Hjerte-lungeredningen starter nå.

It is a compound noun:

• hjerte = heart
• lunge = lung
• redning = rescue / resuscitation
• -en = the definite ending, like the

So hjerte-lungeredningen is literally the heart-lung resuscitation, which is the Norwegian term for CPR.

Norwegian normally likes compounds as one unit, but a hyphen is often used when:

• two first parts are closely linked, as in heart-lung
• it makes the word easier to read

So hjerte-lunge- works together as one modifier before redning.

Because Norwegian often puts the onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

• en redning = a rescue / a resuscitation
• redningen = the rescue / the resuscitation

The same thing happens in compounds:

• hjerte-lungeredning = CPR, heart-lung resuscitation
• hjerte-lungeredningen = the CPR, the heart-lung resuscitation

Because the definiteness is already built into hjerte-lungeredningen.

English says:

• the resuscitation

Norwegian often says:

• resuscitation-the → redningen

So the sentence does not need a separate word like the.

Because Norwegian uses the simple present tense more broadly than English.

• starter can mean starts
• but in context it can also mean is starting

So Hjerte-lungeredningen starter nå can naturally correspond to English The CPR starts now or The CPR is starting now.

Starter is the present tense of starte, meaning start.

In this sentence, it means that the CPR procedure is beginning now.

You could also hear begynner, from begynne = begin, but starter sounds especially natural when talking about:

• a process
• a device instruction
• something that is being initiated

So this sentence sounds very natural in a medical-device or emergency-instruction context.

That is a normal, neutral word order in Norwegian:

• Hjerte-lungeredningen = subject
• starter = verb
• nå = time adverb

So the sentence is structured like:

• The CPR starts now

You can also say:

• Nå starter hjerte-lungeredningen

That version puts more emphasis on now.

Yes, but it changes the feel.

• Hjerte-lungeredningen starter nå sounds like a specific CPR procedure is now being started.
• Hjerte-lungeredning starter nå sounds more general, more like a label, headline, or less natural everyday phrasing in this context.

In a spoken instruction from a machine or training system, the definite form hjerte-lungeredningen is very natural.

In Norwegian compounds, the last part is the main part of the word. That last part decides the grammar.

Here, the main part is redning.

That means:

• the whole word behaves like redning
• the definite ending goes on the end of the whole compound
• not on hjerte or lunge

So Norwegian builds it as:

• hjerte-lunge-redning
• hjerte-lunge-redning-en

This is very common in Norwegian.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• hjerte ≈ YER-teh
• lungeredningen ≈ LOONG-eh-red-ning-en
• starter ≈ STAR-ter
• nå ≈ noh

A few useful notes:

• hj at the start of hjerte is usually pronounced with a y sound, not a hard English h
• ng in lungeredningen sounds like the ng in sing
• å in nå is a rounded vowel that English does not match perfectly

Yes: HLR.

That stands for:

• hjerte-lunge-redning

In first-aid, medical, and training contexts, HLR is very common. But in full spoken instructions, the full phrase hjerte-lungeredningen may be used because it is clearer.