Retten finner ham skyldig.

Here, retten means the court in the legal sense.

So Retten finner ham skyldig means that the court reaches the decision that he is guilty.

A learner may know rett from other meanings too, such as:

• right / correct
• a right (as in a legal right)
• sometimes a dish in food contexts

But in this sentence, the legal context makes retten = the court.

Because retten is the definite singular form: the court.

• en rett = a court / a right / a dish
• retten = the court / the right / the dish

Norwegian often uses the definite ending attached to the noun:

• bil = car
• bilen = the car

So:

• rett = court
• retten = the court

Finner is the present tense of finne.

• å finne = to find
• finner = find / finds

So literally, the sentence is structured like:

• Retten = the court
• finner = finds
• ham = him
• skyldig = guilty

In natural English, that becomes The court finds him guilty.

Good question. In both Norwegian and English, find can mean not only discover but also judge/consider/decide in certain expressions.

So finne noen skyldig means:

• to find someone guilty
• to judge someone guilty
• to decide that someone is guilty

This is a fixed legal expression.

Compare:

• Jeg finner nøklene. = I find the keys.
• Retten finner ham skyldig. = The court finds him guilty.

Same verb, different sense.

Because ham is the object form of the pronoun.

• han = he
• ham = him

In this sentence, the court is doing something to him, so Norwegian uses the object form:

• Retten finner ham skyldig.

This works like English:

• He is guilty.
• The court finds him guilty.

A useful comparison:

• Han er skyldig. = He is guilty.
• Retten finner ham skyldig. = The court finds him guilty.

Note: in everyday spoken Norwegian, many people often use han instead of ham as an object, but ham is the traditional written standard and is very normal in formal language like this.

Skyldig is an adjective, and here it describes ham.

It is functioning as an object complement or predicative adjective after the object:

• finne noen skyldig = find someone guilty
• male døren rød = paint the door red

So skyldig is not a noun here, and it is not an adverb. It is an adjective telling you what the court considers him to be.

Because it agrees with ham, which refers to one person, and the basic adjective form is used here.

In this sentence, skyldig is describing ham:

• ham skyldig = him guilty

That is the normal form you would expect with a singular person in this kind of structure.

You can think of it like this:

• Han er skyldig. = He is guilty.
• Retten finner ham skyldig. = The court finds him guilty.

The adjective stays in its basic form here.

Because the Norwegian structure is:

subject + verb + object + complement

So:

• Retten = subject
• finner = verb
• ham = object
• skyldig = complement describing the object

This is parallel to English:

• The court finds him guilty.

You would not normally say:

• Retten finner skyldig ham

That word order would be wrong.

Yes, very much so. This is standard legal-style language.

You are likely to see it in:

• court decisions
• news reports about trials
• formal summaries of verdicts

In everyday conversation, people might say things in a less official way, but Retten finner ham skyldig is a very natural formal/legal sentence.

You usually add i plus the crime or offense.

For example:

• Retten finner ham skyldig i bedrageri. = The court finds him guilty of fraud.
• Retten finner ham skyldig i tyveri. = The court finds him guilty of theft.

So:

• skyldig i noe = guilty of something

Without that extra phrase, skyldig simply means guilty in a general sense.