Tempereringen påvirker halvtonetrinnet.

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

• temperering = tempering / temperament
• tempereringen = the tempering / the temperament

And:

• halvtonetrinn = semitone step
• halvtonetrinnet = the semitone step

So -en and -et here are not random endings; they mean the.

Very roughly:

• common gender singular definite often ends in -en
• neuter singular definite often ends in -et

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word like English the before those nouns.

That is because the two nouns have different grammatical genders.

• temperering is a common gender noun, so the definite singular form is tempereringen
• halvtonetrinn is a neuter noun, so the definite singular form is halvtonetrinnet

Gender affects the form of the definite ending in Norwegian. This is something learners have to get used to, because English does not do this.

påvirker is the present tense of the verb å påvirke, which means to affect or to influence.

So:

• å påvirke = to affect
• påvirker = affects / is affecting

In Norwegian, the present tense is often formed with -er:

• snakke → snakker
• påvirke → påvirker

So Tempereringen påvirker halvtonetrinnet has the normal present-tense structure: The temperament affects the semitone step.

Because this is a basic main clause with a straightforward subject–verb–object pattern:

• Tempereringen = subject
• påvirker = verb
• halvtonetrinnet = object

So the sentence literally follows:

The temperament affects the semitone step.

Norwegian often uses the same basic order as English in simple statements. Word order becomes more noticeably different in questions, subordinate clauses, and sentences where something else is placed first.

Yes, it is correctly written as one word. Norwegian forms compound nouns very freely, much like German, and more often than English does.

Here the word is built from:

• halv = half
• tone = tone
• trinn = step

Together they form halvtonetrinn, literally something like half-tone-step, which in context means a semitone step.

Then the definite ending is added:

• halvtonetrinn = a semitone step
• halvtonetrinnet = the semitone step

Writing it as separate words would usually be wrong or would change the meaning.

Yes. The noun temperering is built from the verb å temperere.

• å temperere = to temper / to tune according to a temperament system
• temperering = tempering / temperament adjustment / tuning system, depending on context
• tempereringen = the tempering / the temperament

The ending -ing often creates a noun from a verb, similar to English forms like tuning or tempering.

So this word is structurally quite understandable once you know the verb behind it.

Because the nouns are already in the definite form.

Compare:

• en temperering = a tempering

• tempereringen = the tempering

• et halvtonetrinn = a semitone step
• halvtonetrinnet = the semitone step

You normally do not say en tempereringen or et halvtonetrinnet, because that would combine the indefinite article with the definite ending.

So the sentence uses definite nouns without separate articles because the definiteness is built into the word endings.

Almost, but not perfectly. A very close word-for-word breakdown is:

• Tempereringen = the tempering / the temperament
• påvirker = affects
• halvtonetrinnet = the semitone step

So the structure is very close to English. However, the exact English wording depends on the musical context. In some contexts, temperering may be better translated as temperament, while in others tempering may sound more natural.

So the grammar maps neatly onto English, even if the best vocabulary choice may vary by context.

A learner-friendly approximation is:

tem-pe-RE-ring-en PÅ-vir-ker halv-TO-ne-trin-net

A few useful points:

• å sounds roughly like the vowel in British law for many learners
• y in påvirker does not sound like English y; it is a front rounded vowel that English does not really have
• Norwegian compounds often have a clear main stress somewhere in the compound, but sentence rhythm also matters

If you are learning Bokmål pronunciation, it is best to listen to native audio, because spelling does not always tell an English speaker exactly how the vowels should sound.

This sentence is natural Bokmål.

The forms that especially point that way are:

• påvirker
• tempereringen
• halvtonetrinnet

A Nynorsk version might use different vocabulary or forms depending on style and context. For a learner, it is safest to treat this sentence as standard Bokmål unless told otherwise.