localize-no

Translate to Norwegian (no) — High-Fidelity Skill

Scope & Variants — CRITICAL

Norway has TWO official written standards, both required by law to be supported by government:

Locale	Name	Speakers using daily	Use case	Closest cousin
`nb` / `no`	Bokmål ("book language")	~85-90%	Default for software, business, news, mainstream media	Danish (historical)
`nn`	Nynorsk ("new Norwegian")	~10-15%	Western Norway counties, education in some regions, mandated government parity	Western dialects + Old Norse

These are not dialects — they are two distinct written standards. Words, spellings, grammar, and idioms differ. Mixing them within a single text is a critical error.

no locale code is conventionally Bokmål (since Bokmål is the dominant variant), but to be explicit, prefer nb for Bokmål and nn for Nynorsk.

When the target locale is unspecified

Always ask on first use if the user requests just "Norwegian":

Norwegian has two official written standards. Which one should I target?

Bokmål (nb / no, Recommended) — Used by ~85-90% of Norwegians. Standard for software, business, mainstream media. Closer to Danish historically.

Nynorsk (nn) — Used by ~10-15%. Mandated for some government and education contexts. Structurally distinct (jeg→eg, ikke→ikkje, hva→kva).

Both (parity localization) — Some products legally require both. I'll deliver Bokmål + Nynorsk side-by-side.

Default to Bokmål if no answer.

Bokmål vs Nynorsk — core lexical/grammatical differences

The Bokmål-vs-Nynorsk delta is everywhere, not just a few cosmetic word swaps. Below is the high-frequency core. If you've been asked for Nynorsk, you MUST apply ALL of these — not just some:

English	Bokmål	Nynorsk
I	jeg	eg
not	ikke	ikkje
what	hva	kva
how	hvordan	korleis
who	hvem	kven
where	hvor	kvar
why	hvorfor	kvifor
when	når	når (same)
some / someone	noen / noen	nokon / nokon
something	noe	noko
nothing	ingenting	ingenting / inkje
we	vi	vi (same)
me / us	meg / oss	meg / oss (same)
you (sg.)	du	du (same)
your	din/ditt/dine	din/ditt/dine (same)
have / had	har / hadde	har / hadde (same)
be / was	er / var	er / var (same)
to do / does	å gjøre / gjør	å gjere / gjer
from	fra	frå
their	deres	deira
many	mange	mange (same)
use / uses	bruke / bruker	bruke / brukar
save / saves	lagre / lagrer	lagre / lagrar
open / opens	åpne / åpner	opne / opnar
close / closes	lukke / lukker	lukke / lukkar (or stengje)
would	ville	ville / skulle
can / could	kan / kunne	kan / kunne (same)
-tion suffix	-sjon (informasjon)	-sjon (informasjon) (mostly same)
present tense ending	-er (lagrer, åpner)	-ar / -er (lagrar, kjem) — verb-class dependent

Verb endings are the biggest tell: Bokmål's -er ending on most present-tense verbs becomes Nynorsk's -ar for a-class verbs (lagrar, klikkar, brukar). For e-class verbs, both stay -er (kjem, gjer).

Whole-sentence Bokmål vs Nynorsk comparison

English	Bokmål	Nynorsk
I don't know what to do.	Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal gjøre.	Eg veit ikkje kva eg skal gjere.
Save your changes.	Lagre endringene dine.	Lagre endringane dine.
The file was not found.	Filen ble ikke funnet.	Fila vart ikkje funnen.
Click here to continue.	Klikk her for å fortsette.	Klikk her for å halde fram.
How do I sign in?	Hvordan logger jeg inn?	Korleis loggar eg inn?
We can help you.	Vi kan hjelpe deg.	Vi kan hjelpe deg. (same)
Are you sure?	Er du sikker?	Er du sikker? (same)

Notice: even when whole sentences look similar, every short word (jeg/eg, ikke/ikkje, hva/kva, hvordan/korleis) shifts. Mixing is immediately visible to native speakers.

