Barnet er livredd.

Barnet is the definite singular form of barn, so it means the child.

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child

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

Because barn is a neuter noun.

In Bokmål:

• common gender nouns often take -en in the definite singular
• neuter nouns often take -et in the definite singular

So:

• en bil → bilen = the car
• et barn → barnet = the child

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

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• barnet er = the child is

Norwegian does not change the verb for different persons the way English does. It is always er in the present tense.

Livredd is an adjective. It means terrified or scared to death.

It is a compound word:

• liv = life
• redd = afraid

So the literal idea is something like afraid for one’s life, but in normal English the best translation is usually terrified.

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same in strength.

• redd = afraid / scared
• livredd = terrified / extremely scared

So Barnet er livredd is stronger than Barnet er redd.

Here it stays livredd.

That is normal in this sentence:

• Barnet er livredd = The child is terrified

You can also use it before a noun:

• et livredd barn = a terrified child

So for this word, you can safely learn that livredd stays the same in these common singular uses.

Because Norwegian usually puts the idea of the onto the end of the noun.

So instead of:

• the child

Norwegian says:

• barnet

This is one of the biggest differences from English. The definiteness is built into the noun form.

This is the normal basic word order: subject + verb + adjective.

• Barnet = subject
• er = verb
• livredd = adjective/predicative complement

This is the standard order for a simple statement in Norwegian.

If you move something else to the front, the word order may change because Norwegian follows V2 word order:

• Nå er barnet livredd = Now the child is terrified

But in the basic sentence, Barnet er livredd is exactly what you would expect.

That would be:

Et barn er livredd.

Compare:

• Et barn er livredd. = A child is terrified.
• Barnet er livredd. = The child is terrified.

So the difference is:

• et barn = indefinite
• barnet = definite

Yes. Barn is the standard word for child, and in many contexts it can also match English kid.

Depending on tone and context, an English translation might use:

• child
• kid

But barn itself is neutral and completely standard Norwegian.

It can be used about anyone.

Examples:

• Jeg er livredd. = I’m terrified.
• Hun er livredd. = She’s terrified.
• Mannen er livredd. = The man is terrified.

So there is nothing child-specific about livredd.

It is a normal and very common word, but it is stronger than redd.

People use it a lot in everyday speech, sometimes very literally and sometimes a bit more loosely:

• Jeg er livredd for edderkopper. = I’m terrified of spiders.
• Han ble livredd. = He got terrified.

So it is common, natural, and not overly formal.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

BAR-neht ehr LEEV-redd

A few useful notes:

• barnet has two syllables: bar-net
• er is often pronounced very lightly
• livredd has stress on the first part: LIV-redd

The exact pronunciation depends somewhat on dialect, but that approximation is a good start.