How to address the person you’re writing to

Depending on where you’re from, you might be used to a relatively high level of formality in letters and emails when compared to Norwegian.

In German, for example, you’re often expected to use every title the person you’re addressing holds when addressing them in formal written correspondence, such as Sehr geehrte Frau Dr. Mustermann for a woman with the surname Mustermann who holds a doctorate.

In formal English, you’re usually expected to use “dear”, followed by the full name of the person you’re addressing, with or without the title: Dear (Mr.) Joe Bloggs, for example.

Norwegian tends to be less formal, reflecting the flatter hierarchies and more egalitarian approach to older and more senior people. 

Unlike in Swedish, you can still use kjære, the Norwegian equivalent of “dear”, which in Swedish would be like writing “dear beloved”. But you are much more likely to simply write Hei. 

Hei is followed by a comma, so you would write:

Hei, Sigrid Olafsen

Kjære is not, so you would write:

Kjære Sigrid Olafsen

One situation where Norwegians tend to use Kjære a lot is when addressing groups of people. So you might find your bank informing you of a new service with a letter beginning Kjære kunder.

Starting a more informal letter or email, you are more likely to say Heisann or even Heisann!

What if I don’t know who I’m addressing?

Sometimes when you send an email, you’re not sure who will be opening it at the other end.

The Norwegian Til den det måtte gjelde – a more or less direct translation of the English, “to whom it may concern” – is the go-to formula in this situation.

In a less formal email, could just go for a hei without a name following it, in which case there’s no need to follow with a comma. 

If addressing a group of people, you can use kjære, as mentioned previously.  

Avoid anything similar to “dear Sir/Madam”. Best-case scenario, you sound a bit strange and outdated, and in the worst-case scenario, you could appear a bit patronising, especially if you are a man addressing a woman.

Although Norwegian does technically have formal words for you in both Bokmål and Nynorks (De, Dem, Deres’ and ‘De, Dykk, Dykkart, respectively), these have essentially fallen out of use (so for German speakers, you don’t need to worry about when to duzen or siezen in Sweden).

You might still occasionally find De (always capitalised) used by older Norwegians in business letters, but you, yourself, don’t have to. 

Some common opening phrases

As we already pointed out, Norwegians prefer to keep correspondences effective and straight to the point. 

Often-used opening phrases are no different. 

You might start off a formal email with a short Takk for raskt svar (which translates to “Thank you for the quick reply”), Jeg sender deg… (“I am sending you…”), or a few words on how you got the recipient’s contact information, such as Jeg fikk kontaktinformasjonen din fra Stian (“I got your contact information from Stian”).

Essential opening phrases also include Jeg lurte på om… (“I was wondering if…”), Kunne du… (“Could you…”), Ville det vært mulig å… (“Would it be possible to…”), and Jeg skriver til deg for å… (“I am writing to you to…”), to mention just a few.

Another standard option is to refer to past correspondence, with a Viser til… (“Referring to…”) followed by the issue or date of the correspondence.

How should I end my email?

There are a few different ways you can end an email, but the most common ones are probably Vennlig Hilsen and Med vennlig hilsen, which translate literally to “friendly greetings” and “with friendly greetings”. You might see these shortened to MVH or VH, but write them out in full if you’re sending an email, as some people find their use too abrupt. 

Other options include beste hilsen (similar to “best regards”) or just hilsen (“regards”).

You can also end your email with some kind of time-specific sign off, although these are usually best reserved for the final email in a conversation, for example, Ha en fortsatt fin dag! (“Keep having a nice day”) or Ha en fin helg (“Have a nice weekend”) if you’re writing to someone on a Friday afternoon.