Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen.

They are both compound nouns:

• bukselengden = bukse

  • lengden
  • bukse = trousers/pants
  • lengde = length
  • so bukselengden means the trouser length / the pants length

• livvidden = liv

  • vidden
  • in clothing language, liv means waist
  • vidde means width
  • so livvidden means the waist width / the waist measurement

A natural English translation is often the trouser length and the waist measurement.

Because Norwegian forms compound nouns by writing them as one word, much more often than English does.

So:

• bukse + lengde → bukselengde
• liv + vidde → livvidde

Then when they become definite:

• bukselengde → bukselengden
• livvidde → livvidden

This is very normal in Norwegian. Where English often writes waist measurement, Norwegian will usually make one compound word.

The ending -en is the definite ending for many masculine nouns in Norwegian.

So:

• en bukselengde = a trouser length

• bukselengden = the trouser length

• en livvidde = a waist measurement
• livvidden = the waist measurement

Unlike English, Norwegian usually attaches the to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front.

So bukselengden og livvidden means the trouser length and the waist measurement.

This is a very common Norwegian structure:

• må = must
• måles = be measured / measured

So:

• må måles = must be measured

Here is what is happening grammatically:

• må is a modal verb
• after a modal verb, Norwegian normally uses the infinitive
• the verb here is måle = to measure
• in the passive -s form, måle becomes måles

So the sentence means:

• Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen
• The trouser length and the waist measurement must be measured again

It may look strange because English would not have must measured, but Norwegian uses the passive infinitive måles here.

Måles is the s-passive form of måle.

• måle = to measure
• måles = be measured / are measured / is measured, depending on context

Norwegian has two common ways to form the passive:

1. s-passive
   • måles
2. bli + past participle
   • bli målt

So these are both possible in many contexts:

• Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen
• Bukselengden og livvidden må bli målt igjen

The version with måles is compact and very natural, especially in practical or formal statements.

Igjen means again.

In this sentence, it comes at the end because that is a very natural placement in Norwegian:

• må måles igjen = must be measured again

You may also hear på nytt, which also means again / anew:

• må måles på nytt

Both are possible, but igjen is very common and straightforward.

Because in Norwegian, definiteness is usually shown by a suffix on the noun.

Compare:

• English: the trouser length
• Norwegian: bukselengden

Here, the -en ending already means the, so Norwegian does not need a separate article in this sentence.

That is why you do not say:

• den bukselengden og den livvidden
  unless you are adding special emphasis or using a different structure.

Not in this sentence.

Normally, liv often means life, but in clothing and tailoring vocabulary it can mean waist or the upper part of a garment around the waist.

So in livvidden, it has nothing to do with life in the usual sense. It is a specialized clothing-related meaning.

This is a good example of how compounds can preserve older or more specific meanings of words.

Because Norwegian often treats this clothing item as a singular noun:

• ei/en bukse = a pair of trousers / a pair of pants

Even though English uses a plural form, Norwegian commonly uses singular bukse.

So in a compound like bukselengde, Norwegian uses the singular base form bukse.

This is completely normal and does not sound odd to a Norwegian speaker.

The structure is:

• Bukselengden og livvidden = subject
• må = finite verb
• måles = infinitive passive after the modal
• igjen = adverb

So the sentence pattern is:

• Subject + modal verb + infinitive/passive + adverb

This is a very standard Norwegian main-clause word order.

Yes. The given sentence is passive and does not say who will do the measuring.

If you want an active version, you could say something like:

• Vi må måle bukselengden og livvidden igjen
  = We must measure the trouser length and the waist measurement again

The passive version is useful when the action matters more than the person doing it. That is often the case in instructions, fitting situations, tailoring, and formal statements.