Avreisestedet er Oslo.

Because Norwegian very often makes compound nouns by joining words together.

avreisestedet can be broken down like this:

• avreise = departure
• sted = place
• -et = the definite ending for a neuter noun

So:

• avreisested = departure place
• avreisestedet = the departure place

This is very normal in Norwegian. Where English often uses several words, Norwegian often prefers one compound word.

The ending -et means the here.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

For example:

• et sted = a place
• stedet = the place

Since avreisested is built on sted, it becomes:

• et avreisested = a departure place
• avreisestedet = the departure place

So -et is doing the job that the does in English.

Because Norwegian usually expresses definiteness by adding an ending to the noun.

English:

• the departure place

Norwegian:

• avreisestedet

This is one of the most important differences between English and Norwegian nouns. Instead of putting the in front, Norwegian usually adds a definite suffix.

Avreisested is a neuter noun.

You can tell because the main part, or head, of the compound is sted, and sted is neuter:

• et sted
• stedet

In Norwegian compounds, the gender usually comes from the last part of the compound. Since sted is neuter, avreisested is also neuter.

So:

• et avreisested
• avreisestedet

Er is the present tense of å være, which means to be.

So:

• er = is / are / am, depending on context

In this sentence, Avreisestedet er Oslo, it works just like English is in The departure place is Oslo.

Norwegian uses the same present-tense form er for all subjects:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han/hun er = he/she is
• vi er = we are

Because Oslo is a proper noun—the name of a city.

In Norwegian, as in English, proper nouns normally do not take an article in sentences like this.

So you say:

• Oslo er stort = Oslo is big
• Avreisestedet er Oslo = The departure place is Oslo

You would not normally say et Oslo or den Oslo here.

This sentence has the normal basic word order for a simple statement:

• Avreisestedet = subject
• er = verb
• Oslo = subject complement

So the pattern is:

• Subject + verb + complement

That is very similar to English:

• The departure place is Oslo

Nothing unusual is happening here.

Yes, but it means something different.

• Avreisestedet er Oslo = the departure place is Oslo
• Avreisestedet er i Oslo = the departure place is in Oslo

Without i, Oslo identifies the departure place itself. With i, you are saying the departure place is located in Oslo.

So the version with i adds the idea of physical location.

The indefinite form is avreisested.

So you get:

• et avreisested = a departure place
• avreisestedet = the departure place

This is a useful pattern to learn:

• et hus → huset
• et sted → stedet
• et avreisested → avreisestedet

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

AHV-rye-seh-steh-deh

A few helpful notes:

• av sounds roughly like ahv
• reise sounds roughly like RYE-seh
• sted has a long e sound, somewhat like stehd
• the final -et in many words is often pronounced like -e or a weak -eh in everyday speech

So in natural speech, avreisestedet may sound a little smoother and less fully pronounced than it looks.

Because Oslo is a proper noun, and avreisestedet is a common noun.

Norwegian capitalization rules are similar to English in this respect:

• names of places, people, countries, etc. are capitalized
• ordinary nouns are not capitalized

So:

• Oslo = capitalized
• avreisestedet = not capitalized

This is different from German, where all nouns are capitalized.

Yes, Avreisestedet er Oslo is standard Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you might more naturally see something like:

• Avreisestaden er Oslo

The main difference there is staden instead of stedet, because Nynorsk often uses stad where Bokmål uses sted.

A learner of Bokmål should focus on:

• et sted
• stedet
• avreisestedet

Yes. Norwegian often creates practical, descriptive words by combining nouns.

So if you learn the parts, long words become much easier to understand.

For example:

• avreise = departure
• sted = place
• avreisested = departure place

This means that even if a compound looks long, it is often very logical. That is a useful habit in Norwegian: try to identify the smaller words inside the bigger one.