Arbeidskontrakten blir ikke godkjent før skattekortet er sendt inn.

Those endings mark the definite form in Norwegian, so they mean the employment contract and the tax card.

• arbeidskontrakt = employment contract

• arbeidskontrakten = the employment contract

• skattekort = tax card
• skattekortet = the tax card

The different endings come from grammatical gender:

• -en is a common definite ending for masculine/common gender nouns
• -et is a common definite ending for neuter nouns

So the sentence is talking about specific, known documents.

Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• arbeid = work
• kontrakt = contract
• arbeidskontrakt = employment contract

The -s- in the middle is a common linking sound in compounds. English often uses separate words, but Norwegian usually joins them together.

The same thing happens with skattekortet:

• skatt = tax
• kort = card
• skattekort = tax card
• skattekortet = the tax card

This is a passive construction.

• blir = becomes / is
• godkjent = approved
• blir godkjent = is approved or gets approved

With ikke, it becomes:

• blir ikke godkjent = is not approved / will not be approved

Norwegian often uses bli + past participle to make a passive that focuses on the action or process.

So Arbeidskontrakten blir ikke godkjent literally means something like:

• The employment contract is not being approved
• or more naturally in English here: The employment contract will not be approved

In a normal Norwegian main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position. After that, sentence adverbs like ikke usually come.

So the order is:

• Arbeidskontrakten = subject
• blir = finite verb
• ikke = not
• godkjent = approved

This is standard Norwegian word order in main clauses.

Compare:

• Han kommer ikke. = He is not coming.
• Det fungerer ikke. = It does not work.

Because før introduces a subordinate clause.

In Norwegian subordinate clauses, the word order is different from main clauses:

• subject comes before the finite verb
• there is no verb-second pattern

So:

• før skattekortet er sendt inn

and not a main-clause-style order like før er skattekortet sendt inn

This is the normal pattern after words like:

• før = before / until
• fordi = because
• at = that
• når = when

This is a very common use of før.

Literally, før means before, but in sentences with a negative main clause, English often translates it as until.

So:

• Arbeidskontrakten blir ikke godkjent før skattekortet er sendt inn

literally looks like:

• The employment contract is not approved before the tax card has been submitted

but natural English is:

• The employment contract will not be approved until the tax card has been submitted

So the Norwegian is completely normal; English just prefers until in this kind of sentence.

Because er sendt inn focuses on the tax card as something that has already been submitted or is in the submitted state before the contract can be approved.

• blir sendt inn = is being submitted / gets submitted
• er sendt inn = has been submitted / is submitted

In this sentence, the idea is that the approval cannot happen until the submission is already completed. That is why er sendt inn fits well.

So the structure suggests:

1. first, the tax card must be submitted
2. only after that can the contract be approved

Sende inn is a particle verb, similar to English verbs like hand in, send in, or fill out.

The full verb is:

• å sende inn = to submit / send in

Its past participle is sendt, so in a verb phrase you often get:

• er sendt inn

Here, inn stays at the end of the verb phrase. This is very normal with Norwegian particle verbs.

Other examples:

• å fylle ut = to fill out
• å levere inn = to hand in / submit
• å sette opp = to put up / schedule

Grammatically, the main verb blir is in the present tense. But Norwegian often uses the present tense to talk about:

• future events
• rules
• procedures
• scheduled results

So in context, it often translates naturally into English with will:

• blir ikke godkjent → will not be approved

This is especially common in administrative or formal language.

This is an important distinction.

• blir godkjent = is being approved / gets approved / will be approved

  • focuses on the process or event of approval

• er godkjent = is approved

  • focuses on the resulting state

So:

• Arbeidskontrakten blir godkjent = the contract gets approved
• Arbeidskontrakten er godkjent = the contract is approved

In your sentence, blir ikke godkjent før ... is about when the approval can happen.

No, not in standard Norwegian.

After før, you normally do not add at.

So the correct form is:

• før skattekortet er sendt inn

not:

• før at skattekortet er sendt inn

English learners sometimes expect an extra word like that, but Norwegian does not use it here.

Because the sentence refers to specific documents in a known situation.

In administrative or workplace contexts, Norwegian often uses the definite form when both speaker and listener know which document is meant:

• arbeidskontrakten = the employment contract for this job
• skattekortet = the tax card the employee must provide

If you used the indefinite form, it would sound more general:

• En arbeidskontrakt blir ikke godkjent ... = An employment contract is not approved ...

That would be less natural if you are talking about one specific case.

Yes, it sounds fairly formal and administrative, which is very typical for workplace, HR, and government language.

Words and structures that make it feel formal include:

• arbeidskontrakten
• godkjent
• skattekortet
• passive constructions like blir godkjent and er sendt inn

In everyday speech, someone might choose a simpler way to say the same thing, but this version is completely natural in official communication.