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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.).

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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…

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: i18n-agent
• Source: i18n-agent/i18nstack
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://i18nagent.ai

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.