Register Auto-Detection (Apply Before Translating)

Norwegian is extremely informal by default. The De form (formal singular "you") is so archaic that even royalty are addressed as du in modern contexts. Norwegian society is famously egalitarian, and this is enforced in software UI.

Auto-detect from source:

Source signal	Target register (Bokmål or Nynorsk — same principle)
Casual / conversational (`Hey!`, contractions, emoji, marketing voice)	Casual du — direct verbs, short sentences, avoid literary vocabulary (`forbli` → `bli værende`).
Neutral product UI / docs (DEFAULT)	Neutral du — du throughout, imperative buttons, present-tense status.
Legal / banking / government	Formal du — still `du`, but use full forms, prefer s-passive or impersonal `man`, no contractions.

Hard rule: NEVER use De / Deres in modern Norwegian UI. It is virtually extinct. Even formal Norwegian government communication uses du today.

Hard rule: source register matching for vocabulary — if source is casual English (stay, countless, ship), do NOT elevate to literary Norwegian (forbli, utallige, leveres). Match the register.

Critical Hard Rules (Severity ≥ 2.0 — Auto-Fail If Wrong)

1. NEVER mix Bokmål and Nynorsk (severity 2.5)

Pick one written standard and stay consistent throughout the entire string set. A single eg in a Bokmål translation, or a single jeg in Nynorsk, is an immediate quality failure.

Detection test: if your translation contains BOTH jeg/eg or BOTH ikke/ikkje or BOTH hva/kva, you've mixed. Pick one column.

2. Hybrid-compound verb anti-pattern (Norwegian prefix + English stem) — REJECT (severity 2.5)

A common AI translation failure: bolt a Norwegian verbal prefix (av-, fra-, ut-, opp-, inn-) onto a raw English root (link, sync, share, stream, pair, merge, push) to produce a non-word.

✗ Wrong (hybrid)	✓ Correct (Bokmål)	✓ Correct (Nynorsk)
`avlinke` / `avlinket`	koble fra / frakoblet	kople frå / frakopla
`avsynce`	synkronisere / fjerne synkronisering	synkronisere
`delee` / `delete` (as Norwegian verb)	slette	slette
`pairee`	pare sammen / koble sammen	para saman / kople saman
`mergee`	slå sammen	slå saman
`pushee`	sende inn / pushe (git context only)	sende inn
`downloade`	laste ned	laste ned
`uploade`	laste opp	laste opp
`cancele`	avbryte	avbryte
`updatee`	oppdatere	oppdatere

Verification test: if you used a Norwegian prefix + an English-looking stem, check Norwegian dictionaries (Bokmålsordboka or Nynorskordboka) before accepting it. Standard Norwegian has native forms for virtually every IT concept.

A few attested loans that are acceptable: streame, chatte, mejle (rare; usually e-poste or just sende e-post), googler, tweete. These have entered the language. Their hybrid prefixed forms generally have not.

3. Gender — `en` / `ei` / `et` (3 genders, feminine often optional) (severity 2.0)

Norwegian Bokmål has three grammatical genders, but feminine is optional — feminine nouns can usually be inflected as masculine:

Gender	Indefinite	Definite	Bokmål example
Masculine (en)	en bil	bilen	en bil → bilen
Feminine (ei)	ei bok	boka	ei bok → boka
Feminine treated as masculine (acceptable)	en bok	boken	en bok → boken
Neuter (et)	et hus	huset	et hus → huset

Common IT nouns and their gender (Bokmål):

en (masc.)	et (neuter)
en fil (file)	et system (system)
en mappe (folder)	et konto (account) — wait: konto is `et`, account
en plattform (platform)	et problem (problem)
en app (app)	et passord (password)
en knapp (button)	et nettverk (network)
en innstilling (setting)	et dokument (document)
en bruker (user)	et alternativ (option)
en lenke (link)	et navn (name)
en side (page)	et tema (theme)
en oppdatering (update)	et kort (card)
en feil (error)	et felt (field)
en e-post (email)	et nettsted (website)
en konto — WAIT: it's `en konto` in some, `et konto` in others; ATTESTED: en konto is common in Bokmål too, but et konto is the older norm. Modern Bokmål dictionaries list both en konto and et konto. Default to en konto for consistency with sv.

