Han fikk livstid.

Word for word:

• Han = he
• fikk = got / received
• livstid = life, here in the sense of a life sentence

So the structure is literally He got life, which matches the English legal expression quite closely.

Fikk is the past tense of å få, which usually means to get, to receive, or sometimes to be given.

A few useful forms are:

• å få = to get
• får = gets / is getting
• fikk = got
• har fått = has gotten / has received

In this sentence, fikk shows that the action happened in the past.

Norwegian often uses å få in cases where English uses get or a more formal passive expression.

So:

• Han fikk livstid = He got life
• Han ble dømt til livstid = He was sentenced to life

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

• fikk is shorter and more direct
• ble dømt til is more formal and explicit

This is very similar to English, where both He got life and He was sentenced to life are possible.

Here, livstid is being used in a fixed legal expression, so it appears without an article.

• Han fikk livstid = He got life
• Han fikk en livstidsdom = He got a life sentence

Both are possible, but they are structured differently:

• livstid is a compact, idiomatic legal expression
• en livstidsdom uses a full countable noun phrase

If you said en livstid by itself, it would more naturally mean a lifetime, not specifically a life sentence.

No. Livstid can also mean lifetime more generally. Context decides the meaning.

For example:

• Han fikk livstid.
  = He got life / He received a life sentence.

• Det tok en livstid.
  = It took a lifetime.

So this is an important vocabulary point: livstid has more than one meaning, and the legal meaning depends on context.

Yes, very often.

In legal contexts, livstid can stand as a shortened form of something like:

• livstidsdom = life sentence
• livstidsstraff = life punishment / life sentence

So Han fikk livstid is a compact way of saying that he received a sentence of life imprisonment.

Yes. This is standard Norwegian main-clause word order:

• Han = subject
• fikk = finite verb
• livstid = object/complement

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + object

That is one of the most basic Norwegian sentence patterns.

Yes, but the meaning changes because the tense changes.

• Han fikk livstid = He got life / He received a life sentence.
• Han får livstid = He gets life / He is getting life / He will get life, depending on context.

In news-style language, present tense can sometimes be used for near-future or current events, but fikk is the clear past-tense form.

It is fairly neutral, but also a bit compressed and headline-like.

You might see it in:

• news reports
• crime reporting
• summaries of court decisions

A more explicit and formal version would be:

• Han ble dømt til livstid.

A more noun-based version would be:

• Han fikk en livstidsdom.

So Han fikk livstid is natural, but it is also concise.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

• liv sounds roughly like leev
• tid sounds roughly like teed
• together: LEEV-steed

But keep in mind that Norwegian pronunciation varies by dialect, and the vowels are not exactly the same as in English.

Also, the stress is on the first syllable:

• LIVstid

And fikk is pronounced with a short vowel and a strong final k sound.

Not in natural English. Even though livstid can literally relate to lifetime, the idiomatic English translation in this legal context is:

• He got life
• He got a life sentence
• He was sentenced to life

So this is a good case where a very literal translation would sound wrong in English, even though the Norwegian wording is compact.