Motorveien er stengt.

Because Norwegian very often builds compound nouns as a single word.

• motor
  • vei = motorvei
• Then the definite ending is added: motorveien

So what English writes as the motorway becomes one written word in Norwegian: motorveien.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as an ending.

Here:

• motorvei = motorway
• motorveien = the motorway

The ending -en is doing the job that the does in English.

Because motorveien is the definite form, referring to a specific motorway.

• motorvei = motorway, a motorway
• motorveien = the motorway

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a particular motorway that both speaker and listener can identify from the situation or context.

er is the present tense of å være = to be.

stengt is the past participle of å stenge = to close, but here it functions like an adjective.

So er stengt means something like:

• is closed
• is shut
• is in a closed state

This describes the motorway’s current condition.

No. That is a very common point of confusion.

• infinitive: å stenge = to close
• present tense: stenger = closes / is closing
• past tense: stengte = closed
• past participle: stengt = closed

So in Motorveien er stengt, stengt is not the simple past tense. It is a participle used after er.

It mainly describes a state: the motorway is in a closed condition.

If you want to focus more on the action or process, Norwegian often uses different forms, for example:

• Motorveien blir stengt = the motorway is being closed / gets closed
• Motorveien stenges = the motorway is being closed / will be closed, depending on context

So er stengt is best understood as the result or current situation, not the closing action itself.

For roads, tunnels, lanes, shops, entrances, and similar things, stengt is often the most natural choice when something is not open for use.

• stengt often means closed off, shut, not open, blocked for access
• lukket can also mean closed, but it is often used in slightly different contexts, such as something physically shut, or in more formal/set expressions

For a motorway, stengt is the normal and idiomatic word.

This is standard Norwegian statement word order:

• Motorveien = subject
• er = verb
• stengt = complement

So it follows the common pattern:

• subject + verb + complement

If you turn it into a yes-no question, the verb comes first:

• Er motorveien stengt? = Is the motorway closed?

You usually put ikke after the verb:

• Motorveien er ikke stengt.

That means The motorway is not closed.

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• Han er ikke hjemme.
• Butikken er ikke åpen.
• Motorveien er ikke stengt.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

MOH-tor-vay-en ehr stengt

A few helpful points:

• vei sounds roughly like vay
• veien is usually pronounced as two syllables at the end: vay-en
• er is often said very quickly in normal speech
• stengt ends in a tight consonant cluster, so it can feel a bit difficult at first

If you say it slowly as mo-tor-vei-en er stengt, that is a good starting point.

Yes, absolutely, if the context already makes it clear which road you mean.

• Motorveien er stengt is more specific
• Veien er stengt = the road is closed

So the longer version names the type of road clearly, while the shorter version relies more on context.

It is a noun meaning a motorway or freeway-type road, and in Bokmål it is normally treated as a masculine noun for learners’ purposes.

That gives forms such as:

• en motorvei = a motorway
• motorveien = the motorway

It is also a compound noun made from:

• motor
• vei = road

So learning to spot compounds will help a lot with Norwegian vocabulary.