Potteplanten står i blomsterpotten.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

• potteplante = potted plant / pot plant
• potteplanten = the potted plant

And:

• blomsterpotte = flowerpot
• blomsterpotten = the flowerpot

This ending -en is the common definite ending for many masculine nouns.

So the sentence literally looks like:

• potteplanten = the potted plant
• står = stands
• i = in
• blomsterpotten = the flowerpot

Because both nouns are in the definite singular form, and both are treated here as masculine nouns.

For many masculine Norwegian nouns:

• indefinite singular: en plante, en potte
• definite singular: planten, potten

In compounds, the same thing happens to the whole word:

• en potteplante → potteplanten
• en blomsterpotte → blomsterpotten

So -en here means the.

They are compound nouns, which are extremely common in Norwegian.

A compound noun is made by joining smaller words:

• potte
  • plante → potteplante
• blomster
  • potte → blomsterpotte

These compounds are written as one word in Norwegian.

That is very important, because English learners often want to separate them:

• not potte plante
• not blomster potte
• but potteplante and blomsterpotte

This is because Norwegian compounds often use a linking form, and sometimes the first part appears in a form that is not exactly the basic dictionary singular.

Here:

• blomst = flower
• blomster can be the plural form, but in compounds it also commonly appears as the linking form
• blomsterpotte = flowerpot

So you should learn blomsterpotte as the normal whole word.

Norwegian often uses specific position verbs where English would simply use is.

Here, står literally means stands, but in natural Norwegian it is often used for things that are upright or placed in a standing position.

So:

• Potteplanten står i blomsterpotten literally = The potted plant stands in the flowerpot
• but natural English would usually just say The potted plant is in the flowerpot

This is a very common difference between English and Norwegian.

Use står when the thing is understood as being in a standing/upright position.

Common examples:

• Flasken står på bordet = The bottle is on the table
• Lampen står i vinduet = The lamp is in the window
• Potteplanten står i blomsterpotten = The potted plant is in the flowerpot

If you used er, the sentence might still be understood, but står sounds more natural because it describes how the object is positioned.

Norwegian often distinguishes between:

• står = stands, upright
• ligger = lies, horizontal / located
• sitter = sits, seated / attached / situated in some contexts
• er = is, more general

Here, i means in.

So:

• i blomsterpotten = in the flowerpot

This is straightforward in this sentence. The plant is located inside the pot.

Yes, this is standard Norwegian word order for a simple statement:

• Potteplanten = subject
• står = verb
• i blomsterpotten = prepositional phrase

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Place

That is completely normal.

Grammatically, you could form that sentence, but the meaning would be strange: The flowerpot is in the potted plant.

The original sentence makes sense because the plant is inside the pot:

• Potteplanten står i blomsterpotten = The potted plant is in the flowerpot

This is a good reminder that Norwegian word order tells you who is doing what, just like in English.

The dictionary form is stå, which means to stand.

A few common forms are:

• å stå = to stand
• står = stands / is standing
• sto = stood
• har stått = has stood / has been standing

So in the sentence, står is the present tense.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker might be:

• potteplanten ≈ POT-teh-plan-ten
• står ≈ stohr
• i ≈ ee
• blomsterpotten ≈ BLOM-ster-pot-ten

A few useful notes:

• å in står is a rounded vowel, somewhat like the vowel in British thought, though exact pronunciation depends on dialect.
• The r may sound different depending on dialect.
• Compound nouns usually have their main stress early in the word, especially on the first element:
  • POT-teplanten
  • BLOM-sterpotten

In this sentence, potteplanten is singular and definite: the potted plant.

If you wanted plural, you would change the form. For example:

• potteplanten = the potted plant
• potteplanter = potted plants
• potteplantene = the potted plants

Similarly:

• blomsterpotten = the flowerpot
• blomsterpotter = flowerpots
• blomsterpottene = the flowerpots

Yes. That would mean The plant is in the pot.

It is a simpler version of the same idea:

• planten = the plant
• potten = the pot

The original sentence uses more specific vocabulary:

• potteplanten = the potted plant
• blomsterpotten = the flowerpot

So the original sounds a bit more precise.

Yes, this sentence is standard Bokmål.

A Nynorsk version would more likely use different forms, for example:

• Potteplanta står i blomsterpotta

That is because Nynorsk often uses -a as the definite ending for many feminine nouns, while Bokmål often allows -en as well.

In Bokmål, many nouns can be treated as either masculine or feminine, depending on style and preference.

That means you may see:

• en potteplante / potteplanten
• ei potteplante / potteplanta

And likewise:

• en blomsterpotte / blomsterpotten
• ei blomsterpotte / blomsterpotta

The sentence you were given uses the masculine-style definite ending -en, which is very common in Bokmål.

This sentence is useful because it shows several very common Norwegian features at once:

1. Compound nouns

   • potteplante
   • blomsterpotte

2. Definite endings attached to nouns

   • potteplanten
   • blomsterpotten

3. A position verb instead of just is

   • står

4. Basic word order

   • Subject + Verb + Place

So even though the sentence is short, it teaches several important patterns that appear constantly in real Norwegian.