grunnformen

Grunnformen, or base form, is a term used in Norwegian grammar to describe the form of a word that serves as the citation or lemma form from which other inflected forms are derived. For verbs, grunnformen is typically the infinitive form minus the particle å in Bokmål; it is the bare stem or dictionary form you would cite when listing the verb. For example, the grunnform of å spise is spise, and the grunnform of å være is være.

The grunnform functions as the reference point for conjugation. Other forms—present, past tense, past participle, and imperative—are built from this base according to the verb’s conjugation class (whether it is strong, weak, or irregular). For instance, spise yields present spiser, past spiste, and past participle har spist; være yields present er, past var, and past participle vært, with imperative vær.

In dictionaries and language descriptions, grunnformen is often shown as the lemma or citation form. This makes it the form readers would use to look up a verb and to understand its typical conjugation patterns. The term can also be used more broadly in other parts of speech to denote the core, least inflected form of a word, though it is most commonly applied to verbs in Norwegian grammar.

Note that in everyday usage the infinitive with å (å spise, å være) is commonly taught as the verb form to use, while grunnformen refers specifically to the base form used for conjugation and as the dictionary headword.