Bowlingkulen ligger på kulestativet.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• bowlingkule = bowling ball
• bowlingkulen = the bowling ball

And:

• kulestativ = ball rack / ball stand
• kulestativet = the ball rack / the stand

So the sentence already includes the twice, just as endings:

• -en in bowlingkulen
• -et in kulestativet

Those endings reflect grammatical gender and noun class.

• bowlingkulen comes from en bowlingkule → definite singular bowlingkulen
• kulestativet comes from et kulestativ → definite singular kulestativet

So:

• en-word → definite form often ends in -en
• et-word → definite form often ends in -et

This is very common in Norwegian.

They are both compound nouns, which are very common in Norwegian.

• bowlingkule

  • bowling = bowling
  • kule = ball
  • together: bowling ball

• kulestativ

  • kule = ball
  • stativ = stand, rack, holder
  • together: ball rack / ball stand

So the sentence is built from two straightforward compounds.

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as a single word.

So English often has:

• bowling ball
• ball rack

But Norwegian usually combines them:

• bowlingkule
• kulestativ

This is one of the biggest spelling differences English speakers notice. If you split such words up, it often looks unnatural or incorrect in Norwegian.

Norwegian often prefers a position verb where English might simply use is.

Here, ligger is the present tense of ligge, meaning lies / is lying.

So Bowlingkulen ligger på kulestativet is more natural than just using er, because it describes the bowling ball as being in a resting position.

English says:

• The bowling ball is on the rack

Norwegian often says something more like:

• The bowling ball lies on the rack

Even when English would just use is.

Norwegian uses different position verbs depending on how something is placed.

Very roughly:

• ligge = lie, be lying
• stå = stand, be standing
• sitte = sit, be sitting

A bowling ball is thought of as something resting in a way that fits ligge, not stå. It is not upright like a bottle, and it is not in a sitting-type position either.

So ligger is the natural choice here.

Ligger is present tense.

Its infinitive is å ligge = to lie

Some useful forms:

• å ligge = to lie
• ligger = lies / is lying
• lå = lay / was lying
• har ligget = has lain / has been lying

In this sentence, ligger means is lying / is located.

På usually means on, but like many prepositions, its exact meaning depends on context.

Here it means that the bowling ball is on the rack/stand:

• på kulestativet = on the ball rack

This is the expected preposition in this context.

Yes. This is standard Norwegian word order for a simple statement:

• Bowlingkulen = subject
• ligger = verb
• på kulestativet = prepositional phrase

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + place

That is very normal in Norwegian main clauses.

In this sentence:

• bowlingkule behaves here as an en-word
• kulestativ is an et-word

So:

• en bowlingkule → bowlingkulen
• et kulestativ → kulestativet

A learner should remember the base nouns together with their article whenever possible.

In Bokmål, many nouns that refer to things like kule can often be treated as either common masculine style or feminine style, depending on the variety and writing preference.

So you may see:

• en kule / kulen
• or ei kule / kula

That means a possible alternative definite form could be bowlingkula in some usage.

But bowlingkulen is perfectly normal and very common in Bokmål.

If you wanted to say A bowling ball is on a ball rack, you would remove the definite endings and use the separate indefinite articles:

• En bowlingkule ligger på et kulestativ.

Compare:

• Bowlingkulen ligger på kulestativet. = The bowling ball is on the ball rack.
• En bowlingkule ligger på et kulestativ. = A bowling ball is on a ball rack.

This is a useful contrast for seeing how Norwegian marks definiteness.

It is a borrowing from English, but it is completely normal in Norwegian in this context.

Norwegian often uses borrowed words inside compounds, and they behave like ordinary Norwegian compound elements once they are established.

So bowlingkule is a normal-looking Norwegian compound, even though bowling originally comes from English.