Questions & Answers about Zij voelt zich slecht.
Why is zich in this sentence? In English we just say "She feels bad."
In Dutch, the verb for expressing how you feel is reflexive: zich voelen (literally "to feel oneself"). Because English doesn't use "herself" in this phrase, it is easy to forget, but in Dutch you must include zich.
What happens if I leave out zich and just say Zij voelt slecht?
It sounds incomplete and confusing to a Dutch speaker. Without a reflexive pronoun, voelen means physically touching or sensing an object. To talk about your own internal health or emotional state, you always need the reflexive pronoun.
Why use zich instead of haar (her)?
Does zich slecht voelen mean she is in a bad mood, or physically sick?
It usually means she feels physically unwell or sick. If you want to say someone is grumpy or in a bad mood, you would typically use other phrases, like saying she has a slecht humeur (bad mood).