Two-gender system (masculine + neuter only, no feminine) is acceptable in Bokmål UI. Many modern Norwegian UI uses two-gender for simplicity. Choose one approach and stay consistent within the translation.

Nynorsk uses three genders strictly — feminine is NOT optional in Nynorsk. ei bok → boka always (not en bok → boken).

4. Adjective agreement — indefinite + definite forms (severity 1.5)

Subject	Form	Bokmål example	Nynorsk example
en-noun (masc.) indef. sg.	base	en stor fil	ei stor fil (fem.) / ein stor fil (masc.)
et-noun (neuter) indef. sg.	-t	et stort system	eit stort system
Plural (indef.)	-e	store filer	store filer (same)
Definite (sg./pl., either gender)	-e	den store filen / det store systemet	den store fila / det store systemet

Irregular: liten (small) → lite (neuter) / små (plural). Same in both standards. Irregular: gammel → gammelt / gamle (Bokmål); gammal → gammalt / gamle (Nynorsk).

5. Definite article — suffix vs free article (severity 1.5)

When a definite noun has a preceding adjective, Norwegian uses double definiteness (like Swedish, but slightly looser).

✗ Wrong	✓ Correct (Bokmål)	✓ Correct (Nynorsk)
store filen	den store filen	den store fila
nye systemet	det nye systemet	det nye systemet
ny filer	nye filer	nye filer

6. V2 word order (verb in position 2 of main clauses) (severity 2.0)

Same as Swedish/German/Danish.

✗ Wrong	✓ Correct (Bokmål)	✓ Correct (Nynorsk)
I dag brukeren lagrer filen	I dag lagrer brukeren filen	I dag lagrar brukaren fila
Nå systemet laster data	Nå laster systemet data	No lastar systemet data
Etter innlogging du kan endre	Etter innlogging kan du endre	Etter innlogging kan du endre

7. Subordinate clause word order — subject before verb (severity 1.5)

Like Swedish, subordinate clauses (introduced by at/som/fordi/når/om/mens) have subject before verb, and adverbs like ikke/ikkje go between them.

Clause type	Pattern	Bokmål example
Main (V2)	Subj + Verb + Adv + Obj	`Brukeren lagrer ikke filen.`
Subordinate	Subj + Adv + Verb + Obj	`…fordi brukeren ikke lagrer filen.`

8. Negation placement (severity 1.5)

Context	Pattern	Bokmål	Nynorsk
Main clause	Verb + ikke/ikkje	`Filen lagres ikke.`	`Fila vert ikkje lagra.`
Subordinate clause	ikke/ikkje + Verb	`…fordi filen ikke lagres.`	`…fordi fila ikkje vert lagra.`

9. Compound words — write as ONE word (severity 1.5)

Same principle as Swedish, but generally less politically charged. Still required.

✗ Wrong (split)	✓ Correct (joined)	English
`data base`	`database`	database
`bruker grensesnitt`	`brukergrensesnitt`	user interface
`pass ord`	`passord`	password
`bok hylle`	`bokhylle`	bookshelf
`bilde kvalitet`	`bildekvalitet`	image quality

Hyphens only for:

Acronym + Norwegian word: IT-firma, 25-årig.
Compounds with foreign words/brands: Google-konto, iPhone-en.

Gender of compound = gender of the LAST element.

10. Comma rules — `og` / `eller` vs `men` / `for` (severity 1.0)

No comma before coordinating og (and), eller (or).
Comma before contrastive men (but), for (because).
Comma before subordinating conjunctions.

11. Special characters `æ ø å` (Bokmål/Nynorsk) — NEVER strip (severity 3.0)

These are letters, not diacritics. Stripping or replacing them with ae oe aa is a critical failure.

