Ministeren møter statsministeren.

Because -en is the usual definite singular ending for many masculine nouns in Norwegian.

So:

• minister = minister
• ministeren = the minister

And:

• statsminister = prime minister
• statsministeren = the prime minister

Unlike English, Norwegian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So instead of saying:

• the minister
• the prime minister

Norwegian says:

• minister-en
• statsminister-en

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word like English the.

You know from the normal word order.

In Ministeren møter statsministeren:

• Ministeren comes first, so it is the subject
• møter is the verb
• statsministeren comes after the verb, so it is the object

So the sentence means:

• The minister meets / is meeting the prime minister

Not the other way around.

Møter is the present tense of å møte (to meet).

A few forms are:

• å møte = to meet
• møter = meet / meets / am meeting / is meeting / are meeting, depending on context
• møtte = met

Norwegian verbs do not change according to the subject the way English verbs do. So:

• jeg møter = I meet / I am meeting
• du møter = you meet / you are meeting
• ministeren møter = the minister meets / is meeting

The verb form stays møter.

Yes. Norwegian present tense often covers both ideas.

So Ministeren møter statsministeren can mean:

• The minister meets the prime minister
• The minister is meeting the prime minister

Usually context tells you which meaning is intended.

If you want to make the ongoing sense extra clear, Norwegian can also use a different construction in some contexts, but the simple present is very common.

Because Norwegian, like English, often forms compound nouns, but Norwegian does this even more consistently.

Here:

• stat = state
• minister = minister

Together:

• statsminister = prime minister

Then with the definite ending:

• statsministeren = the prime minister

So it is one compound noun, not two separate words.

Because they are common nouns, not proper names.

In Norwegian, job titles like minister and statsminister are normally written with a lowercase letter unless they begin the sentence.

So:

• Ministeren møter statsministeren.

Here Ministeren has a capital letter only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Ministeren møter statsministeren = The minister meets the prime minister
• En minister møter statsministeren = A minister meets the prime minister

So en is the indefinite article (a/an), while -en on the noun marks the definite form (the).

Not really, because word order makes the roles clear.

Both nouns are definite singular masculine forms, but Norwegian normally relies on sentence position:

• first noun phrase = subject
• verb
• second noun phrase = object

So even though both end in -en, the sentence is still understood as:

• The minister is the one doing the meeting
• the prime minister is the one being met

The main dictionary forms are:

• minister
• statsminister
• å møte

The sentence uses inflected forms:

• ministeren = definite singular
• møter = present tense
• statsministeren = definite singular

So you can think of it as built from:

• minister
• møte
• statsminister

with grammar added.