How are you? In Norwegian, feelings and physical states are expressed with two patterns — være (to be) + adjective, and the reflexive føle seg (to feel) + adjective. This page covers the everyday emotion and state words, the difference between the two patterns, one famous false friend (spent does not mean "spent"), and the deeply Norwegian idiom glad i, which turns "glad" into "love."
Two ways to say how you feel
Norwegian has two main frames for feelings:
- Jeg er + adjective — "I am..." — states a fact about your condition.
- Jeg føler meg + adjective — "I feel..." — emphasises the subjective, felt experience.
For most emotions and states, both work and the difference is subtle. Jeg er trøtt and jeg føler meg trøtt both mean "I'm tired"; the føle meg version foregrounds that this is how you feel right now, a touch more introspective. With clearly physical states (hungry, thirsty), være is the default; with mood and wellbeing, føle seg is very common.
Jeg er trøtt i dag.
I'm tired today.
Jeg føler meg mye bedre nå.
I feel much better now.
The reflexive: føle SEG
Føle ("to feel") is reflexive when you talk about your own state — it needs the reflexive pronoun that matches the subject. This is the part English speakers drop, because English just says "I feel tired" with no extra word. Norwegian requires meg / deg / seg / oss / dere / seg:
| Subject | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | jeg føler meg | I feel |
| du | du føler deg | you feel |
| han/hun | han/hun føler seg | he/she feels |
| vi | vi føler oss | we feel |
| dere | dere føler dere | you (pl.) feel |
| de | de føler seg | they feel |
Føler du deg bra?
Do you feel okay?
Hun føler seg ikke helt frisk.
She doesn't feel quite well.
Vi føler oss veldig velkomne her.
We feel very welcome here.
The emotion and state vocabulary
| Norwegian | English |
|---|---|
| glad | happy / glad |
| lei seg | sad |
| sint | angry |
| redd | afraid / scared |
| trøtt | tired (sleepy) |
| sliten | tired (worn out, exhausted) |
| nervøs | nervous |
| spent | excited / eager (NOT "spent"!) |
| sulten | hungry |
| tørst | thirsty |
| syk | sick / ill |
Two pairs deserve a closer look.
lei seg ("sad") is itself reflexive — it always comes with the matching pronoun: jeg er lei meg, han er lei seg. Don't confuse it with lei (without the pronoun), which means "fed up / tired of": jeg er lei av jobben = "I'm fed up with the job."
trøtt vs sliten: trøtt is sleepy-tired, the kind a nap fixes. Sliten is worn-out, drained, exhausted — physically or emotionally spent after a hard day. Norwegians distinguish these carefully.
Hun er lei seg fordi hunden er syk.
She's sad because the dog is ill.
Jeg er så sliten etter en lang uke.
I'm so worn out after a long week.
Barna er sinte fordi det regner.
The children are angry because it's raining.
spent: the false friend
spent looks exactly like English "spent," but it means excited / eager / looking forward to something. It comes from the idea of being "tense" with anticipation. If you say jeg er spent, you mean you're keyed-up with excitement, not exhausted. (For "spent / worn out," the word is sliten.) This catches every English speaker at least once.
Jeg er så spent på resultatet!
I'm so excited/eager about the result!
Vi er spente på den nye filmen.
We're excited about the new film.
Er du spent før eksamen? – Ja, litt nervøs også.
Are you excited before the exam? – Yes, a little nervous too.
glad i: turning "happy" into "love"
This is the emotionally important one. glad alone means "happy." But add the preposition i ("in") and a person, and glad i becomes a statement of deep affection: jeg er glad i deg is the standard way Norwegians say "I love you" to family and friends — non-romantically. The preposition does all the work, lifting "glad" into love.
This matters because Norwegian keeps two channels separate:
- Jeg er glad i deg — "I love you" for parents, children, siblings, close friends. Warm, deep, non-romantic.
