Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Det høres ut som en morsom film.

There isn’t a concrete “thing” that det refers to inside the sentence; the reference comes from the context (e.g. a movie someone just described).

Norwegian often uses dummy det with verbs about impressions and senses:

Det virker spennende. – It seems exciting.
Det høres bra ut. – It sounds good.
Det ser vanskelig ut. – It looks difficult.

So Det høres ut som en morsom film is structurally parallel to English It sounds like a fun movie.

What’s the difference between høre and høres?

å høre = to hear (active verb)
- Jeg hører musikk. – I hear music.
å høres = to be heard / to sound (the -s form, often like a passive or “middle” voice)
- Det høres rart ut. – It sounds strange.

In Det høres ut som en morsom film, høres means “sounds”, not “hears”. There is no listener mentioned; we’re talking about the impression something gives by sound (or by description).

What is the role of ut in høres ut, and can I leave it out?

ut is a little particle that goes with høres in this construction. Together høres ut (som) works like an idiomatic unit meaning “sounds (like)”.

Det høres bra ut. – That sounds good.
Det høres ut som en god idé. – That sounds like a good idea.

In standard, natural Norwegian:

With som (“like/as”): you need ut → Det høres ut som …
Without any complement, you usually keep ut too: Det høres bra ut.

Det høres som en morsom film (without ut) sounds wrong or at least very odd to most speakers. Think of høres ut som as a fixed pattern you should learn together.

Why do we use som here, and what does it do?

som here means “like / as” and introduces what the thing sounds like:

Det høres ut som en morsom film.
→ It sounds like a fun movie.

You cannot omit som here; Det høres ut en morsom film is ungrammatical.

som is the regular word for comparisons:

Hun synger som en engel. – She sings like an angel.
Han høres ut som faren sin. – He sounds like his father.

What’s the difference between som and som om in this kind of sentence?

Both can appear after høres ut, but they’re used slightly differently:

som
- noun phrase:
- Det høres ut som en morsom film.
  → It sounds like a fun movie. (direct comparison)
som om
- clause (full sentence):
- Det høres ut som om filmen er morsom.
  → It sounds as if the movie is fun.

som compares to a noun phrase.
som om introduces something more like a whole situation / clause (“as if …”).

How is the noun phrase en morsom film built, and why is the adjective before the noun?

The normal order in Norwegian (like English) is:

article + adjective + noun

So:

en – a (indefinite article, masculine)
morsom – fun/funny (adjective)
film – movie (noun)

→ en morsom film – a fun/funny movie

With a definite noun, both the article and the adjective change:

den morsomme filmen – the fun/funny movie

So:

en morsom film – a fun movie
den morsomme filmen – the fun movie (a particular one)

Why is the article en and not et or ei before film?

Norwegian has three grammatical genders:

en – masculine
ei – feminine (often optional; many speakers use en instead)
et – neuter

The noun film is masculine, so the correct indefinite article is:

en film – a movie

Therefore:

en morsom film – a fun movie

You cannot say et film or ei film.

Does morsom mean “fun” or “funny”? Is there a difference from gøy?

morsom often covers both “fun” and “funny”, depending on context:

en morsom film – a fun/funny movie
Han er morsom. – He’s funny.

gøy is more like “fun” (enjoyable), especially for activities:

Det er gøy å spille fotball. – It’s fun to play football.
Filmen var gøy. – The movie was fun.

Both are positive; morsom often has a stronger “makes you laugh / amusing” flavor, but there’s a lot of overlap.

Why is the verb høres in second position? Is that a rule?

Yes. Norwegian is a V2 language: in a main clause, the finite verb normally comes in second position.

In Det høres ut som en morsom film:

Det – first element (subject)
høres – finite verb (second position)
ut som en morsom film – the rest of the clause

If you start the sentence with something else, the verb still stays second:

Den filmen høres ut som en morsom film.
I traileren høres det ut som en morsom film.

So keep the finite verb in slot #2 in main clauses.

Could I also say Den filmen høres morsom ut? Is that the same?

Yes, that’s a natural variant with slightly different structure:

Det høres ut som en morsom film.
– It sounds like a fun movie. (general, dummy det)
Den filmen høres morsom ut.
– That movie sounds fun. (the movie itself is the subject)

Grammar in the second sentence:

Den filmen – that movie (subject)
høres – sounds
morsom – fun/funny (predicative adjective)
ut – particle that goes with høres

Both are fine; the first is a bit more generic, the second points more directly at a specific movie.

Can the same pattern be used with other nouns, not just film?

Yes. The pattern Det høres ut som + [en/ei/et + adjective + noun] is very productive:

Det høres ut som en god idé. – It sounds like a good idea.
Det høres ut som et vanskelig spørsmål. – It sounds like a difficult question.
Det høres ut som ei fin bok. – It sounds like a nice book.

So you can directly reuse this structure with almost any noun phrase.

How do you pronounce Det høres ut som en morsom film?

Approximate pronunciation (Eastern standard):

Det – [de] (the t is usually silent in speech)
høres – [ˈhøːrəs] (or [ˈhøːʂəs]; long ø)
ut – [ʉːt] (long u like tightly rounded oo)
som – [sɔm]
en – [ɛn] or reduced [ən]
morsom – often [ˈmuːʂɔm] or [ˈmuːrsɔm] (first syllable stressed)
film – [fɪlm]

Main stresses: HØR‑es, MOR‑som.
In normal speech, words flow together:

de høːrəs ʉːt sɔm ən muːʂɔm fɪlm.