Målelaboratoriet mottar sporfilmen.

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.
So målelaboratoriet is one compound noun, built from måle- + laboratoriet.

The same applies to sporfilmen: it is spor + filmen, written as one word.

This is much more common in Norwegian than in English, where similar ideas are often written as two words.

The ending -et marks the definite singular of a neuter noun.

The base noun is et laboratorium. Its definite singular form is laboratoriet.
When that noun is the last part of a compound, it still takes the definite ending:

• et laboratorium → laboratoriet
• et målelaboratorium → målelaboratoriet

So målelaboratoriet means the measuring laboratory or the measurement laboratory.

The ending -en marks the definite singular of a common-gender noun in Bokmål.

So:

• en sporfilm = an indefinite form
• sporfilmen = the definite form

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word for the before sporfilmen.

In Norwegian, the is often built into the noun as an ending.

So instead of separate words like in English:

• the laboratory
• the film

Norwegian commonly uses:

• laboratoriet
• filmen

In this sentence, both main nouns are definite already:

• målelaboratoriet = the laboratory
• sporfilmen = the trace film or whatever meaning has already been given

Mottar is the present tense of the verb å motta.

So:

• å motta = infinitive
• mottar = present tense

In this sentence, it means that the subject receives / is receiving something, depending on context.

A useful thing to know is that å motta is not a fully regular verb in all forms:

• å motta
• mottar
• mottok
• mottatt

Yes, å motta is often a bit more formal or official than everyday alternatives.

In more everyday speech, Norwegian often uses å ta imot for receive.

So roughly:

• mottar = more formal, administrative, written, technical
• tar imot = more everyday

That does not mean mottar is wrong or unusual here. In a technical or institutional sentence like this, it sounds very natural.

Måle- is the first part of the compound and describes what kind of laboratory it is.

It comes from å måle, meaning to measure, and works like measuring- or measurement- in English compounds.

In Norwegian compounds, the first element often gives the type, purpose, or function of the final noun. The last part is the grammatical head, so that is the part that determines gender and takes the definite ending.

Here, the head is laboratorium → laboratoriet.

Yes. This is a standard main-clause pattern:

subject + verb + object

• Målelaboratoriet = subject
• mottar = verb
• sporfilmen = object

So the sentence structure is very similar to basic English word order.

If another element came first, Norwegian would still keep the verb in second position. For example:

• I dag mottar målelaboratoriet sporfilmen.

That is a very important Norwegian rule called V2 word order.

A straightforward indefinite version would be:

Et målelaboratorium mottar en sporfilm.

Compare:

• målelaboratoriet = the measuring laboratory
• et målelaboratorium = a measuring laboratory

and

• sporfilmen = the trace film
• en sporfilm = a trace film

This is a good way to see how Norwegian switches between indefinite articles and definite endings.

The letter å is a separate Norwegian vowel. In many cases, it sounds somewhat like the vowel in law or more, depending on your English accent.

So måle is roughly like MO-leh, not like male in English.

A few quick pronunciation notes for this sentence:

• måle begins with å
• mottar has a short o
• spor has a long vowel sound because it is followed by only one consonant

Exact pronunciation varies a little by dialect, but recognizing å as its own vowel is very important.

In Norwegian compound nouns, the last element is the grammatical core of the word. That means the last part decides:

• the gender
• the inflection
• the definite ending

So in målelaboratoriet, the important noun for grammar is laboratorium.
That is why the definite ending appears at the end of the whole compound:

• målelaboratorium
• målelaboratoriet

The first part, måle-, stays the same. This is a very common pattern in Norwegian compounds.