- Jeg elsker deg — "I love you" romantically, reserved for a partner. Saying jeg elsker deg to your grandmother would sound strange; you say jeg er glad i deg.
Jeg er så glad i deg, mamma.
I love you so much, Mum.
Vi er veldig glade i barna våre.
We love our children very much.
Jeg elsker deg. – Jeg elsker deg også.
I love you. – I love you too. (romantic)
Don't confuse glad i (fond of / love someone or something) with glad for (glad/pleased that something happened):
Jeg er glad for at du kom.
I'm glad that you came.
Jeg er glad i hunden min.
I love my dog.
- person = "I love you" for family and friends; elske is romantic. The preposition i is what turns plain "happy" into deep affection — an idiom worth treasuring.
How are you?
The everyday exchange. The standard question is Hvordan har du det? ("How are you?" — literally "how do you have it?"), and the standard, almost reflexive answer is Bare bra, takk ("Just fine, thanks").
| Norwegian | English |
|---|---|
| Hvordan har du det? | How are you? |
| Hvordan går det? | How's it going? |
| Bare bra, takk! | Just fine, thanks! |
| Det går bra. | It's going well / I'm fine. |
| Ikke så bra, dessverre. | Not so good, unfortunately. |
Hvordan har du det? – Bare bra, takk. Og du?
How are you? – Just fine, thanks. And you?
Hvordan går det? – Det går fint, men jeg er litt trøtt.
How's it going? – It's going fine, but I'm a bit tired.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg føler trøtt.
Missing the reflexive — føle needs the matching pronoun when describing your own state.
✅ Jeg føler meg trøtt.
I feel tired.
❌ Jeg er spent. (meaning 'I'm exhausted')
False friend — spent means excited/eager, not worn out.
✅ Jeg er sliten.
I'm worn out / exhausted.
❌ Jeg elsker deg, bestemor.
Wrong register — elske is romantic; to family you say glad i.
✅ Jeg er glad i deg, bestemor.
I love you, Grandma.
❌ Jeg er lei. (meaning 'I'm sad')
Ambiguous/wrong — lei without seg means 'fed up'; sad is lei seg.
✅ Jeg er lei meg.
I'm sad.
❌ Jeg er glad for deg. (meaning 'I love you')
Wrong preposition — glad for = glad that; affection for a person is glad i.
✅ Jeg er glad i deg.
I love you (family/friend).
Key Takeaways
- Two frames: jeg er
- adjective (state of fact) and jeg føler meg
- adjective (felt experience).
- adjective (state of fact) and jeg føler meg
- føle seg is reflexive — the pronoun (meg/deg/seg/oss/dere/seg) is obligatory.
- spent = excited/eager, a false friend; "worn out" is sliten, and "sad" is lei seg.
- glad i
- person = "I love you" for family and friends; elske is romantic.
- Greet with Hvordan har du det? and answer Bare bra, takk.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Reflexive Verbs and segA2 — How Norwegian reflexive verbs work — the meg/deg/seg paradigm, true reflexives like vaske seg, and the many inherently reflexive verbs (glede seg, føle seg) English has no equivalent for.
- Adjectives with Fixed PrepositionsB1 — The fixed adjective + preposition pairings Norwegian forces you to memorise as units — glad i, redd for, flink til, stolt av, interessert i — where the Norwegian preposition almost never matches the English one.
- Untranslatable Words: koselig, dugnad, påleggB2 — The culturally loaded Norwegian words English has no single equivalent for — koselig, friluftsliv, dugnad, janteloven, matpakke, utepils, pålegg, døgn — explained as windows onto how Norwegian society works, with the grammar of how each is actually used.
- føle (to feel)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class 2 verb føle (føle / føler / følte / har følt), with the all-important reflexive føle seg + adjective and a contrast with kjenne.
- være (to be)A1 — The complete conjugation of Norwegian's most important verb — present er, preterite var, supine vært, imperative vær — a fully suppletive copula whose forms never change for person.