Politiet trenger etterretning.

Politi means police in a general sense, while politiet is the definite form, meaning the police.

Norwegian often attaches the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the:

• et politi = a police force / police (rare in everyday use)
• politiet = the police

So Politiet trenger etterretning is literally The police need intelligence.

Grammatically, politiet is treated as singular in Norwegian, even though in English the police often takes a plural verb.

So Norwegian says:

• Politiet trenger ... = The police need ...

Not:

• Politiet trengerer ... or any plural verb form

The verb stays in the normal present-tense form because Norwegian verbs do not change for person or number the way English sometimes does.

Trenger is the present tense of the verb å trenge, which means to need.

Examples:

• å trenge = to need
• trenger = need / needs
• trengte = needed
• har trengt = have/has needed

In this sentence, trenger means need/needs, depending on the subject. Since politiet is singular, English translates it as the police need because English uses police as a plural-looking noun in meaning.

Here, etterretning means intelligence in the sense of information gathered, especially by police, military, or security services.

It does not mean intelligence as in mental ability or IQ. For that, Norwegian would usually use intelligens.

So:

• etterretning = intelligence information, intel
• intelligens = intelligence as brainpower

In this sentence, Politiet trenger etterretning means the police need useful information or intel.

Because etterretning is being used as an uncountable noun here, much like English intelligence, information, or evidence.

So Norwegian can say:

• Politiet trenger etterretning = The police need intelligence

This does not need an article like en, ei, or et.

If you wanted to talk about a specific piece or body of intelligence, you would phrase it differently, depending on context.

No, this is the normal Norwegian subject–verb–object order:

• Politiet = subject
• trenger = verb
• etterretning = object

So the structure is very straightforward and closely matches English:

• The police
  • need
    • intelligence

This is one of the simpler Norwegian sentence patterns.

In a yes/no question, Norwegian typically puts the verb before the subject:

• Trenger politiet etterretning? = Does the police force need intelligence? / Do the police need intelligence?

So compared with the statement:

• Politiet trenger etterretning.

the verb and subject switch places in the question.

All three can relate to information, but they are not exactly the same:

• etterretning = intelligence, often gathered secretly or strategically
• informasjon = information, a broad general word
• opplysninger = details, information, particulars, often factual or specific

So etterretning sounds more specialized and fits police, military, or security contexts better.

For example:

• Politiet trenger informasjon = The police need information
• Politiet trenger opplysninger = The police need details/information
• Politiet trenger etterretning = The police need intelligence / intel

A rough pronunciation guide is:

po-li-TEE-uh tren-ger ET-ter-ret-ning

A few helpful points:

• politiet is pronounced roughly po-li-TEE-uh
• trenger has a short e sound
• etterretning has stress near the beginning: ET-ter-ret-ning

Pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that rough guide will help you recognize and say the sentence.