"Kom" eller "Kommer"?
Hi to everybody,

In my Norwegian work book I found two sentences which I don't understand: "Hvem kom?" and "Kom de med fly?"

I thought the present tense of "å komme" is "kommer"? I would have said: "Hvem kommer?" and "Kommer de med fly?"

Isn't that correct?

Thanks in advance for your reply and Merry Christmas to you :)

Sarah

Question

"Kom" eller "Kommer"?
Hi to everybody,

In my Norwegian work book I found two sentences which I don't understand: "Hvem kom?" and "Kom de med fly?"

I thought the present tense of "å komme" is "kommer"? I would have said: "Hvem kommer?" and "Kommer de med fly?"

Isn't that correct?

Thanks in advance for your reply and Merry Christmas to you :)

Sarah

Answer

"Kommer" is indeed the present tense, and "kom" is the preterite tense.

Å komme - kommer - kom - har kommet

Hvem kom? => Who came?
Kom de med fly? => Did they travel by plane?

The uses of "kom" in these sentences can be changed to "kommer", which also would change their temporal aspect.
Hvem kommer? => Who's coming?
Kommer de med fly? => Are they travelling by plane?

God jul!