Think of prepositions as the glue that holds sentences together. They are small but powerful words that show the relationship between different parts of a sentence. Without them, language would be a jumble of disconnected nouns and verbs.

In Norwegian, just as in English, prepositions link a noun or pronoun to another word. They tell you the position of something (the book is on the table), the time of an event (we'll meet after lunch), or the direction of movement (he walked toward the store). They provide context and make sentences clear.

Prepositions rarely stand alone. They are almost always the head of a 'prepositional phrase.' This is simply the preposition itself plus the noun or pronoun that follows it. This whole unit then acts as a single piece of information in the sentence.

For example, in English, phrases like "under the bridge," "during the class," and "for me" are all prepositional phrases. Each one starts with a preposition and gives more detail about location, time, or purpose. Norwegian works the same way. Recognizing these small phrases is the first step to understanding how Norwegian sentences are built.

You don't need to memorize long lists of prepositions right now. The key is to understand their job: they connect ideas and add important details to your sentences. In the next sections, we will start looking at specific Norwegian prepositions and how to use them.