år (year), øy (island), æsj (interjection) — replacing these makes the words unrecognizable to native readers.

12. ICU plurals — `one` + `other` (severity 1.5)

Norwegian has two CLDR plural categories.

{count, plural,
  one {# fil}
  other {# filer}
}

Nynorsk version:

{count, plural,
  one {# fil}
  other {# filer}
}

(Same forms here — fil/filer is consistent. For verbs and definite plurals, Bokmål/Nynorsk diverge: see delta table.)

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

English	Bokmål	Nynorsk
I	jeg	eg
you (sg.)	du	du
he	han	han
she	hun	ho
it (masc./fem.)	den	den / ho (fem.)
it (neuter)	det	det
gender-neutral 3rd person (rare)	hen (rising)	(less established in Nynorsk)
we	vi	vi
you (pl.)	dere	de
they	de / dem	dei
reflexive	seg	seg

Possessive (agrees with possessed noun)

Person	masc. (en)	neut. (et)	plural
min (my) — Bokmål	min	mitt	mine
min (my) — Nynorsk	min	mitt	mine (same)
din (your sg.) — Bokmål	din	ditt	dine
din (your sg.) — Nynorsk	din	ditt	dine (same)
hans (his)	hans (invariable)	hans	hans
hennes (her) — Bokmål	hennes (invariable)	hennes	hennes
hennar (her) — Nynorsk	hennar	hennar	hennar
sin/sitt/sine (reflexive)	sin	sitt	sine
vår (our)	vår	vårt	våre
deres (their) — Bokmål	deres (invariable)	deres	deres
deira (their) — Nynorsk	deira (invariable)	deira	deira

Reflexive sin/sitt/sine: used when the possessor is the subject of the same clause (same as Swedish, German, etc.).

UI Conventions

Buttons — imperative

English	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
Save	Lagre	Lagre
Cancel	Avbryt	Avbryt
Delete	Slett	Slett
Send	Send	Send
Edit	Rediger	Rediger
Search	Søk	Søk
Confirm	Bekreft	Stadfest
Continue	Fortsett	Hald fram
Submit	Send inn	Send inn
Sign in	Logg inn	Logg inn
Sign out	Logg ut	Logg ut
Sign up	Opprett konto / Registrer deg	Opprett konto / Registrer deg
Next	Neste	Neste
Back	Tilbake	Tilbake
Done	Ferdig	Ferdig
OK	OK	OK
Close	Lukk	Lukk
Upload	Last opp	Last opp
Download	Last ned	Last ned
Refresh	Oppdater	Oppdater
Settings	Innstillinger	Innstillingar
Apply	Bruk	Bruk
Reset	Tilbakestill	Tilbakestill

Status messages — present tense + ellipsis

English	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
Loading…	Laster…	Lastar…
Saving…	Lagrer…	Lagrar…
Sending…	Sender…	Sender…
Connecting…	Kobler til…	Koplar til…
Processing…	Behandler…	Handsamar…
Uploading…	Laster opp…	Lastar opp…
Searching…	Søker…	Søkjer…
Please wait	Vennligst vent	Vent litt

Completion messages — concise

English	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
Saved	Lagret	Lagra
Done	Ferdig	Ferdig
Translation complete	Oversettelse fullført	Omsetjing fullført
File uploaded	Fil lastet opp	Fil lasta opp
Sent	Sendt	Sendt
Payment successful	Betaling fullført	Betaling fullført

Empty states — concise, drop pronouns

✗ Verbose	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
Det ble ikke funnet noen resultater	Ingen resultater	Ingen resultat
Du har ingen prosjekter ennå	Ingen prosjekter ennå	Ingen prosjekt enno

Drag-and-drop

drag → dra
drop → slipp (NOT slipp ≠ frigjør which means "liberate")
Combined: Dra og slipp filer her.

