Vakten har på seg uniformen.

Har på seg means is wearing or has on.

It is a very common Norwegian expression:

• å ha på seg = to be wearing

So:

• Vakten har på seg uniformen = The guard is wearing the uniform

Literally, it is something like has on oneself, but you should learn it as a fixed expression meaning to wear.

Norwegian often uses å ha på seg for clothing someone is wearing on their body at the moment.

English uses the single verb wear, but Norwegian commonly prefers this expression in everyday speech.

Compare:

• Hun har på seg en jakke. = She is wearing a jacket.
• Jeg har på meg sko. = I am wearing shoes.

There is also å bruke sometimes, but å ha på seg is usually the most natural way to talk about what someone is wearing right now.

Seg is a reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject, vakten.

So the idea is:

• Vakten har på seg uniformen = The guard has the uniform on himself/herself

In natural English, we do not say it that way, but in Norwegian this reflexive structure is normal.

For other persons, the pronoun changes:

• Jeg har på meg uniformen.
• Du har på deg uniformen.
• Han har på seg uniformen.
• Vi har på oss uniformen.

Vakten is the definite form of vakt, so it means the guard.

Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

• en vakt = a guard
• vakten = the guard

So the sentence is talking about a specific guard, not just any guard.

Uniformen is the definite form, meaning the uniform.

Forms:

• en uniform = a uniform
• uniformen = the uniform

Using the definite form suggests a specific uniform, often one that is expected in the situation, such as the guard’s uniform.

If you said Vakten har på seg en uniform, that would mean The guard is wearing a uniform, which sounds less specific.

Har is the present tense of å ha.

Even though it literally corresponds to has, Norwegian often uses the simple present where English uses a progressive form.

So:

• Vakten har på seg uniformen literally looks like The guard has on the uniform
• but natural English is The guard is wearing the uniform

This is normal. Norwegian does not use the progressive is wearing form in the same way English does.

The basic structure is:

• Vakten = subject
• har = finite verb
• på seg = part of the verbal expression
• uniformen = object

So the sentence follows normal main-clause Norwegian word order, where the finite verb comes early in the sentence.

A useful thing to remember is that Norwegian main clauses usually have the finite verb in second position.

Yes. In a yes/no question, the verb usually comes first.

Statement:

• Vakten har på seg uniformen.

Question:

• Har vakten på seg uniformen?

That means:

• Is the guard wearing the uniform?

This verb-first order is very common in Norwegian questions.

You usually put ikke after the finite verb:

• Vakten har ikke på seg uniformen.

This means:

• The guard is not wearing the uniform.

That placement is important:

• subject + finite verb + ikke
  • rest of sentence

Sometimes, yes, but it is not exactly the same.

• å ha på seg usually focuses on what someone is wearing right now
• å bruke can mean use, and with clothes it can also mean wear, often in a more general or habitual sense

So:

• Vakten har på seg uniformen = The guard is wearing the uniform right now
• Vakten bruker uniform can sound more like The guard wears a uniform / uses a uniform as part of the job

For this sentence, har på seg is the most natural choice.

The dictionary form is å ha på seg.

When you look it up, that is the form you want to remember, not just har by itself.

Useful forms:

• å ha på seg = to wear
• har på seg = is wearing / wears
• hadde på seg = was wearing
• har hatt på seg = has been wearing / has worn

Learning the whole expression as one unit will make it much easier to use correctly.