Våtdrakten ligger i den vanntette posen.

The ending -en makes the noun definite: våtdrakten = the wetsuit.

In Norwegian, definiteness is often added to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the in English.

• en våtdrakt = a wetsuit
• våtdrakten = the wetsuit

So there is no separate word for the before våtdrakten because the noun ending already does that job.

Norwegian often uses position verbs where English just uses to be.

Here, ligger literally means lies / is lying, and it is very common for objects that are resting somewhere.

So:

• Våtdrakten ligger i posen = the wetsuit is lying in the bag
• natural English: The wetsuit is in the waterproof bag

You can sometimes use er in Norwegian, but ligger is more idiomatic here because it describes how the object is situated.

Because the sentence specifies which bag: the waterproof bag.

• i posen = in the bag
• i den vanntette posen = in the waterproof bag

The adjective vanntette adds extra information about the bag.

This is a very important Norwegian pattern called double definiteness.

When a noun is definite and has an adjective before it, Norwegian usually uses:

den/det/de + adjective + noun in definite form

So:

• posen = the bag
• den vanntette posen = the waterproof bag

You need both parts:

• den before the adjective
• posen with the definite ending

This is different from English, where you only use one marker: the waterproof bag.

Because the adjective comes before a definite noun.

In Norwegian, adjectives usually take the -e form in definite noun phrases:

• en vanntett pose = a waterproof bag
• den vanntette posen = the waterproof bag

So the -e ending here does not mean plural. It is used because the noun phrase is definite.

Not in this sentence.

Here, den is part of the normal definite pattern with an adjective, so it functions more like the than that:

• den vanntette posen = the waterproof bag

Sometimes den can mean that, depending on context and stress, but here it is just the regular grammatical form.

Both nouns here are normally treated as common gender in Bokmål.

• en våtdrakt → våtdrakten
• en pose → posen

That is why you get:

• indefinite article en
• definite ending -en
• the article den in den vanntette posen

Because Norwegian usually marks definiteness directly on the noun.

So instead of saying something like the wetsuit, Norwegian says:

• våtdrakten

The ending -en already means the, so adding another article would be wrong here.

Yes. Norwegian very often writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• våt
  • drakt → våtdrakt = wetsuit
• vann
  • tett → vanntett = waterproof

This is very normal in Norwegian. English often writes similar ideas as two words or with less consistent compounding.

The word order is straightforward:

Våtdrakten | ligger | i den vanntette posen subject | verb | prepositional phrase

So it follows the common Norwegian pattern:

Subject + verb + place

That makes this sentence very natural and simple in structure.

Yes, people would understand you, and it is not grammatically wrong.

But ligger sounds more natural because Norwegian often uses a specific location verb for objects. A wetsuit in a bag is thought of as lying there.

So:

• Våtdrakten er i den vanntette posen = understandable
• Våtdrakten ligger i den vanntette posen = more idiomatic

Here, i means in.

• i posen = in the bag

Very often, i does translate as in, but like many prepositions, it can have other uses depending on context. In this sentence, though, in is the correct and direct meaning.

A natural indefinite version would be:

En våtdrakt ligger i en vanntett pose.

That means A wetsuit is in a waterproof bag.

Compare:

• En våtdrakt ligger i en vanntett pose = indefinite
• Våtdrakten ligger i den vanntette posen = definite

This contrast is useful because it shows both the noun endings and the adjective pattern clearly.