hvilket are used to mean "which" or "what kind of".
Is it said differently in some regions?
The form kva is used in many Norwegian dialects, particularly in Nynorsk and certain spoken dialects, whereas hva is the standard Bokmål form.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
/ʋɑː/
Did you know?
- Norwegian uses hva in the phrase hva så, which doesn't ask 'what then' but acts as a casual greeting similar to 'what's up'.
- In many Norwegian dialects, the 'h' is completely dropped, and the word 'what' is pronounced as if it were spelled å.
- The word hva shares the exact same ancient ancestor as the English word 'what', tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷod.
Examples in context
- Hva ser du på?What are you looking at?This sentence shows how to use hva in a question.Tatoeba #2882070 by eirik174, translation #16256 by CK
- Hva vil du nå?What do you want now?This sentence shows how to use hva to ask about a desire.Tatoeba #2882073 by eirik174, translation #16275 by CK
- Kva sit du på?What are you sitting on?This sentence shows the use of the dialectal form kva.Tatoeba #8139951 by vikvaering, translation #3222983 by CK
- Hva heter du?What is your name?
- Hæ sa du?What did you say?
- 618 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Magnus and Sofie are in a kitchen together.
- MagnusHva lager du?What are you making?
- SofieJeg lager middag.I am making dinner.
- MagnusHva er det til middag?What is it for dinner?
- SofieDet er fisk.It is fish.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “what” translations and entries hva, kva, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hva, kva, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
