Barnet ser prinsen.

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

• barn = child

• barnet = the child

• prins = prince
• prinsen = the prince

This is one of the first big differences from English. Instead of saying a separate word like the child, Norwegian often makes the noun definite by adding an ending.

Common definite endings are:

• -en for many masculine nouns
• -a or -en for many feminine nouns
• -et for many neuter nouns

So here:

• barnet is the definite form of barn
• prinsen is the definite form of prins

Because the nouns belong to different grammatical genders.

• et barn = a child → barnet = the child
• en prins = a prince → prinsen = the prince

So:

• barn is a neuter noun, which often takes -et in the definite singular
• prins is a masculine noun, which often takes -en in the definite singular

This is very normal in Norwegian. You need to learn nouns together with their article:

• en prins
• et barn

That helps you build the correct definite form later.

Yes. ser is the present tense of the verb å se (to see).

• å se = to see
• ser = see / sees

In Norwegian, the present tense form is the same for all persons:

• jeg ser = I see
• du ser = you see
• han ser = he sees
• vi ser = we see

Unlike English, Norwegian does not add a special -s only for he/she/it. The same present-tense form works for everyone.

This is the normal word order for a basic statement in Norwegian:

subject + verb + object

So here:

• Barnet = subject
• ser = verb
• prinsen = object

This is very similar to English:

• The child sees the prince

Norwegian and English often match in simple main clauses like this.

Because of the word order.

In a simple Norwegian sentence, the noun before the verb is usually the subject, and the noun after the verb is usually the object.

So:

• Barnet ser prinsen = The child sees the prince
• Prinsen ser barnet = The prince sees the child

Modern Norwegian does not usually mark subject and object with special case endings on nouns the way some other languages do. Word order does most of that work.

Yes, but that means something slightly different.

• Et barn ser en prins = A child sees a prince
• Barnet ser prinsen = The child sees the prince

So the difference is indefinite vs definite:

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child
• en prins = a prince
• prinsen = the prince

Both sentences are grammatically correct. They just do not mean exactly the same thing.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide would be:

• barnet ≈ BAR-ne
• ser ≈ sehr
• prinsen ≈ PRIN-sen

A few useful notes:

• The r in Norwegian is usually clearly pronounced.
• The t at the end of -et is often weak or silent in many everyday pronunciations, depending on dialect.
• ser has a long vowel in many accents.

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, so what you hear in Oslo may sound a bit different from what you hear in Bergen or Trondheim.

Because in Norwegian, definiteness is usually built into the noun itself.

English:

• the child
• the prince

Norwegian:

• barnet
• prinsen

So Norwegian usually does not need a separate the in a sentence like this.

However, you can sometimes see both a separate determiner and a definite ending together, especially with adjectives:

• det lille barnet = the small child
• den unge prinsen = the young prince

But with just a plain noun, barnet and prinsen are enough by themselves.

The dictionary forms are:

• barn for child
• prins for prince
• å se for to see

If you look them up in a dictionary, nouns are often listed with their indefinite article:

• et barn
• en prins

That tells you the grammatical gender and helps you predict forms like:

• barnet
• prinsen

Here it is singular.

• barnet = the child (singular)

A useful thing to know is that barn is also the plural form in indefinite use:

• et barn = a child
• barn = children
• barna = the children

So barn can look the same in singular indefinite and plural indefinite. In your sentence, though, barnet clearly means singular definite: the child.

Yes, but it changes the meaning slightly.

• Barnet ser prinsen usually means The child sees the prince
• Barnet ser på prinsen usually means The child is looking at the prince

So:

• se can mean see
• se på often means look at

English also makes a similar distinction:

• see
• look at

In real usage, the difference is important.

In main clauses, Norwegian often follows the verb-second rule, usually called V2.

In a simple sentence like this, that gives you:

• Barnet ser prinsen

Here, the subject comes first, so the verb naturally comes second.

You can also move another element to the front, but the verb still stays in second position:

• I dag ser barnet prinsen = Today, the child sees the prince

Notice that ser is still the second element in the sentence.

This is a very important pattern in Norwegian.

Yes. It can easily be expanded:

• Barnet ser prinsen i hagen. = The child sees the prince in the garden.
• Barnet ser prinsen nå. = The child sees the prince now.
• Barnet ser prinsen, men prinsen ser ikke barnet. = The child sees the prince, but the prince does not see the child.

The core structure stays the same:

subject + verb + object

That makes this sentence a very useful model for building many other Norwegian sentences.