Dyrlegen veier hunden.

Because Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• dyrlege = veterinarian / animal doctor

• dyrlegen = the veterinarian

• hund = dog
• hunden = the dog

So instead of using a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds -en, -a, or -et to the noun, depending on gender and form.

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the noun itself.

So:

• English: the dog

• Norwegian: hunden

• English: the veterinarian
• Norwegian: dyrlegen

This is one of the biggest differences from English. In a simple sentence like this, you do not need a separate word meaning the.

Veier is the present tense of å veie, which means to weigh.

So:

• å veie = to weigh
• veier = weighs / is weighing

In this sentence, Dyrlegen veier hunden, it means The veterinarian weighs the dog or The veterinarian is weighing the dog, depending on context.

Norwegian relies mostly on word order here.

The sentence follows the normal pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Dyrlegen = the subject, the one doing the action
• veier = the verb
• hunden = the object, the one being weighed

So Dyrlegen veier hunden means The veterinarian weighs the dog, not the other way around.

Yes. This is the standard basic word order for a simple statement:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Dyrlegen = subject
• veier = verb
• hunden = object

This is very similar to English word order in a basic sentence.

It can mean either one.

Norwegian present tense often covers both:

• English weighs
• English is weighing

So without extra context, Dyrlegen veier hunden could mean:

• The veterinarian weighs the dog
  or
• The veterinarian is weighing the dog

Norwegian does not usually need a separate progressive form like English does.

Yes. Dyrlege is a compound noun:

• dyr = animal
• lege = doctor

So dyrlege literally means animal doctor, which is the Norwegian word for veterinarian.

Compound nouns are very common in Norwegian.

It is usually pronounced roughly like VAY-er.

A few helpful points:

• v sounds like English v
• ei often sounds like the vowel in English say or way
• the final -er is a light ending

So veier is not pronounced like English vee-er. It is closer to VAY-er.

It is capitalized because it is the first word in the sentence, not because it is a special noun.

In Norwegian, common nouns are normally not capitalized unless they begin a sentence.

So:

• Dyrlegen veier hunden.
• but in the middle of a sentence: Jeg ser dyrlegen.

Yes. Then Norwegian would usually use the indefinite forms:

• en dyrlege = a veterinarian
• en hund = a dog

So the sentence would be:

En dyrlege veier en hund.

Compare:

• Dyrlegen veier hunden. = The veterinarian weighs the dog.
• En dyrlege veier en hund. = A veterinarian weighs a dog.