Entreprenøren signerte anbudet og fremdriftsplanen.

The ending -en marks the noun as definite singular for a common-gender noun.

• entreprenør = contractor / entrepreneur (indefinite singular)
• entreprenøren = the contractor (definite singular)

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

For the same reason: Norwegian commonly expresses definiteness with a suffix.

• anbud → anbudet = the tender / the bid
• fremdriftsplan → fremdriftsplanen = the progress plan / the schedule

The endings differ because the nouns belong to different grammatical genders:

• anbud is neuter, so the definite ending is -et
• fremdriftsplan is common gender, so the definite ending is -en

So English the often corresponds to a noun ending in Norwegian.

Signerte is the preterite (simple past) of signere.

• å signere = to sign
• signerte = signed

This is a very common pattern for many verbs borrowed from other languages:

• å studere → studerte
• å levere → leverte
• å signere → signerte

So the sentence is describing a completed action in the past.

Norwegian main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

Here the order is:

1. Entreprenøren = subject
2. signerte = finite verb
3. anbudet og fremdriftsplanen = objects

That gives the normal structure:

Subject + Verb + Object

If another element came first, the verb would still stay in second position:

• I går signerte entreprenøren anbudet og fremdriftsplanen.

So this sentence shows the standard Norwegian main-clause pattern.

Yes, it is one compound noun, and Norwegian uses compounds very freely.

It is built from:

• fremdrift = progress / forward movement
• plan = plan

Together:

• fremdriftsplan = progress plan / schedule / timeline
• fremdriftsplanen = the progress plan / the schedule

This is very normal in Norwegian. Where English often uses several words, Norwegian often combines them into one noun.

That -s- is a common linking element in Norwegian compounds.

So:

• fremdrift + plan becomes fremdriftsplan

This -s- does not usually have a meaning of its own. It just helps link the parts of the compound in a way that sounds natural in Norwegian. English learners often notice this because it does not always match anything obvious in translation.

It can, but not in this basic pattern.

In Norwegian, the normal way to say the contractor, the tender, and the progress plan is with the noun plus a definite ending:

• entreprenøren
• anbudet
• fremdriftsplanen

A separate word such as den or det is usually added only in certain structures, especially when there is an adjective:

• planen = the plan
• den nye planen = the new plan

So in your sentence, no separate article is needed.

Because they are two separate definite nouns joined by og (and):

• anbudet = the tender
• fremdriftsplanen = the progress plan

Norwegian does not make only the first noun definite and let the second one “share” that ending. Each noun is marked for definiteness individually when both are meant to be definite.

Yes, but it would change the meaning.

Your sentence uses definite nouns, so it refers to specific things already known in the context:

• Entreprenøren signerte anbudet og fremdriftsplanen.
• The contractor signed the tender and the progress plan.

If you wanted an indefinite meaning, you could say something like:

• En entreprenør signerte et anbud og en fremdriftsplan.

That means a contractor signed a tender and a progress plan, not specific ones already identified.

Yes, it helps a lot to memorize noun gender, because it affects articles and endings.

In this sentence:

• entreprenør = common gender
• anbud = neuter
• fremdriftsplan = common gender

That is why you get:

• entreprenøren (common gender definite singular)
• anbudet (neuter definite singular)
• fremdriftsplanen (common gender definite singular)

Learning nouns together with their gender is a very good habit.

The letter ø is a vowel that does not exist in standard English, so it can feel tricky at first.

A rough guide:

• It is pronounced with the tongue fairly forward in the mouth.
• Your lips are rounded.
• It is somewhat similar to the vowel in some pronunciations of French deux or German schön, if you know those.

In entreprenøren, you will hear ø in the last syllable area. It is worth practicing, because ø is a separate Norwegian vowel, not just a variant of o.

It sounds fairly formal and somewhat professional/administrative, mainly because of the vocabulary:

• entreprenøren is common in business, construction, and contracts
• anbudet is a tender/bid term
• fremdriftsplanen is the kind of word used in planning, construction, and project management

The grammar itself is completely ordinary, but the nouns belong to a more professional context than everyday casual conversation.