Urmakeren måler gangavviket.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

So here:

• en urmaker = a watchmaker
• urmakeren = the watchmaker

and

• et gangavvik = a rate deviation
• gangavviket = the rate deviation

This is very normal in Norwegian. English says the watchmaker, but Norwegian often says the equivalent of watchmaker-the.

Måler is the present tense of the verb å måle, which means to measure.

A few useful forms:

• å måle = to measure
• måler = measures / is measuring
• målte = measured
• har målt = has measured / have measured

Norwegian does not change the verb for different persons the way English does. So you get:

• jeg måler = I measure
• du måler = you measure
• han/hun måler = he/she measures
• vi måler = we measure

The verb form stays the same.

Gangavviket is a compound noun, and Norwegian uses compounds very freely.

It is built from:

• gang = running, operation, rate
• avvik = deviation
• -et = the definite ending for a neuter noun

So:

• gangavvik = rate deviation
• gangavviket = the rate deviation

In English, we often write this kind of idea as more than one word, but Norwegian normally joins the parts into a single word. That is why gangavviket is one word, not two.

Not in this sentence.

Gang can mean different things depending on context. In everyday Norwegian it can mean things like walk, course, or going/running. But in technical contexts, especially with watches and clocks, gang refers to how the mechanism runs or keeps time.

So in gangavvik, it means something like:

• the watch’s rate
• its running accuracy
• how much it gains or loses

So this is not about walking at all.

Because avvik is a neuter noun in Norwegian:

• et avvik = a deviation
• avviket = the deviation

When a noun is a compound, the last part decides the gender. Since the last part is avvik, the whole compound gangavvik is also neuter:

• et gangavvik
• gangavviket

Compare that with urmaker, which is masculine:

• en urmaker
• urmakeren

So the different endings come from the different genders of the nouns.

The sentence has the standard Subject – Verb – Object order:

• Urmakeren = subject
• måler = verb
• gangavviket = object

So literally:

• The watchmaker
  • measures
    • the rate deviation

This is the most basic Norwegian sentence pattern.

Also, Norwegian is a V2 language in main clauses, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position. For example:

• I dag måler urmakeren gangavviket. = Today, the watchmaker measures the rate deviation.

Here I dag comes first, so måler still has to stay in second position.

You change the nouns from definite to indefinite.

Examples:

• En urmaker måler gangavviket. = A watchmaker measures the rate deviation.
• Urmakeren måler et gangavvik. = The watchmaker measures a rate deviation.
• En urmaker måler et gangavvik. = A watchmaker measures a rate deviation.

So the basic noun forms are:

• en urmaker / urmakeren
• et gangavvik / gangavviket

In måler, the letter å is pronounced like a long aw-type sound. For many English speakers, a rough approximation is the vowel in saw or more, though the exact Norwegian sound depends on dialect and is not exactly the same as either English vowel.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• urmakeren ≈ OOR-mah-keh-ren
• måler ≈ MAW-ler
• gangavviket ≈ GAHNG-av-vee-ket

These are only approximations. The real Norwegian sounds are a bit different, especially the vowel in ur and the rhythm of the compound gangavviket.

Yes, this sentence is standard Bokmål.

A learner should especially notice these Bokmål features:

• urmakeren with the masculine definite ending -en
• måler as the present tense form
• gangavviket with the neuter definite ending -et

A Nynorsk version might differ depending on word choice and style, but the sentence as written is perfectly normal Bokmål.