Materialet er lett.

The base form is materiale.

• et materiale = indefinite singular
• materialet = definite singular

So -et is the ending that makes it mean the material. This tells you that materiale is a neuter noun in Norwegian.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of standing alone in front of it.

So:

• materiale = material
• materialet = the material

This is very normal in Norwegian. English uses a separate word (the), but Norwegian often uses a suffix instead.

It is singular.

The forms are:

• et materiale = a material
• materialet = the material
• materialer = materials
• materialene = the materials

So in this sentence, we are talking about one material or one body of material.

Because adjectives in Norwegian agree with the noun, even when they come after er.

Here, materialet is:

• singular
• neuter
• definite

The adjective used predicatively after er must match the noun’s number/gender pattern. With lett, the singular form is still lett, so it does not visibly change here.

Compare:

• en lett stol
• et lett materiale
• stolen er lett
• materialet er lett
• lette stoler
• de lette stolene

So yes, there is agreement here; it just happens that the form is still lett.

Yes. Lett can mean different things depending on context, especially:

• light in weight
• easy

So Materialet er lett could mean different things depending on what materialet refers to.

For example:

• If you are talking about a physical substance, it may mean it is light.
• If you are talking about study material or reading material, it may mean it is easy.

Norwegian often relies on context here, just like English sometimes does.

This is the normal word order for a simple statement in Norwegian:

subject + verb + complement

So:

• Materialet = subject
• er = verb
• lett = adjective complement

Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in a main clause. In this sentence, the subject comes first, so the verb naturally comes second.

Compare:

• Materialet er lett.
• I dag er materialet lett.

In both cases, the verb er stays in second position.

Er is the present tense of å være (to be).

So it works like English is:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han/hun er = he/she is
• materialet er = the material is

In this sentence, er links the subject materialet with the description lett.

You would usually say:

Et materiale er lett.

That means a material is light/easy.

But whether this sounds natural depends on context. In real use, Norwegian might prefer something more specific, such as:

• Dette materialet er lett. = this material is light/easy
• Materialet er lett. = the material is light/easy

So the definite form in your original sentence is often more natural when both speaker and listener already know which material is being discussed.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• materialet ≈ ma-te-ri-AH-le
• er ≈ ehr or a reduced er sound, depending on dialect
• lett ≈ let

The main stress in materialet falls on the a in -ria-: mate-ri-AH-le.

Also, in many spoken varieties, the written ending -et is pronounced more like -e, so the final t may be weak or not clearly heard.