Politiet følger protesten.

Politi is the basic dictionary form, but politiet is the definite form and means the police.

Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• politi = police
• politiet = the police

So Politiet følger protesten uses the definite form because it is talking about a specific police force in the situation.

Grammatically, politiet is usually treated as a singular collective noun in Norwegian, even though in English the police is plural.

So Norwegian thinks of it more like the police force or the police as an institution.

That said, in the present tense this does not change the verb form, because Norwegian uses the same present-tense verb form for all persons and numbers.

Følger is the present tense of the verb å følge.

• å følge = to follow
• følger = follow / follows / is following

In Norwegian, the present tense is often made by adding -r to the infinitive:

• å følge → følger

Also, Norwegian does not change the present-tense verb depending on the subject:

• jeg følger
• du følger
• han følger
• vi følger

So følger works with politiet just as it would with any other subject.

It can mean something broader.

Depending on context, følger can mean:

• physically following
• keeping track of
• monitoring
• observing developments in

With Politiet følger protesten, it could mean that the police are literally moving along with the protest, but it could also mean they are monitoring it or keeping an eye on it.

So the exact nuance depends on context.

For the same reason as politiet: protesten is the definite form and means the protest.

• en protest = a protest
• protesten = the protest

Here, the ending -en marks the definite singular form.

So the sentence is talking about a specific protest, not just any protest.

Because they belong to different grammatical genders.

In Bokmål, nouns can have different genders, and that affects the definite ending.

• et politi → politiet
• en protest → protesten

So:

• -et is a common definite ending for neuter nouns
• -en is a common definite ending for common-gender / masculine-style nouns

That is why the two nouns form the differently.

It follows the normal Norwegian pattern for a simple statement:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Politiet = subject
• følger = verb
• protesten = object

So:

• Politiet følger protesten.
• The police follow / are following the protest.

This is very similar to basic English word order.

Yes.

Norwegian often uses the simple present where English might use either:

• follow
• are following

So Politiet følger protesten can mean:

• The police follow the protest
• The police are following the protest
• The police are monitoring the protest

The exact English translation depends on context. Norwegian does not need a separate form like English are following in many everyday situations.

A rough pronunciation of følger is something like FUHL-ger, but that English spelling is only approximate.

The difficult part is ø, which does not exist in normal English spelling. It is a rounded vowel. A helpful approximation is:

• say something like the vowel in British English bird
• but keep your lips more rounded

So følger is approximately:

• FØL-ger

The g is also not always as hard and clear as English learners expect, depending on accent and speech style. The safest goal is to learn the word as a whole from native audio rather than relying only on English-style spelling.