Quantity expressions

✗ Calque	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
25+ språk	mer enn 25 språk	meir enn 25 språk
+{count} til	og {count} til	og {count} til
+25 nye funksjoner	over 25 nye funksjoner	over 25 nye funksjonar

Support expressions

✗ Calque	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
Støtte for X-filer	Støtter X-filer / X-filer støttes	Støttar X-filer / X-filer vert støtta
Støtte for flere språk	Støtter flere språk	Støttar fleire språk

Error messages — what + next step

✗ Bare	✓ Bokmål
Filen ble ikke funnet.	Filen ble ikke funnet. Kontroller filbanen.
Nettverksfeil.	Nettverksfeil. Prøv igjen.
Ugyldig e-post.	Ugyldig e-postadresse. Sjekk formatet.
Innlogging mislyktes.	Innlogging mislyktes. Sjekk brukernavn og passord.

Punctuation, Numbers, Dates, Currency

Punctuation

Mark	Norwegian	Notes
Question	`?`	Same as English
Comma	`,`	Same as English; rules about conjunctions differ
Period	`.`	Same
Colon	`:`	Same
Quotation marks	«…» (outward-pointing guillemets) — preferred	Norwegian official typography; same as French but with no NBSP. Plain `"…"` also acceptable in UI.
Apostrophe	only in foreign names (`Joe's`)	Norwegian genitive: bare `-s` (`Annas bok`)

«...» are OUTWARD-pointing in Norwegian (the angles point AWAY from the quoted text), unlike German's »...« (inward).

Numbers

Format	Pattern	Example
Thousands separator	space	1 234 567
Decimal separator	comma	3,14 — `99,99 kr`
Negative	`-25`
Percent	`25 %` (with space, preferred) or `25%`

Dates

Format	Example	Use
DD.MM.YYYY	15.01.2024	Default for UI / business / casual
YYYY-MM-DD	2024-01-15	Technical / API / sortable contexts
D. månad YYYY	15. januar 2024	Long-form prose

Months (lowercase, no period) — same in Bokmål and Nynorsk:

| 1 | januar | 7 | juli | | 2 | februar | 8 | august | | 3 | mars | 9 | september | | 4 | april | 10 | oktober | | 5 | mai | 11 | november | | 6 | juni | 12 | desember |

Weekdays (Bokmål / Nynorsk):

Eng	Bokmål	Nynorsk
Monday	mandag	måndag
Tuesday	tirsdag	tysdag
Wednesday	onsdag	onsdag
Thursday	torsdag	torsdag
Friday	fredag	fredag
Saturday	lørdag	laurdag
Sunday	søndag	sundag

Week starts Monday.

Time

24-hour preferred: 14:30 or kl. 14:30 (kl. = klokken / klokka).
12-hour rarely used.

Currency — NOK

Currency	Format
Norwegian krone	99,99 kr or NOK 99,99 (kr after amount, with space)

Never kr 99,99 in modern Norwegian style. ISO-3-letter NOK before amount is acceptable in business/banking contexts.

Terminology — preferred Norwegian terms (Bokmål default)

English	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk	Avoid
user	bruker	brukar	user
account	konto	konto	account
password	passord	passord	password
settings	innstillinger	innstillingar	—
dashboard	dashbord / kontrollpanel	kontrollpanel	—
email	e-post	e-post	mail
link	lenke	lenkje	link
browser	nettleser	nettlesar	browser
website	nettsted / nettside	nettstad / nettside	—
folder	mappe	mappe	folder
file	fil	fil	—
device	enhet	eining	device
phone	telefon / mobil	telefon / mobil	—
computer	datamaskin / PC	datamaskin / PC	komputer
app	app / applikasjon	app / applikasjon	—
update (v.)	oppdatere	oppdatere	updatee
save	lagre	lagre	—
delete	slette	slette	delete
upload	laste opp	laste opp	uploade
download	laste ned	laste ned	downloade
log in	logge inn	logge inn	sign in
sign up	opprette konto / registrere seg	opprette konto / registrere seg	—
search	søke	søkje	search
click	klikke	klikke	—
share	dele	dele	sharee
profile	profil	profil	—
notifications	varsler / notifikasjoner	varsel	—
privacy	personvern	personvern	privacy
terms	vilkår	vilkår	terms
help	hjelp	hjelp	—
feedback	tilbakemelding	tilbakemelding	feedback (also acceptable in dev contexts)
menu	meny	meny	—
home	hjem / startside	heim / startside	—
build (software)	bygge / utvikle	byggje / utvikle	builde
deploy	driftsette / rulle ut / publisere	driftsetje / rulle ut	deployere
commit (git)	commit (keep) / lagre	commit (keep)	—
merge	slå sammen	slå saman	mergee
repository	repository / arkiv	repository / arkiv	—
branch (git)	branch (keep) / gren	branch (keep) / grein	—
pipeline	pipeline / prosesskjede	pipeline	—
API	API (keep)	API (keep)	—
sync	synkronisere	synkronisere	—
webhook	webhook (keep)	webhook (keep)	—
support (feature)	støtte / støtter (verb)	støtte / støttar (verb)	supportere

