Leppene er tørre.

Leppene is the definite plural form of leppe (lip).

• en leppe = a lip
• lepper = lips
• leppene = the lips

In Norwegian, people often use the definite form for body parts where English might just say my/your/the depending on context. So Leppene er tørre literally means The lips are dry.

Because it describes leppene, which is plural.

The adjective tørr changes form depending on what noun it describes:

• en tørr leppe = a dry lip
• et tørt ... = a dry ... (neuter singular)
• tørre lepper / leppene er tørre = dry lips / the lips are dry

So tørre agrees with the plural noun leppene.

Because leppene is already the subject of the sentence.

• Leppene = the lips
• er = are
• tørre = dry

So the full sentence already means The lips are dry. Norwegian does not need an extra they here.

The dictionary form is usually tørr, meaning dry.

You will often see these forms:

• tørr = dry
• tørt = dry (neuter singular)
• tørre = dry (plural and also definite forms in many cases)

So in this sentence, tørre is just the form that matches the plural noun leppene.

Yes, absolutely. It is a normal and natural sentence.

It is a simple pattern:

• subject
  • verb
    • adjective

So:

• Leppene = the lips
• er = are
• tørre = dry

This is a very standard way to describe a condition or state in Norwegian.

Yes, and that is also very natural, but it means something slightly different in structure:

• Leppene er tørre = The lips are dry
• Jeg har tørre lepper = I have dry lips

Both are common. The first focuses on the lips as the subject. The second focuses on I as the subject.

Norwegian often leaves possession unstated when it is obvious from context, especially with body parts and physical condition.

So depending on the situation, Leppene er tørre might be understood as:

• My lips are dry
• Your lips are dry
• The lips are dry

Context tells you whose lips are meant.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

• Leppene mine er tørre = My lips are dry
• Leppene dine er tørre = Your lips are dry

A rough guide for English speakers is:

• leppene ≈ LEP-peh-neh

Things to notice:

• the pp means the consonant is pronounced short and crisp
• the final -e sounds are usually a light uh / eh sound, not a strong English ee
• stress is normally on the first syllable: LEP-

The exact vowel sound is Norwegian, so it will not match English perfectly, but LEP-peh-neh is a helpful approximation.

A rough approximation is:

• tørre ≈ TUR-reh

But the vowel ø does not exist in standard English, so this is only approximate.

A few points:

• ø is a rounded front vowel; you may hear something between English uh and er, but with rounded lips
• the rr is pronounced in a Norwegian way, which varies a bit by dialect
• stress is on the first syllable: TØR-re

If you cannot produce ø perfectly yet, that is very normal for beginners.

Yes. Tørr is the general adjective for dry.

Examples:

• Huden er tørr. = The skin is dry.
• Brødet er tørt. = The bread is dry.
• Klærne er tørre. = The clothes are dry.

So Leppene er tørre uses the same adjective agreement pattern you will see in many other sentences.

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

Some common forms are:

• å være = to be
• er = am / are / is
• var = was / were
• vært = been

In Leppene er tørre, er links the subject to the description, just like are in English.

Grammatically, yes:

• Leppen er tørr. = The lip is dry.

But in real life, people are often more likely to say:

• Lepa er tørr or Leppen er tørr, depending on dialect and style
• or more naturally, if both lips are meant: Leppene er tørre

So your sentence is the normal plural version for talking about dry lips in general.