Knapphullet er veldig lite.

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word.

Here, knapphull is made from:

• knapp = button
• hull = hole

So knapphull means buttonhole.

Then -et is added to make it definite:

• et knapphull = a buttonhole
• knapphullet = the buttonhole

This is very normal in Norwegian. English often separates words more than Norwegian does.

The ending -et marks the noun as definite singular for a neuter noun.

The base noun is:

• et knapphull = a buttonhole

Definite form:

• knapphullet = the buttonhole

So instead of using a separate word like the, Norwegian often adds the definiteness directly to the noun.

Because knapphull is a neuter noun.

The adjective liten changes form depending on the noun:

• en liten ... for common gender singular
• et lite ... for neuter singular
• små ... for plural

Since the noun is et knapphull, the adjective form is lite.

Even though the sentence uses the definite noun knapphullet, the adjective is still predicative here, meaning it comes after er. In that position, it agrees with the noun’s gender and number:

• Knapphullet er lite.

This sentence uses a linking verb structure:

• Knapphullet = subject
• er = is
• veldig lite = describes the subject

So this works like English:

• The buttonhole is very small.

If the adjective came before the noun, you would get a different structure:

• et veldig lite knapphull = a very small buttonhole

So both are correct, but they are used in different sentence patterns.

Veldig is an adverb here, meaning very.

It modifies the adjective lite:

• veldig lite = very small

Adverbs like veldig do not agree with the noun, so they usually stay the same form.

Compare:

• Knapphullet er lite. = The buttonhole is small.
• Knapphullet er veldig lite. = The buttonhole is very small.

Er is the present tense of å være = to be.

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han/hun er = he/she is
• det er = it is

Norwegian does not change the present tense form for different persons the way English does. The form er is used with all subjects in the present tense.

In this case, yes, that helps.

The head word of the compound is hull, and hull is a neuter noun:

• et hull = a hole

In Norwegian compounds, the last part usually determines the gender. So:

• et hull → et knapphull

That is why you get:

• et knapphull
• knapphullet
• lite as the adjective form

Yes. Those are natural alternatives, but they have slightly different shades of meaning:

• veldig lite = very small
• svært lite = very small / extremely small, often a bit more formal
• ganske lite = quite small

So veldig is a very common everyday choice, but other intensifiers are possible too.

The indefinite version would be:

• Et knapphull er veldig lite.

That means A buttonhole is very small or A buttonhole tends to be very small, depending on context.

Compare:

• et knapphull = a buttonhole
• knapphullet = the buttonhole

So the difference is mainly whether you are talking about a buttonhole in general or a specific buttonhole.

A rough approximation for an English speaker is something like:

• KNAHP-hool-et

A few notes:

• knapp has a short a sound
• hull has a vowel that does not match English perfectly
• the tt in -et is clearly pronounced

The stress is mainly on the first part: KNAPP-hullet.

If you learn it piece by piece, it becomes easier:

• knapp
• hull
• -et
• knapphullet