Learn Hardcore Danish: Hun føler sig trist, når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde. - She feels sad when she worries too much about her work.

Hun er trist = She is sad.
This states her emotional state as a fact, more objectively.
Hun føler sig trist = She feels sad.
This focuses on her subjective experience of being sad. It’s like saying “she feels (herself) sad” right now.

The verb at føle sig is the usual way to say “to feel + adjective” about states and emotions, similar to English feel + adjective:

Jeg føler mig træt. – I feel tired.
Vi føler os nervøse. – We feel nervous.

What is the function of sig in føler sig and bekymrer sig?

Sig is a reflexive pronoun. It shows that the subject and the object are the same person.

In Danish, many verbs are used reflexively:

at føle sig – to feel (a certain way)
- Hun føler sig trist. – She feels sad.
  Literally: She feels herself sad.
at bekymre sig (om noget) – to worry (about something)
- Hun bekymrer sig om sit arbejde. – She worries about her job.

The reflexive forms are:

jeg → mig (Jeg føler mig…)
du → dig (Du føler dig…)
han/hun/den/det/de → sig (Han føler sig… / De føler sig…)

So sig is used for 3rd person (singular and plural) when the action “comes back” to the subject.

What’s the difference between trist and ked af det?

Both can often be translated as sad, but there are small differences in usage:

trist
- A bit more neutral or slightly formal.
- Common in writing, but also normal in speech.
- Can describe people or things:
  - Hun er trist. – She is sad.
  - Det er en trist historie. – It’s a sad story.
ked af det
- Very common in everyday spoken Danish.
- Often used for being emotionally upset, disappointed, or hurt:
  - Jeg er ked af det. – I’m sad / upset.
  - Han blev ked af det. – He got upset/sad.

In this sentence, føler sig trist could easily be replaced by føler sig ked af det without changing the meaning much.

Why do we use når here and not da?

Danish has two common words for when:

når – used for:
- general situations
- repeated events
- present or future time
  Example:
  Hun føler sig trist, når hun bekymrer sig for meget…
  = Whenever she worries too much, she feels sad (a general pattern).
da – used for:
- a single event in the past
  Example:
  Hun følte sig trist, da hun mistede sit arbejde.
  = She felt sad when she lost her job (one specific moment).

In your sentence we’re describing a general, repeated situation, so når is the correct choice.

What is the word order in når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde and why?

In a subordinate clause introduced by når, the basic word order is:

[når] + subject + verb + (other elements)

So we get:

når – subordinator
hun – subject
bekymrer – finite verb
sig – reflexive pronoun
for meget – degree adverb (“too much”)
om sit arbejde – prepositional phrase

Full clause: når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde

Notice that in subordinate clauses you do not have strict V2 (verb in second position) like in main clauses. Instead, you typically have subject–verb right after the subordinator.

Can we put the når-clause first in the sentence?

Yes. Both orders are correct:

Hun føler sig trist, når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde.
Når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde, føler hun sig trist.

Meaning is the same. The difference is information structure (what you want to emphasize or start with), not grammar correctness.

Note: when the når-clause comes first, the main clause that follows goes back to normal V2 word order: føler (verb) comes before hun (subject) → … føler hun sig trist.

Is the comma before når necessary?

In modern Danish punctuation rules, the comma before a subordinate clause like this is strongly recommended and standard, although there are two slightly different comma systems in theory.

Most native writers will use the comma here:

Hun føler sig trist, når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde.

For practical purposes as a learner, you can treat the comma before når (when it introduces a clause) as normal and expected in this type of sentence.

Does for belong to bekymrer sig for, or is it part of for meget?

In this sentence, for belongs to for meget, not to bekymrer sig.

for meget = too much (degree / intensity)
bekymrer sig om sit arbejde = worries about her job

So the structure is:

bekymrer sig – worries
for meget – too much (how much she worries)
om sit arbejde – about her job (what she worries about)

If you removed for meget, you’d still say:

Hun bekymrer sig om sit arbejde. – She worries about her job.

Why do we say bekymrer sig om sit arbejde and not something else?

The usual pattern is:

at bekymre sig om noget – to worry about something
- Hun bekymrer sig om sit arbejde. – She worries about her job.
- De bekymrer sig om deres børn. – They worry about their children.

You will also see at være bekymret for/over noget with a different structure:

Hun er bekymret for sit arbejde. – She is worried about her job.
Han er bekymret over situationen. – He is worried about / upset by the situation.

So after bekymrer sig, om is the normal preposition for “about (something)” in this sense.

Why is it sit arbejde and not hendes arbejde?

Danish has reflexive possessive pronouns that refer back to the subject of the clause:

sin / sit / sine = his/her/its/their own (depending on gender and number)
hans / hendes / dens / deres = his / her / its / their (not reflexive; can refer to another person)

In this sentence, hun (she) is both the subject and the owner of the job, so we use the reflexive form:

Hun … bekymrer sig om sit arbejde.
= She worries about her own job.

If we said hendes arbejde here, it would usually mean “her (someone else’s) job” – a different woman’s job.

Why is it sit and not sin or sine?

Sin / sit / sine agree with the grammatical gender and number of the noun they describe:

sin – for common gender, singular (en-words)
- sin bil (en bil) – his/her/its/their own car
sit – for neuter gender, singular (et-words)
- sit arbejde (et arbejde) – his/her/its/their own job
sine – for all plural nouns
- sine børn – his/her/its/their own children

Since arbejde is a neuter noun (et arbejde), we use sit:

sit arbejde – (his/her) own job

Why is there no article before arbejde in sit arbejde?

In Danish, you generally do not use an article when a noun has a possessive pronoun:

mit arbejde – my job (not det mit arbejde or et mit arbejde)
dit hus – your house
hans bil – his car
sit arbejde – her own job

So the pattern is:

[possessive] + [noun]
not
[article] + [possessive] + [noun]

Why are the verbs føler and bekymrer in the present tense here?

In Danish, the present tense is used not only for actions happening right now, but also for:

general truths
habits
repeated situations

The sentence describes a general pattern in her life, something that happens whenever she worries too much, so the present tense is natural:

Hun føler sig trist, når hun bekymrer sig for meget om sit arbejde.
= She (generally) feels sad when she (generally) worries too much about her job.

Danish does not require a separate “present continuous” form like English is worrying / is feeling; the simple present bekymrer / føler covers that meaning when the context makes it clear.