Han kommer sent.

Kommer is the present tense form of the verb å komme.

• å komme = to come / to arrive
• kommer = comes / is coming / arrives

In a normal Norwegian sentence, the verb must be conjugated, so you use kommer, not the infinitive komme.

Examples:

• Han kommer. = He comes / He is coming.
• Jeg kommer. = I come / I am coming.

A useful point: in Norwegian, the present tense form is the same for all subjects:

• jeg kommer
• du kommer
• han kommer
• vi kommer

So unlike English, the verb does not change depending on the person.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Norwegian present tense often covers:

• simple present: he comes
• present progressive: he is coming

So Han kommer sent could mean:

• He comes late
• He is coming late
• He arrives late

The exact English translation depends on the situation.

Here, sent functions like an adverb, describing how / in what way he comes or arrives.

It is related to sen:

• sen = late
• sent = late, used adverbially or in neuter forms

Compare:

• Han er sen. = He is late.
  Here sen is an adjective describing han.
• Han kommer sent. = He comes/arrives late.
  Here sent describes the action kommer.

So this is a very common distinction:

• after to be: sen
• with a verb like kommer: sent

Because sent is the form used when the word is not directly describing a masculine/feminine noun, but instead works adverbially or with a neuter noun.

Compare:

• en sen buss = a late bus
• et sent tog = a late train
• Han er sen. = He is late.
• Han kommer sent. = He arrives late.

In Han kommer sent, the word is not describing han as a noun phrase; it is describing the verb/action, so sent is the natural form.

Because Norwegian often expresses this idea with just the present tense verb.

English sometimes needs:

• He is coming late

But Norwegian usually just says:

• Han kommer sent

Norwegian does have ways to express an ongoing action, but in many ordinary sentences it simply uses the present tense and lets context do the work.

So you should not try to translate every English is + -ing literally.

Yes, there is a difference.

• Han er sen = He is late.
  This describes his current state.
• Han kommer sent = He is coming late / He arrives late.
  This focuses more on his arrival.

So:

• Han er sen can be said when he is already considered late.
• Han kommer sent can suggest that his arrival will happen late, or that he tends to arrive late.

They are related, but not always interchangeable.

The normal word order here is:

subject + verb + adverb

• Han = subject
• kommer = verb
• sent = adverb

So:

• Han kommer sent.

This is the basic pattern used in many simple Norwegian main clauses.

If you move another element to the front, Norwegian usually follows the V2 rule, meaning the verb stays in second position:

• I dag kommer han sent. = Today he is coming late.

Notice that after I dag comes kommer, and then han.

Yes, very naturally.

In many contexts, English would prefer arrives:

• Han kommer sent. = He arrives late.

This is especially true when the sentence is about reaching a place or turning up at a time.

So even though komme often means come, in many situations it is best understood as arrive.

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

han KOM-mer sent

A few notes:

• Han sounds roughly like hahn
• kommer has stress on the first syllable: KOM-mer
• sent has a short e sound, somewhat like sent in English, though not exactly the same

If you know IPA, a common Eastern Norwegian pronunciation is approximately: /hɑn ˈkɔmːər sent/

Two useful pronunciation points:

• kommer has a double m, which makes the consonant sound short-and-held
• r in Norwegian is usually pronounced more clearly than in many English accents

Yes, and that changes the meaning slightly.

• Han kommer sent. = He comes/arrives late.
• Han kommer for sent. = He comes/arrives too late.

So for sent means too late, not just late.

Examples:

• Toget kommer sent. = The train arrives late.
• Han kommer for sent til møtet. = He arrives too late for the meeting.

It can be used for either, depending on context.

It might describe:

1. A current situation
   • Han kommer sent i dag. = He is coming late today.
2. A habit
   • Han kommer alltid sent. = He always comes late.

Norwegian present tense is flexible, so context tells you whether it is about now, the near future, or a repeated action.