Mannen er blind.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

• mann = man
• mannen = the man

So -en is doing the job that English the does.

This is very common in Norwegian:

• bok = book
• boka/boken = the book
• bil = car
• bilen = the car

A separate word like den is usually added when there is an adjective before the noun:

• den blinde mannen = the blind man

But in Mannen er blind, there is no adjective directly in front of the noun, so mannen by itself is enough.

Here, -en is the singular definite ending for a masculine noun in Bokmål.

The noun is:

• en mann = a man
• mannen = the man

A few useful forms are:

• en mann = a man
• mannen = the man
• menn = men
• mennene = the men

So yes, -en is a grammatical ending, not just part of the basic noun.

Er is the present tense of å være, which means to be.

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han er = he is
• hun er = she is
• mannen er = the man is

Unlike English, Norwegian does not change the present-tense form of to be depending on the subject. It stays er for all persons.

Because blind is a predicate adjective here, and it agrees with the noun.

In Mannen er blind, the noun is singular and masculine, so the adjective stays in its basic form:

• Mannen er blind = The man is blind

Compare:

• Barnet er blindt = The child is blind
  
  • barnet is neuter singular, so the adjective gets -t
• Mennene er blinde = The men are blind
  
  • plural takes -e

So the pattern is often:

• common/masculine singular: blind
• neuter singular: blindt
• plural: blinde

Yes. Adjectives often behave differently when they come before a noun.

Compare these:

• Mannen er blind = The man is blind
  
  • predicate adjective
• en blind mann = a blind man
  
  • adjective before an indefinite noun
• den blinde mannen = the blind man
  
  • adjective before a definite noun

Notice that in the definite phrase, the adjective becomes blinde:

• den blinde mannen

So a learner should remember that adjectives after er and adjectives before nouns do not always look the same.

Yes, in this sentence it is very similar to English:

• Mannen = subject
• er = verb
• blind = subject complement / adjective

So the structure is:

• subject + verb + adjective

That said, Norwegian is a verb-second language in main clauses. That means the finite verb usually stays in the second position.

For example:

• Mannen er blind = The man is blind
• I dag er mannen blind = Today the man is blind

Even when another element comes first, er still stays in second position.

A rough guide in many Bokmål-speaking accents is:

• mannen ≈ MAHN-nen
• er ≈ ær or a lighter e(r)
• blind ≈ blinn

A few helpful notes:

• mannen has two syllables.
• The stress is on the first syllable: MAN-nen.
• In blind, the d is usually not clearly pronounced, so it often sounds like blinn.
• Pronunciation varies by dialect, so you may hear slightly different versions.

Mann is a masculine noun in Bokmål, and yes, that matters for forms like the definite singular:

• en mann
• mannen

It also matters for adjective agreement in some situations. In this sentence, masculine singular takes the basic adjective form:

• mannen er blind

If the noun were neuter, the adjective would often change:

• et barn
• barnet er blindt

So gender is an important part of Norwegian grammar.

Normally, no. A singular count noun in Norwegian usually needs some kind of determiner or definite marking, just as in English.

So you would usually say:

• en mann = a man
• mannen = the man

Not just:

• mann on its own

That means these are natural:

• En mann er blind = A man is blind
• Mannen er blind = The man is blind

But Mann er blind sounds incomplete in ordinary usage.

Because blind is an adjective, not a noun, in this sentence.

In Mannen er blind, blind describes the subject after the verb er. English works the same way:

• The man is blind

You would not say:

• The man is a blind

unless you were using blind as a noun meaning a blind person, which is a different structure and not the normal meaning here.

So in this sentence, blind is simply an adjective after er.

You would change both the noun and the adjective:

• Mennene er blinde = The men are blind

Here:

• mennene = the men
• blinde = blind, plural form

If you want the indefinite plural:

• Menn er blinde = Men are blind

So when you go from singular to plural, the adjective usually changes too.