Han sitter i varetekt.

Right — sitter is often used idiomatically in Norwegian.

In sentences about prison, custody, or detention, å sitte can mean to be kept somewhere / to be serving time / to be detained, not just to sit physically.

So Han sitter i varetekt means he is in custody or being held in remand, not necessarily that he is physically sitting down.

This is similar to:

• Han sitter i fengsel = He is in prison
• Hun satt arrestert i flere dager = She was held under arrest for several days

So this is a very natural Norwegian way to express detention.

Varetekt means custody, especially pre-trial detention or remand custody.

It is usually used when someone is being held by the authorities before the case is finished in court. So it is different from a regular prison sentence after conviction.

That means Han sitter i varetekt usually suggests:

• he has been detained by the police or court
• he is being held while the investigation or trial is ongoing
• he is not necessarily serving a final sentence yet

Because i varetekt is a fixed expression.

In Norwegian, some expressions use a noun without the definite ending when talking about a general state or institution. This is very common with words like:

• i fengsel = in prison
• på skole = at school
• i arbeid = at work / employed
• i varetekt = in custody

So i varetekt means being in the condition or legal status of custody, not being inside some specific, named custody.

Not quite.

There is overlap, but they are not the same:

• Han sitter i varetekt = he is being held in custody, usually before trial
• Han sitter i fengsel = he is in prison, often serving a sentence

In real life, someone in varetekt may physically be kept in a prison building, but legally the situation is different. Varetekt focuses on the legal status, not just the location.

Yes, you can.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel:

• Han er i varetekt = more neutral, factual: He is in custody
• Han sitter i varetekt = very common and idiomatic; it emphasizes the state of being detained

In many contexts, sitter i varetekt sounds more natural in everyday Norwegian.

Yes. A more formal or legal-sounding alternative is:

• Han er varetektsfengslet

This means roughly He is in remand custody or He has been remanded in custody.

Compared with Han sitter i varetekt:

• Han sitter i varetekt sounds more general and everyday
• Han er varetektsfengslet sounds more official or legal

It is in the present tense.

• Han = he
• sitter = sits / is sitting / is being held
• i varetekt = in custody

So the sentence means that right now he is in custody.

If you wanted the past tense, you could say:

• Han satt i varetekt = He was in custody

Because i is the normal preposition in this fixed expression: i varetekt.

Norwegian often uses i for states or institutions:

• i fengsel
• i arbeid
• i fare
• i varetekt

You usually just have to learn this as part of the expression. It is not something learners can always predict directly from English.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

Han sitter i varetekt
≈ hahn SITT-er ee VAH-reh-tekt

A few notes:

• Han sounds like hahn
• sitter has a short i
• varetekt has stress on the first syllable: VA-re-tekt

In natural speech, i may be reduced and said very quickly.