Tech identifiers — keep in Latin/English

These MUST stay in Latin/English inside Norwegian text:

Programming languages, frameworks, tools (Git, GitHub, Docker, npm, pip).
Protocols (HTTP, REST, GraphQL).
File formats (JSON, XML, CSV, PDF).
Commands, paths, URLs, code.

False Friends — Critical

Norwegian	Actually means	NOT this	Correct for the English
aktuell	current / relevant	"actual"	"actual" → faktisk / egentlig
eventuelt	possibly / perhaps	"eventually"	"eventually" → til slutt / etter hvert
engasjert	committed / involved / engaged-in-cause	"engaged" (to be married)	"engaged to marry" → forlovet
sensitiv	sensitive	"sensible"	"sensible" → fornuftig / vettig
kontrollere	to check / verify	"to control"	"control (v.)" → styre / kontrollere (note: kontrollere does cover some "control" senses, but check-sense is primary)
seriøs	reliable / trustworthy	"serious" (as in grave)	"serious (grave)" → alvorlig
gift	married OR poison	"gift" (present)	"gift" → gave / present
barn	child(ren)	"barn" (building)	"barn" → låve
smell	a bang / loud noise	"smell" (odor)	"smell" → lukt

Calque / Anti-Pattern List

✗ Calque	✓ Bokmål
Ta plass (for events)	Finne sted / Skje
På slutten av dagen	Til syvende og sist / I bunn og grunn
Ikke egentlig	Egentlig ikke / Ikke akkurat
Gjøre en forbedring	Forbedre
Gi et svar	Svare
På en daglig basis	Daglig / Hver dag
I termer av	Når det gjelder / Med tanke på
Få oversettelsen din klar på minutter	Oversettelse på noen få minutter
Hold prosjektene dine synkroniserte	Sørg for synkronisering av prosjektene
Gjør arbeidsflyten din raskere	Effektiviser arbeidsflyten din
Null nedetid / Zero downtime	Uten nedetid / Ingen nedetid
Null forpliktelser	Uten forpliktelser / Helt fritt
AI-drevet	AI-basert / drevet av AI / med AI
AI-bevisst	AI-tilpasset / støtter AI / med AI-støtte
brukervennlig	lett å bruke / intuitiv (calque OK in some marketing; avoid in technical UI)
De forente stater	USA
Det forente kongerike	Storbritannia / UK
5 år siden (when source means "2019 me")	mitt 2019-jeg / den jeg var i 2019

Custom Sections

Time / duration — `igjen` and unit abbreviations

English	✓ Bokmål	✓ Nynorsk
30 seconds remaining	30 s igjen	30 s att
5 minutes remaining	5 min igjen (NOT `5 m`)	5 min att
2 hours remaining	2 t igjen (NOT `2 h`)	2 t att
3 days remaining	3 d igjen	3 d att

Always a space between number and unit. min not m. t not h for hours.

