Vannkannen er full.

It is a compound noun:

• vann = water
• kanne = can / jug / watering can
• vannkanne = watering can
• vannkannen = the watering can

The last part of the compound, kanne, decides the gender and how the word is inflected.

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• vannkanne = watering can
• not vann kanne

This is very common in Norwegian, much more so than in English.

In Norwegian, the is often built into the noun as an ending.

Here:

• vannkanne = a watering can
• vannkannen = the watering can

So the definiteness is shown by the ending on the noun, not by a separate word before it.

Kanne is an en-word in this version of Bokmål, so its definite singular form is kannen.

That same pattern appears in the compound:

• en kanne → kannen
• en vannkanne → vannkannen

Because the noun already ends in -e, the definite ending appears simply as -n in writing.

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

So:

• er = is / are

In Vannkannen er full, it works exactly like English is in The watering can is full.

Because full is agreeing with a singular non-neuter noun.

Basic pattern:

• full = singular common gender
• fullt = singular neuter
• fulle = plural

Since vannkannen is singular and not neuter, full is the correct form.

Also, even though vannkannen is definite, the adjective after er still stays full, not fulle.

It is a predicate adjective. That means it comes after a verb like er and describes the subject.

So in this sentence:

• Vannkannen = the subject
• er = the verb
• full = describes the subject

This is the same pattern as in:

• Huset er stort = The house is big
• Boka er interessant = The book is interesting

The word full can sometimes mean drunk when talking about a person.

But here the subject is vannkannen, so it clearly means full / filled up, not drunk.

Context usually makes this obvious.

The word order is the normal Norwegian statement pattern:

• Subject + verb + complement

So:

• Vannkannen = subject
• er = verb
• full = complement

Norwegian also follows the verb-second rule in main clauses. Since the subject comes first here, the verb er comes second.

Yes, in Bokmål that is also possible if you use feminine forms.

The noun kanne is feminine, so you may see:

• en kanne → kannen
• ei kanne → kanna

That gives two possible definite forms in Bokmål:

• vannkannen
• vannkanna

Both can be correct, depending on the writer’s style.

You would say:

• En vannkanne er full

If you use feminine articles, you could also say:

• Ei vannkanne er full

So the main contrast is:

• En/ei vannkanne = a watering can
• Vannkannen / Vannkanna = the watering can

A rough approximation is:

• VAHN-kan-en er fuhl

A few useful points:

• The main stress is on VANN-
• The a in vann is short
• The u in full is not exactly like English oo; it is a Norwegian vowel that may take practice
• Pronunciation of er can vary by dialect

So an English-style approximation is helpful at first, but native pronunciation will sound a bit different.