Dette utgjør forskjellen.

Utgjør is the present tense of utgjøre. It often means:

• to constitute
• to make up
• to amount to

So Dette utgjør forskjellen means something like This constitutes the difference or This is what makes the difference.

Dette is used for:

• this when it stands on its own as a pronoun
• this with a neuter noun

In this sentence, dette stands alone, so dette is correct.

Compare:

• Dette er viktig. = This is important.
• Denne bilen er dyr. = This car is expensive.

So here, dette means this as an independent word, not directly attached to a noun.

Forskjellen means the difference.

The noun is:

• en forskjell = a difference
• forskjellen = the difference

Norwegian often uses the definite form where English also uses the, especially when referring to a specific difference already understood from context.

In many cases, utgjør forskjellen is very natural Norwegian for makes the difference.

No, this is standard Norwegian word order:

• Dette = subject
• utgjør = verb
• forskjellen = object

So it follows the normal pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

This is very similar to English word order in a simple statement.

Yes, but it means something different.

• Dette er forskjellen = This is the difference
• Dette utgjør forskjellen = This constitutes the difference / This is what makes the difference

So er identifies something, while utgjør expresses that something is what creates or forms the difference.

Because utgjør already carries that meaning.

English often uses a phrase like make up or make the difference, but Norwegian can express that idea with the single verb utgjøre.

So:

• utgjøre forskjellen = make the difference
• utgjøre en stor del = make up a large part

The infinitive is utgjøre.

A few forms are:

• å utgjøre = to constitute / to make up
• utgjør = constitutes / makes up
• utgjorde = constituted / made up
• har utgjort = has constituted / has made up

A rough guide for an English speaker is:

• Dette ≈ DET-teh
• utgjør ≈ OOT-yur or OOT-gyur, depending on accent
• forskjellen ≈ for-SHEL-len

A few notes:

• gjør has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English.
• The tt in dette is pronounced clearly.
• skj in forskjellen sounds like sh.

Pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that should give you a useful starting point.

Yes. Depending on context, dette can sometimes be translated as:

• this
• these
• it
• this matter / this thing

For example:

• Dette er sant. = This is true.
• Jeg liker dette. = I like this.

So in real translation, you should focus on what sounds natural in English, not only on matching each word one by one.

Yes, it is natural, especially in more formal, explanatory, or written language.

It sounds a little more formal than everyday alternatives such as:

• Dette gjør forskjellen. = This makes the difference.
• Det er dette som gjør forskjellen. = This is what makes the difference.

So utgjør is correct and natural, but slightly more formal or abstract than gjør.