Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet.

Overleve is just the normal Norwegian verb meaning to survive. Even though it looks like it contains over- and leve (live), learners should treat overleve as a single vocabulary item.

Its forms are:

• infinitive: å overleve
• present: overlever
• past: overlevde
• past participle: overlevd

So Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet simply means He survived the heart attack.

Because overlevde is the past tense form.

The infinitive is å overleve = to survive.
In the sentence, the action already happened, so Norwegian uses the past tense:

• Han overlever hjerteinfarktet = He survives / is surviving the heart attack
• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet = He survived the heart attack

So the -de ending here marks past tense.

The -et ending shows that the noun is in the definite singular form: the heart attack.

The base noun is:

• et hjerteinfarkt = a heart attack

The definite form is:

• hjerteinfarktet = the heart attack

This is very common in Norwegian. Instead of usually putting a separate word for the in front of the noun, Norwegian often adds the definiteness to the end of the noun.

Compare:

• en bil = a car

• bilen = the car

• et hus = a house

• huset = the house

• et hjerteinfarkt = a heart attack
• hjerteinfarktet = the heart attack

Hjerteinfarkt is a neuter noun, so its indefinite article is et:

• et hjerteinfarkt

Because it is neuter, its definite singular form ends in -et:

• hjerteinfarktet

Yes, gender matters because it affects the article and the ending:

• common gender noun: en mann → mannen
• neuter noun: et hjerteinfarkt → hjerteinfarktet

Because Norwegian usually expresses definiteness by attaching an ending to the noun itself.

So:

• the heart attack = hjerteinfarktet

not usually:

• det hjerteinfarktet in this kind of sentence

A separate determiner can appear in other structures, especially with adjectives:

• det alvorlige hjerteinfarktet = the serious heart attack

Here you get both:

• det before the adjective phrase
• -et at the end of the noun

But with no adjective, hjerteinfarktet by itself is enough.

No, this is the basic normal word order for a Norwegian main clause:

• subject + verb + object

So:

• Han = subject
• overlevde = verb
• hjerteinfarktet = object

This is the same basic order as in English:

• He survived the heart attack

Norwegian word order becomes especially important when another element comes first, because then the finite verb still stays in second position:

• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet.
• Heldigvis overlevde han hjerteinfarktet. = Fortunately, he survived the heart attack.

Yes. Å overleve can directly take the thing or event someone survives.

Examples:

• Hun overlevde ulykken. = She survived the accident.
• De overlevde krigen. = They survived the war.
• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet. = He survived the heart attack.

So this structure is completely normal in Norwegian.

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet = He survived the heart attack

  • This refers to a specific heart attack already known or understood in context.

• Han overlevde et hjerteinfarkt = He survived a heart attack

  • This presents it more as new information or as one event among others.

So both are correct, but definite and indefinite forms are used in different contexts.

Because Han is the subject form of the pronoun, like English he.

• han = he
• ham = him

In this sentence, he is the one doing the action of surviving, so Norwegian uses han:

• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet.

If he were the object, you would use ham:

• Jeg så ham. = I saw him.

Also note that Han is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence. Normally it is written han.

Norwegian often forms compound nouns by joining smaller words together.

Here:

• hjerte = heart
• infarkt = infarction / heart attack in everyday translation here
• hjerteinfarkt = heart attack
• hjerteinfarktet = the heart attack

That kind of long compound is very normal in Norwegian.

For pronunciation, the important thing for learners is to notice that it is said as one word, not as separate words. You do not need to pause between the parts.

A rough guide:

• hjerte sounds roughly like YER-te
• infarkt has stress later in the word
• hjerteinfarktet flows together as one compound noun

If pronunciation is your focus, it is best to hear it from native audio, because Norwegian spelling does not always map neatly onto English sound expectations.

Yes, Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet is standard Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you could also say:

• Han overlevde hjarteinfarktet.

The biggest visible difference is often the spelling of heart:

• Bokmål: hjerte
• Nynorsk: hjarte

The verb overlevde can be the same in both.

Yes. If the context calls for it, Norwegian can use the present perfect:

• Han har overlevd hjerteinfarktet. = He has survived the heart attack.

That is different from:

• Han overlevde hjerteinfarktet. = He survived the heart attack.

The simple past often tells about a completed event in the past.
The present perfect often connects the past event more directly to the present situation.

Which one sounds best depends on context, just as in English.