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Subject-Verb Inversion in Norwegian

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The subject can occur behind the first verb in a main clause in the following cases:

(1) Main clause yes-no-question:

Hoppet du?
“did you jump?”
Hoppet
hoppet
jumpPRET
V
du?
du?
2SG
PN


(2) Main clause constituent question:

Hva skjenket du henne?
“what did you give her?”
Hva
hva
whatNEUTSGQ
PROint
skjenket
skjenket
givePRET
V
du
du
2SGNOM
PN
henne?
henne?
3SGFEMACC
PN


(3) Fronted adverbial in declarative main clause:

Idag har hun hoppet langt.
“today she has jumped far”
Idag
idag
today
ADVtemp
har
har
havePRES
AUX
hun
hun
3SGFEM
PN
hoppet
hoppet
jumpPRFPTCP
V
langt
langt
 
ADV


(4) Topicalized noun phrase in declarative main clause:

Gaver skjenket hun ham hver dag.
“gifts she gave him every day”
Gaver
gaver
giftPL
N
skjenket
skjenket
givePRET
V
hun
hun
she3SGFEMNOM
N
ham
ham
3SGMASCACC
PN
hver
hver
everyCOMMSG
QUANT
dag
dag
day
N


In all cases the subject is moved behind the finite verb; this is generally referred to as Subject-Verb Inversion. In (1) this is all that happens, while in the other cases, an element is 'fronted', so to say taking over the original place of the subject.