Genseren er brun, og den holder meg varm.

Because genseren is the definite form of genser.

• en genser = a sweater
• genseren = the sweater

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix:

• en bil → bilen
• en genser → genseren

So Genseren er brun means The sweater is brown.

Genser is a common gender noun in Bokmål.

That means:

• indefinite: en genser
• definite: genseren
• pronoun referring to it: den

Because it is common gender singular, the adjective in er brun stays in its basic form: brun.

Den means it and refers back to genseren.

In Norwegian, when you refer back to a noun, you often use:

• den for common gender nouns
• det for neuter nouns

Since genser is common gender, den is correct:

• Genseren er brun, og den holder meg varm.

If the noun were neuter, you would use det instead.

Because brun agrees with the noun genseren, which is singular common gender.

With predicative adjectives after er, the usual pattern is:

• common gender singular: brun
• neuter singular: brunt
• plural: brune

Examples:

• Genseren er brun.
• Teppet er brunt.
• Skoene er brune.

So brun is the correct form here.

Literally, it means something like holds me warm, but in natural English we usually say keeps me warm.

The pattern is:

• holde + object + adjective

So:

• den holder meg varm = it keeps me warm

More examples:

• Jakka holder henne tørr. = The jacket keeps her dry.
• Sola holder oss varme. = The sun keeps us warm.

Because meg is the object form of the pronoun, while jeg is the subject form.

• jeg = I
• meg = me

In den holder meg varm, den is the subject and meg is the object:

• den = it
• holder = keeps
• meg = me
• varm = warm

So meg is required here.

Here, varm describes meg, which is singular.

With this kind of structure, the adjective matches the person or thing being described:

• Den holder meg varm. = It keeps me warm.
• Den holder oss varme. = It keeps us warm.

So if the object is singular, varm is used. If it were plural, you would often use varme.

Holder is the present tense of the verb å holde.

Forms:

• infinitive: å holde = to hold / to keep
• present: holder
• past: holdt
• past participle: holdt

So den holder meg varm means it keeps me warm or it is keeping me warm, depending on context.

Because this is a normal main clause after og.

Norwegian main clauses usually follow verb-second word order, which means the finite verb comes early in the clause. Here the clause begins with the subject:

• den = subject
• holder = verb
• meg = object
• varm = complement

So the order is completely standard:

• den holder meg varm

Because the sentence joins two full clauses:

• Genseren er brun
• den holder meg varm

In Norwegian, a comma is commonly used between coordinated main clauses, especially when each clause has its own subject and verb.

So the comma helps show that there are two linked statements.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear what den refers to.

Compare:

• Genseren er brun, og den holder meg varm.
  This introduces the sweater clearly.

• Den er brun, og den holder meg varm.
  This means It is brown, and it keeps me warm, but only works if the listener already knows you are talking about the sweater.

So the original sentence is better when you want to name the object first.

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

YEN-ser-en or GEN-ser-en, depending on accent and dialect.

A few helpful points:

• g in genser can sound like the English y sound in some pronunciations before front vowels.
• The -en ending is the definite ending, and it is clearly pronounced.

Pronunciation varies by dialect, so you may hear slightly different versions, but the spelling and grammar stay the same.

No. In Norwegian, brun is not about biological sex here. It is about grammatical agreement.

Because genser is a common gender noun, the adjective takes the common-gender singular form brun.

That does not mean the sweater is masculine in a real-world sense. It is just how Norwegian grammar works.

So:

• en genser → genseren er brun
• et teppe → teppet er brunt
• skoene → skoene er brune