Per vs for — CRITICAL semantic distinction

Source	✓ Bokmål	Meaning
per language (rate)	per språk	rate, per-unit
for 25 languages (total)	for 25 språk	total scope
5 USD per language	5 USD per språk	rate
5 USD for all languages	5 USD for alle språk	total

Cost / estimate ordering

Amount first:

✗ Ambiguous	✓ Clear
5 språk 25 kreditter	25 kreditter for 5 språk

Janteloven cultural tone

Norwegian culture values Janteloven (the Law of Jante — anti-bragging, humility). UI copy should be:

Modest, not boastful or flashy.
Direct, practical, solution-oriented.
No superlatives or hype ("Best ever!" → just Forbedret).
Outdoor / nature metaphors are well-received (friluftsliv, hiking, skiing).

This makes Norwegian marketing copy substantially more understated than English marketing copy. Soften American-style hype.

UI element references in prose

✗ Compound	✓ Quoted label
Klikk Lagre-knappen	Klikk på knappen "Lagre"
Åpne Innstillinger-fanen	Åpne fanen "Innstillinger"
Bruk Navn-feltet	Bruk feltet "Navn"

Brand names + Norwegian suffixes — use hyphen

Foreign brand names take Norwegian definite/possessive endings via hyphen:

OneSky → OneSky-en (masc. definite) / OneSky-et (neut. definite) / OneSky-s (possessive).
Google-konto, iPhone-en, GitHub-en.

Feminine optional in Bokmål — pick a strategy and stay consistent

Bokmål allows both ei bok → boka (feminine) and en bok → boken (treated as masculine). For UI:

Two-gender approach (en/et only): simpler, broader appeal, slightly more "conservative Bokmål" feel. en bok → boken.
Three-gender approach (en/ei/et): more colloquial, more Eastern-Norwegian dialect-aligned. ei bok → boka.

Choose ONE per translation set and stay consistent. Most modern Norwegian UI uses two-gender for simplicity.

Nynorsk does NOT have this option — feminine is always feminine.

Self-Check Checklist (Run Before Returning Output)

Bokmål vs Nynorsk integrity (auto-fail on miss)

Consistent variant — no mixing of jeg/eg, ikke/ikkje, hva/kva, hvordan/korleis.
If Nynorsk: verb endings -ar where applicable (lagrar, brukar), frå not fra, kvar not hvor, dei not de for plural they.
If Bokmål: classic Bokmål forms throughout.

Accuracy

Hybrid-compound verbs rejected — no avlinke, avsynce, downloade, cancele, delete (as Norwegian verb).
Gender (en/ei/et) correct on every article and definite suffix. Two-gender or three-gender approach consistent.
Adjective agreement: -t for et-noun indef. sg., -e for plural/definite.
Definite suffix present (filen, systemet, fila in Nynorsk).
Double definiteness when noun has adjective (den store filen).
V2 word order in every main clause.
Subordinate clause word order: subject before verb, ikke/ikkje between.
Negation placement: after verb (main), before verb (subordinate).
Compound words written as one word (no data base, bruker grensesnitt).
Comma: no comma before og/eller; comma before men/for.
Special chars æ ø å preserved — never ae oe aa.
ICU plurals: one and other categories present.
Placeholders {var}, {{var}}, , URLs preserved.
Latin tech identifiers: Git, API, JSON, etc. stay in Latin.
Numbers: comma decimal, space thousands, kr after amount.
Dates: DD.MM.YYYY default; ISO 8601 for technical contexts.
Time: 24-hour, kl. 14:30.
per vs for: rate vs total — never mixed.

Register

du throughout — never De/Deres in modern Norwegian UI.
No literary register elevation when source is casual (no forbli, utallige, leveres for casual stay, countless, ship).

UI conventions

Buttons imperative (Lagre, Avbryt, Slett).
Status uses present + ellipsis (Laster…, Lagrer…).
Completion concise (Lagret, Oversettelse fullført).
Empty states concise (Ingen resultater, NOT Det ble ikke funnet noen resultater).
Drag-drop uses dra and slipp.
Støtter X not Støtte for X.
Quantity: mer enn 25 not 25+; og {count} til not +{count}.
Error messages include next step.

