Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen.

Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen. = I have just sent the email.
This is present perfect. It links a past action to the present (the result matters now).
Jeg sendte e-mailen nettopp. = I just sent the email.
This is simple past (preterite). It tells about a finished action in the past.

In many everyday situations, both can sound natural, but:

Use har sendt when you are focused on the current result (for example, explaining why something is now done).
Use sendte more when you are simply telling a story about what happened earlier, especially if you mention a specific past time (yesterday, last week, etc.).

What exactly does nettopp mean here?

Nettopp in this sentence means just in the time sense: a very short time ago.

So Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen means you sent it very recently (seconds or minutes ago, not hours ago).

Note: nettopp can also mean exactly in other contexts (for example: Ja, nettopp! = Yes, exactly!), but in this sentence it clearly has the time meaning.

Where can nettopp go in the sentence? Is the word order fixed?

The normal position with a perfect tense is:

Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen.
(auxiliary har
- adverb nettopp
  - participle sendt)

Some other options:

Jeg sendte nettopp e-mailen.
(with simple past, adverbs often go right after the verb)
Nettopp har jeg sendt e-mailen.
This is unusual and sounds poetic or very emphatic.

Be careful with:

Jeg har sendt nettopp e-mailen.
This changes the meaning: it sounds like I have sent just the email (and nothing else), because nettopp then modifies the object, not the time.

So for the intended meaning I have just sent the email, Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen is the natural choice.

Why is it e-mailen and not just e-mail?

Norwegian usually marks definiteness on the noun itself, not with a separate word like English the.

en e-mail = an email (indefinite)
e-mailen = the email (definite)

In your sentence, you are talking about one specific, known email (for example the one you and the listener both know about), so Norwegian uses the definite form e-mailen.

What gender is e-mail in Norwegian, and why is it e-mailen and not e-mailet?

Loanwords in Norwegian are very often treated as masculine unless there is a strong reason not to.

So we get:

Indefinite: en e-mail
Definite: e-mailen

If it were neuter, it would be et e-mail / e-mailet, but that is not standard. You might occasionally hear different treatment in casual speech, but en e‑mail – e‑mailen (masculine) is normal.

Is e-mail actually what Norwegians say, or is there a more natural word?

Norwegians do understand e-mail, but the most common and neutral word is:

en e‑post = an email
e‑posten = the email

So in everyday Norwegian, you are more likely to hear:

Jeg har nettopp sendt e-posten.

Other common words in informal speech are:

mail (from English) – en mail / mailen
melding (message) – e.g. for texts or messages in apps.

For clear, standard Norwegian, e‑post is the best choice.

How is sendt formed from sende, and what are the main forms of this verb?

The infinitive is å sende (to send). Its main forms are:

Infinitive: å sende
Present: sender – Jeg sender en e-post nå.
Preterite (simple past): sendte – Jeg sendte e-posten i går.
Past participle: sendt – Jeg har sendt e-posten.

In the perfect tense (present perfect), you use har + the past participle:

Jeg har sendt e-mailen.

So sendt is the past participle form of sende.

Why do we use har with sendt? When do I use har in Norwegian?

Har here is an auxiliary verb (helping verb), not the main verb to have in the sense of possession.

To form the present perfect in Norwegian, you generally use:

har
- past participle

Examples:

Jeg har spist. – I have eaten.
Vi har sett filmen. – We have seen the movie.
Han har sendt e-mailen. – He has sent the email.

Most verbs use har in the perfect. A small group can also use er (especially verbs of movement and change, like komme -> er kommet in some styles), but sende always uses har.

Could I say Jeg har akkurat sendt e-mailen instead of nettopp?

Yes. Akkurat can also mean just in the time sense, and:

Jeg har akkurat sendt e-mailen.

is very close in meaning to:

Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen.

Both mean I have just sent the email.
In this use, nettopp and akkurat are almost interchangeable. Style-wise, nettopp is maybe slightly more common in this exact phrase, but both are natural.

Is Jeg har sendt e-mailen nettopp correct?

It is grammatically possible, but it is not the most natural word order for the meaning I have just sent the email.

Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen. is the standard way to say I have just sent the email.

Jeg har sendt e-mailen nettopp sounds a bit marked or unusual. If nettopp comes at the end, many speakers would instead use simple past:

Jeg sendte e-mailen nettopp.

So for everyday Norwegian, stick with Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen. or Jeg sendte e-mailen nettopp.

How do I add the recipient? Is it Jeg har nettopp sendt ham e-mailen or … sendt e-mailen til ham?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different structure:

Jeg har nettopp sendt ham e-mailen.
– literally: I have just sent him the email.
ham is an indirect object before the direct object.
Jeg har nettopp sendt e-mailen til ham.
– literally: I have just sent the email to him.
til ham is a prepositional phrase after the direct object.

Both sound natural. Many learners find … sendt e‑mailen til ham easier because it is closer to English word order.

Is there anything special about the pronunciation of jeg, nettopp, and sendt here?

Yes, a few things that often surprise English speakers:

jeg is usually pronounced roughly like yai or yaih in standard Eastern Norwegian, not like jeg with a hard g.
nettopp: both ts are pronounced, roughly NET-top.
sendt: the d is not clearly pronounced; it sounds close to sent, similar to English sent, but with a sharper t at the end.

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, but these patterns are common in Bokmål-based speech.