Legen behandler sykdommen.

The ending -en is the definite singular ending in Bokmål for many nouns.

• lege = doctor

• legen = the doctor

• sykdom = disease / illness
• sykdommen = the disease / the illness

So instead of using a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds the definiteness to the end of the noun.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So English:

• the doctor
• the disease

becomes Norwegian:

• legen
• sykdommen

This is very normal in Norwegian. A separate article can appear in some other structures, especially with adjectives, but not in this simple sentence.

behandler is the present tense of behandle, which means to treat.

So:

• å behandle = to treat
• behandler = treats / is treating

In this sentence, Legen behandler sykdommen can often be understood as either:

• The doctor treats the disease
• The doctor is treating the disease

Norwegian often uses the simple present where English might use either simple present or present continuous.

No. In Norwegian, verbs do not change for person in the present tense.

For example:

• jeg behandler = I treat
• du behandler = you treat
• han behandler = he treats
• legen behandler = the doctor treats

So behandler stays the same no matter who is doing the action.

Yes. This sentence uses the basic word order:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Legen = subject
• behandler = verb
• sykdommen = object

So Legen behandler sykdommen is a very standard Norwegian sentence pattern.

Yes. Norwegian present tense often covers both meanings.

So Legen behandler sykdommen can mean:

• The doctor treats the disease
• The doctor is treating the disease

Context usually tells you which meaning is intended.

If you want to say a doctor treats a disease, you would use the indefinite forms:

• en lege = a doctor
• en sykdom = a disease

So the sentence would be:

En lege behandler en sykdom.

That said, this exact sentence may sound a bit less natural depending on context, because doctors usually treat patients, conditions, or illnesses in a more specific situation. Grammatically, though, it is correct.

Because the definite ending is added to the noun in its normal definite form, and the word may change slightly when the ending is attached.

• lege
  • definite form becomes legen
• not legeen

This is just the standard definite form of lege. Many Norwegian nouns behave this way, where the final form is not simply the whole word plus an extra vowel.

It can mean either disease or illness, depending on context.

In many cases:

• sykdom = a general illness, disease, or medical condition

So sykdommen could be translated as:

• the disease
• the illness
• sometimes the condition

The best English translation depends on the situation.

A simple learner-friendly guide would be:

• Legen ≈ LAY-ghen
• behandler ≈ beh-HAHN-dler
• sykdommen ≈ SICK-dom-men

A few helpful notes:

• g in legen is pronounced, but softly
• y in sykdommen is a Norwegian vowel that does not match English exactly
• the r in behandler may sound different depending on the speaker’s dialect

If you want, a more exact pronunciation guide is:

• legen /ˈleːɡən/
• behandler /bəˈhɑndlər/
• sykdommen /ˈsʏkˌdɔmən/

No. In Norwegian, nouns are not normally capitalized unless they begin the sentence or are part of a proper name.

So in this sentence:

• Legen is capitalized only because it is the first word
• sykdommen stays lowercase

This is different from German, where all nouns are capitalized.

No. Behandle can also mean handle, deal with, or process, depending on context.

For example, it can be used for:

• treating a patient or illness
• handling a topic
• processing an application
• treating someone in a certain way

But in Legen behandler sykdommen, the medical meaning treats is the natural one.