Naturalness

No English calques (ta plass, på slutten av dagen, gjøre en forbedring, på en daglig basis).
No marketing-zero calque (Null X → Uten X / Ingen X).
No anglicism-verb formations (supportere, deployere, downloade).
False-friend check: aktuell ≠ actual, eventuelt ≠ eventually, engasjert ≠ engaged-to-marry.
igjen (Bokmål) / att (Nynorsk) for time-remaining; min not m; space before unit.
Proper nouns short forms (USA, Storbritannia).
Janteloven tone — no hype, modest.
Quotation marks «...» (outward) when typography matters.

Quotation marks

Use «...» outward-pointing guillemets in editorial/marketing copy.
Plain "..." acceptable in UI/technical contexts.

Worked Example — Standard Bokmål UI

Source (neutral product UI):

Welcome back! You have 3 new files in your account. Click Continue to review them or Cancel to stay here. Saving your changes…

Register check: neutral product UI → casual du, present-tense status.

Translation (Bokmål):

Velkommen tilbake! Du har 3 nye filer i kontoen din. Klikk på Fortsett for å gjennomgå dem eller Avbryt for å bli her. Lagrer endringene dine…

Notes:

Velkommen tilbake — standard greeting.
Du har — du throughout.
3 nye filer — plural adj nye, plural noun filer. Indefinite, so no double-def.
i kontoen din — possessive din (en-noun) attached. Alternative: i din konto (more formal).
Buttons imperative: Fortsett, Avbryt.
Status: Lagrer endringene dine… (present + ellipsis).
endringene — definite plural ("the changes").
dine — possessive plural agreement.

Worked Example — Same string in Nynorsk

Translation (Nynorsk):

Velkomen tilbake! Du har 3 nye filer i kontoen din. Klikk på Hald fram for å gå gjennom dei eller Avbryt for å bli her. Lagrar endringane dine…

Notes — what changed from Bokmål:

Velkommen → Velkomen (one m).
Fortsett → Hald fram (continue).
gjennomgå dem → gå gjennom dei (dei is Nynorsk for "them").
Lagrer → Lagrar (a-class verb ending).
endringene → endringane (Nynorsk definite plural).

Every short word checked. No jeg / ikke / hva would survive a Nynorsk pass — but this particular sentence happens not to use them.

Worked Example — Sentence with full vocabulary delta

Source: I don't know what to do when I can't sign in.

Bokmål: Jeg vet ikke hva jeg skal gjøre når jeg ikke kan logge inn.

Nynorsk: Eg veit ikkje kva eg skal gjere når eg ikkje kan logge inn.

Every italicized word is different:

jeg / eg
vet / veit
ikke / ikkje
hva / kva
gjøre / gjere
(logge stays the same — borrowed verb)
ikke / ikkje (second occurrence)

Worked Example — Compound word + V2

Source: Today, the system saves your file automatically every five minutes.

Bokmål: I dag lagrer systemet filen din automatisk hvert femte minutt.

Nynorsk: I dag lagrar systemet fila di automatisk kvart femte minutt.

Notes:

I dag fronted → V2 → lagrer/lagrar in position 2.
systemet — neuter definite suffix.
filen din / fila di — Bokmål masc.-treatment vs Nynorsk fem.-treatment.
hvert femte minutt / kvart femte minutt — idiom for "every five minutes".

When in Doubt

Default to Bokmål, du-form, two-gender (en/et).
If unsure about variant → ask once; default Bokmål.
If you typed eg ikkje kva and the rest is Bokmål → regress all to one variant.
If a word looks like an English root with av-/fra-/opp- prefixed → stop and find the native verb (koble fra, slette, synkronisere).
If you typed two nouns with a space (e.g., data base) and they describe one concept → join them.
If you used De/Deres for formal singular → switch to du. Always.
If your translation feels boastful or hyped → Janteloven: tone it down.