Han er slem.

Han means he. It is the subject pronoun used for a male person.

In Han er slem, han is the one doing or being something: He is mean/naughty.

A couple of useful notes:

• It is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence.
• In the middle of a sentence, it is normally han, not Han.

Er is the present tense of å være (to be).

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han er = he is
• vi er = we are

Unlike English, Norwegian does not change the present form of to be into am / is / are. It stays er for all persons.

Because Norwegian usually just uses er for this kind of simple description.

Han er slem is the normal way to say that he has this quality. You do not need an extra helping verb.

English and Norwegian work similarly here:

• He is mean
• Han er slem

Slem often means:

• mean
• unkind
• naughty
• sometimes bad in the sense of bad behavior

The exact feel depends on context:

• about a child, it can mean naughty
• about an adult, it often means mean or unkind

It does not always mean something as strong as evil.

Not always. Slem usually refers to behavior or character, not just general bad quality.

For example:

• Han er slem = he is mean/naughty
• Filmen er dårlig = the movie is bad
• Jeg føler meg dårlig = I feel bad

So if you want to say someone is behaving badly or is unkind, slem is a good choice. If something is poor in quality, dårlig is often more natural.

Because slem is an adjective after the verb er. This is called a predicate adjective.

In sentences like this, Norwegian does not use an article before the adjective:

• Han er slem
• Hun er snill
• Bilen er stor

This works much like English:

• He is mean not He is a mean.

Yes. Norwegian adjectives usually agree with gender and number.

The basic form is slem. That is why you get:

• Han er slem
• Hun er slem

But compare:

• Et barn er slemt = a child is naughty/mean
• De er slemme = they are mean
• Slemme barn = naughty children

So slem changes depending on what it describes:

• common gender singular: slem
• neuter singular: slemt
• plural: slemme

Because this is a normal statement, and Norwegian usually puts:

1. the subject first
2. the verb second
3. the rest after that

So:

• Han = subject
• er = verb
• slem = adjective

This is the standard pattern in a simple sentence.

You switch the order of the subject and the verb:

• Er han slem? = Is he mean/naughty?

This is very common in Norwegian yes/no questions:

• Han er slem.
• Er han slem?

You add ikke after the verb:

• Han er ikke slem.

That is the normal placement in a simple main clause:

• subject + verb + ikke
  • adjective

So:

• Han er slem. = He is mean.
• Han er ikke slem. = He is not mean.

A careful, approximate pronunciation is:

• Han ≈ hahn
• er ≈ air or a short ehr, depending on dialect
• slem ≈ slem

Very roughly: hahn ehr slem

A few notes:

• The a in han is usually longer and more open than in English man.
• er varies a lot by dialect.
• slem starts with an sl- cluster just like in English slim, but with e instead of i.