Dette er lovlig.

• Dette = this
• er = is
• lovlig = legal / lawful

So grammatically, the sentence is:

• subject: Dette
• verb: er
• subject complement / adjective: lovlig

It is a very basic Norwegian sentence pattern: subject + verb + adjective.

Dette is a demonstrative, meaning this.

Det usually means it or that, and it is also often used as a dummy subject in sentences like Det er kaldt (It is cold).

So:

• Dette er lovlig = This is legal
• Det er lovlig = It is legal / sometimes That is legal, depending on context

If you are pointing to a specific thing, action, rule, or situation and want to say this, dette is the natural choice.

Both dette and denne can mean this, but they are used differently.

• denne is used with a common-gender noun
  • denne bilen = this car
• dette is used with a neuter noun
  • dette huset = this house

When this stands alone without a noun, Norwegian very often uses dette to mean this thing / this matter / this situation.

So in Dette er lovlig, there is no noun after dette, and it works as this on its own.

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

It is used for all persons:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han/hun/det er = he/she/it is
• vi er = we are
• de er = they are

Unlike English, Norwegian does not change the present tense of to be into am / is / are. It just uses er.

Lovlig is an adjective. It means legal or lawful.

In this sentence it comes after er, so it describes the subject:

• Dette er lovlig = This is legal

This is called predicative use of an adjective: the adjective comes after a form of to be.

That is a very useful question, because Norwegian adjectives often change form.

Here, lovlig matches dette, which is treated as neuter singular. For many adjectives ending in -ig, the neuter singular form looks the same as the basic form.

So:

• en lovlig handling = a legal action
• et lovlig tiltak = a legal measure
• lovlige tiltak = legal measures

Notice that the plural/definite form is lovlige, but the singular neuter form is still lovlig.

That is why Dette er lovlig looks the way it does.

Because lovlig is an adjective, not a noun.

In English too, you would say:

• This is legal not
• This is a legal

If you wanted a noun phrase, you would need a noun:

• Dette er en lovlig handling = This is a legal action

But in the original sentence, lovlig is simply describing dette, so no article is needed.

You would invert the subject and the verb:

• Dette er lovlig. = This is legal.
• Er dette lovlig? = Is this legal?

That is a very common pattern in Norwegian yes/no questions: verb + subject + rest

Yes. Dette can point to:

• an object
• an action
• a plan
• a rule
• a decision
• a situation you just mentioned

So Dette er lovlig could mean:

• This object is legal
• This action is legal
• This is legally allowed

The exact meaning depends on context.

Yes, but it is not exactly the same.

• Dette er lovlig = This is legal
• Det er lovlig = It is legal or sometimes That is legal, depending on context

Dette is more clearly pointing to something specific in front of you or something just mentioned.

Det is often less specific and can also be used in more general statements, for example:

• Det er lovlig å parkere her. = It is legal to park here.

So both are correct, but they are not always interchangeable.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• Dette ≈ DET-teh
• er ≈ air or a weaker ehr, depending on accent
• lovlig ≈ LOHV-lee

A more natural connected pronunciation may sound smoother and less clearly separated than that, especially in normal speech.

The main stress is usually on the first syllable of lovlig.