De raner banken.

Here, De means they.

A beginner can get confused because De with a capital D can also be a very formal way of saying you in older or very formal Norwegian. But in this sentence, the capital letter is there simply because it is the first word of the sentence. In normal modern Norwegian, you should read De raner banken as They are robbing the bank / They rob the bank.

Because raner is the present tense form of the verb å rane (to rob).

For many Norwegian verbs, the present tense ends in -er:

• å rane → raner
• å snakke → snakker
• å kjøpe → kjøper

So de raner means they rob or they are robbing.

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

So:

• en bank = a bank
• banken = the bank

The ending -en is the definite ending here. That is why Norwegian uses banken where English uses two words: the bank.

Because Norwegian often uses the simple present where English can use either:

• they rob
• they are robbing

So De raner banken can mean either one, depending on context.

Norwegian does have ways to emphasize an ongoing action, but in ordinary sentences the present tense often does the job by itself.

The sentence has the basic subject–verb–object order:

• De = subject
• raner = verb
• banken = object

So it follows a very familiar pattern for English speakers:

• They
  • rob
    • the bank

That makes this a very straightforward main clause.

Because banken refers to a specific bank: the bank.

Compare:

• De raner banken = They are robbing the bank
• De raner en bank = They are robbing a bank

So the choice between banken and en bank depends on whether the noun is definite or indefinite.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

• De → often sounds like di in everyday speech
• raner → roughly RAA-ner
• banken → roughly BAHNG-ken

A useful full approximation is: di RAA-ner BAHNG-ken

One important detail: de is often pronounced more like di than the spelling might suggest.

The dictionary form is å rane, which means to rob.

So if you look it up in a dictionary, you would usually search for rane, not raner.

Useful forms:

• å rane = to rob
• raner = rob / are robbing
• ranet = robbed / has robbed

In Bokmål, bank is normally treated as a common-gender noun, and it is very often used as masculine in practice:

• en bank
• banken

So the ending -en in banken matches that pattern.

For a learner, the safest form to remember is:

• en bank
• banken

This sentence is Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, the equivalent would normally be:

• Dei ranar banken

So the main differences are:

• De → Dei
• raner → ranar

If you are learning standard written Norwegian through most beginner materials, you are probably learning Bokmål, so De raner banken fits that system.

You would usually add ikke after the verb:

• De raner ikke banken.

That means They are not robbing the bank / They do not rob the bank.

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian main clauses:

• subject + verb + ikke
  • object

So:

• De
  • raner
    • ikke
      • banken