Uansett hvordan vi former leiren, blir formen enkel og kanten jevn.

It means no matter how or regardless of how. Together, uansett hvordan vi former leiren introduces a subordinate idea: whatever method we use to shape the clay, the result is the same.

A rough grammatical breakdown is:

• uansett = regardless / no matter
• hvordan = how

So uansett hvordan ... is a very common pattern in Norwegian.

Because uansett hvordan vi former leiren is a subordinate clause placed before the main clause.

In Norwegian, it is normal to put a comma between a fronted subordinate clause and the main clause:

• Uansett hvordan vi former leiren, blir formen enkel og kanten jevn.

So the comma helps mark the boundary between:

• the introductory subordinate clause, and
• the main statement.

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

Here, the whole opening clause Uansett hvordan vi former leiren takes the first position. That means the finite verb of the main clause, blir, must come next:

• Uansett hvordan vi former leiren, blir formen enkel og kanten jevn.

If you removed the opening clause, you would get the more basic order:

• Formen blir enkel og kanten blir jevn.

So the word order changes because something has been placed first.

Because they are definite singular forms.

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

• form → formen = the shape
• kant → kanten = the edge
• leire → leiren = the clay

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

Because the sentence is talking about a specific clay that is being shaped, not clay in general.

Compare:

• leire = clay in general, as a material
• leiren = the clay, the specific clay we are working with

This is very natural in Norwegian when the context already makes the object identifiable.

Yes. They come from the same root idea:

• å forme = to shape / to form
• former = present tense, shape/forms
• form = shape / form
• formen = the shape

So vi former leiren means we shape the clay, and formen means the shape. This is similar to English to form and form.

Because they are predicate adjectives after blir, and they agree with singular non-neuter nouns here.

In this sentence:

• formen is singular, so we use enkel
• kanten is singular, so we use jevn

If the noun were neuter singular, you would usually add -t:

• mønsteret blir enkelt
• området blir jevnt

If it were plural, you would usually add -e:

• formene blir enkle
• kantene blir jevne

So the forms in the sentence are the normal ones for singular common-gender nouns.

Literally, blir is from å bli, which often means become.

In this sentence, it emphasizes the result of shaping:

• after we shape the clay, the shape becomes simple and the edge becomes even/smooth.

In natural English, this may sometimes be translated more loosely as is, but Norwegian blir strongly suggests a change into a resulting state.

Because Norwegian can leave out a repeated verb when it is clearly understood.

So this:

• blir formen enkel og kanten jevn

is understood as:

• blir formen enkel og [blir] kanten jevn

or, in more basic order:

• formen blir enkel og kanten blir jevn

The second blir is omitted because it would be repetitive and the meaning is already clear.

Yes, leir/leiren can refer to camp/the camp, and leire/leiren can refer to clay/the clay, depending on context and spelling traditions.

In this sentence, the context makes clay the correct meaning, because of former and the talk about shape and edge. You shape clay; you do not normally shape a camp into a simple form with an even edge.

So if a learner is unsure, the surrounding words usually make the meaning clear.