Questions & Answers about Jeg er så glad, når jeg ser min ven.
What does så add to glad? Can I leave it out?
Så here is an intensifier; it means so / very / really.
- Jeg er glad = I am happy.
- Jeg er så glad = I am so happy / really happy.
You can leave så out, but the sentence becomes less emotional:
- Jeg er glad, når jeg ser min ven. = I am happy when I see my friend.
- Jeg er så glad, når jeg ser min ven. = I am so happy when I see my friend.
Both are grammatically correct; it’s just a matter of how strong you want the feeling to be.
Why is it når and not da?
Both når and da can mean when, but they are used differently:
når is used for:
- repeated events (every time something happens)
- general truths
- future events
da is used for:
- one specific time in the past
In this sentence, the speaker is talking about something that happens whenever they see their friend (a repeated situation), so når is correct:
- Jeg er så glad, når jeg ser min ven.
I am so happy whenever I see my friend.
If you were talking about one particular time in the past, you would use da:
- Jeg var så glad, da jeg så min ven i går.
I was so happy when I saw my friend yesterday.
Why is there a comma before når?