Båten følger kanalen.

Because Norwegian often puts the definite article onto the end of the noun.

• båt = boat
• båten = the boat
• kanal = canal/channel
• kanalen = the canal/channel

In Bokmål, -en is a common singular definite ending for many nouns of common gender.

In this sentence, it is built into the nouns themselves.

English uses a separate word:

• the boat
• the canal

Norwegian usually uses a suffix instead:

• båten
• kanalen

So you should think of -en here as doing the job of English the.

The basic dictionary form is følge.

• å følge = to follow
• følger = follows / is following

So følger is the present tense form.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Norwegian present tense often covers both:

• follows
• is following

So Båten følger kanalen could describe a general fact, a repeated action, or something happening right now.

Because følge normally takes a direct object.

You can følge noe/noen = follow something/someone

So:

• Båten = subject
• følger = verb
• kanalen = direct object

English works the same way here: The boat follows the canal, not follows after the canal.

Yes. Kanalen is the direct object.

The sentence structure is:

• Båten = subject
• følger = verb
• kanalen = object

Unlike some languages, Norwegian does not usually mark normal nouns with special object case endings. Word order does most of the work here.

In this sentence, the word order is very straightforward and similar to English:

• Båten = subject
• følger = verb
• kanalen = object

So it is a normal subject + verb + object sentence.

A useful extra point: Norwegian main clauses follow the verb-second rule, so if another element comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• I dag følger båten kanalen. = Today, the boat follows the canal.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific boat and a specific canal.

That is why Norwegian uses:

• båten = the boat
• kanalen = the canal

If the meaning were more indefinite, you could say:

• En båt følger en kanal. = A boat follows a canal.

So the definiteness is about what the speaker means, not about a special grammar rule for this verb.

Not necessarily. In this kind of sentence, følge can also mean go along, trace, or stick to the path of something.

So Båten følger kanalen means the boat is moving along the route of the canal, not that it is somehow chasing a moving canal.

The two vowels English speakers often notice are å and ø.

• å in båten is a long rounded vowel, roughly like the vowel in awe for many English speakers.
• ø in følger has no exact English equivalent. A common tip is: make something like the vowel in bird or fur, but with rounded lips.

Very rough guides:

• båten ≈ BOH-ten
• følger ≈ FURL-ger, but with lip-rounding on the first vowel

These are only approximations, but they can help you get started.