Norwegian word choices
Noe vs noen: something, someone and quantities
Choose noe for something or an amount, and noen for someone or some plural things. Practise the difference in context.
The difference
Noe can mean something or an unspecified amount. Noen can mean someone or some things in the plural. The shortcut “noe for things, noen for people” misses ordinary phrases such as noen billetter (some tickets).
When the word stands alone
Noen venter ved inngangen means someone is waiting at the entrance. Jeg vil spise noe means I want to eat something. The first refers to a person; the second leaves the food unspecified.
When a noun follows
Use noe for an amount, as in noe melk (some milk), and noen with plural things you can count, as in noen billetter. Compare mye vs mange for large quantities and mer vs flere for more.
Questions and negative sentences also allow noen with singular en-nouns: Har du noen penn? (Do you have a pen?) and Jeg har ikke noen penn (I do not have a pen). With a singular et-noun, use noe: Jeg har ikke noe pass (I do not have a passport). These uses mean “any”; noen does not always mean several.
Noe annet, noen andre
Use noe annet for something else and noen andre for someone else. The latter can also refer to other plural things when a noun follows. The annen, annet and andre guide explains those forms.
References: NTNU’s quantities and indefinite references and Bokmålsordboka’s uses of noen and noe. The situations below are original practice.
Four practice notes
Keep these examples for learning
Each note keeps the situation, sentence and explanation together.
Prompt
The recipe needs a little milk, but you have not measured the amount. Vi trenger ___ melk. Choose noe or noen.
Answer and explanation
Vi trenger noe melk. We need some milk. Melk is an amount here. Use noe for an unspecified quantity of milk.
Prompt
You bought a few tickets for a concert. You are talking about countable objects. Jeg kjøpte ___ billetter. Choose noe or noen.
Answer and explanation
Jeg kjøpte noen billetter. I bought some tickets. Billetter is plural. Noen can refer to things as well as people.
Prompt
A person is waiting at the entrance, but you do not know who it is. Det står ___ ved inngangen. Choose noe or noen.
Answer and explanation
Det står noen ved inngangen. Someone is standing at the entrance. Noen stands alone and refers to an unspecified person.
Prompt
You are hungry but have not decided what food you want. Jeg vil gjerne spise ___. Choose noe or noen.
Answer and explanation
Jeg vil gjerne spise noe. I would like to eat something. Noe stands alone and refers to something unspecified to eat.