Troppene forlater byen.

Troppene means the troops.

It comes from:

• tropp = troop / military unit
• tropper = troops (indefinite plural)
• troppene = the troops (definite plural)

So the ending -ene is what makes it definite plural here.

In Norwegian, definiteness is often added as an ending instead of using a separate word like the.

For this noun:

• en tropp = a troop
• troppen = the troop
• tropper = troops
• troppene = the troops

So -ene is a very common ending for definite plural nouns.

Forlater is the present tense of å forlate, which means to leave or to abandon.

So:

• å forlate = to leave
• forlater = leave / leaves / is leaving / are leaving, depending on context

In this sentence, it means that the troops leave or are leaving the city.

Norwegian usually does not need a separate verb like are to form the present progressive the way English does.

So:

• Troppene forlater byen can mean The troops leave the city
• and also The troops are leaving the city

The exact meaning depends on context. Norwegian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous.

Byen means the city.

It comes from:

• by = city / town
• byen = the city / the town

Again, Norwegian usually adds definiteness as an ending:

• en by = a city
• byen = the city

So byen includes the meaning of the.

Because the sentence is talking about specific troops and a specific city.

• troppene = the troops
• byen = the city

This is completely normal in Norwegian. If the sentence were indefinite, it would look different, for example:

• Tropper forlater en by = Troops are leaving a city

But that sounds much less specific.

Yes. This is the basic Norwegian main-clause word order:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Troppene = subject
• forlater = verb
• byen = object

This is very similar to English:

• The troops
  • leave
    • the city

Yes. By can mean town or city, depending on context.

So byen could sometimes be translated as:

• the city
• the town

If the meaning has already been given to the learner as the city, that is fine, but it is good to know that the Norwegian word is a bit broader than the English word city.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

TROPP-eh-neh for-LAH-ter BY-en

A few notes:

• troppene has a clear pp
• forlater has stress on la
• byen is often pronounced roughly like BEE-en or BY-en, depending on speaker and dialect

Exact pronunciation varies somewhat across Norway, but the standard written sentence stays the same.

This sentence is standard Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you would more likely see:

• Troppane forlèt byen

So if you are learning Bokmål, Troppene forlater byen is the expected form.

Yes. Å forlate can sometimes mean to abandon as well as to leave.

For example:

• Han forlot familien sin = He abandoned his family

But in Troppene forlater byen, the natural meaning is simply The troops are leaving the city.

An indefinite version would be:

Tropper forlater en by.

That means:

• Tropper = troops
• en by = a city

So the difference is:

• Troppene forlater byen = The troops leave the city
• Tropper forlater en by = Troops leave a city

The original sentence sounds much more specific and concrete.