netu ga aru noni sigoto he ikou to site iru kanozyo wo mite, minna kawaisou da to itte ita.

熱がある is a fixed expression meaning to have a fever.

In Japanese, ある often means there is / exists, so 熱がある is literally something like a fever exists. Because of that, 熱 is marked with が, not を.

This is different from English have. Japanese often does not use a direct-object pattern where English does.

• お金がある = I have money
• 時間がある = I have time
• 熱がある = I have a fever

So this is best learned as a set phrase.

Here, のに means even though or although.

So:

• 熱があるのに = even though she has a fever

It introduces a contrast between two facts:

1. she has a fever
2. she is trying to go to work

That contrast is why the people around her feel sorry for her.

A useful comparison:

• から = because
• けど / が = but / although
• のに = although, with a stronger sense of despite that

So のに often sounds like in spite of that situation.

行こうとしている means is trying to go or is about to go.

It is built from:

• 行こう = volitional form of 行く; let's go / I will go
• 〜とする = to attempt to do
• 〜としている = is trying to do / is in the process of attempting

So:

• 仕事へ行く = go to work
• 仕事へ行こうとする = try to go to work
• 仕事へ行こうとしている = is trying to go to work

This matters because the sentence is describing her state as people are watching her. She has not simply gone to work; she is making the effort to go despite having a fever.

This is a very common grammar pattern.

Structure:

• dictionary verb → volitional form + とする

Examples:

• 食べる → 食べようとする = try to eat
• 帰る → 帰ろうとする = try to go home
• 行く → 行こうとする = try to go

It can mean:

1. to try to do something
2. sometimes to be about to do something

In this sentence, the trying meaning is the important one.

So 仕事へ行こうとしている彼女 means:

• the woman who is trying to go to work

している shows an ongoing state or action in progress.

Compare:

• 行こうとする = tries to go / will try to go / attempt to go
• 行こうとしている = is trying to go

In this sentence, the speaker is describing what they saw: she was in the middle of making that effort. So 〜としている gives a more vivid, ongoing feeling.

It fits well with 彼女を見て:

• seeing the woman who is trying to go to work

Yes, に would also be possible here.

Both can mark destination with 行く:

• 仕事へ行く
• 仕事に行く

The difference is small here.

Very roughly:

• に marks the destination more directly
• へ emphasizes direction toward

In many everyday sentences with 行く, both are natural. So 仕事へ行こうとしている and 仕事に行こうとしている are both fine.

彼女を見て means seeing her or when they saw her.

It connects the scene to the reaction that follows:

• 彼女を見て、みんなかわいそうだと言っていた。
• Seeing her, everyone was saying she was pitiful / they felt sorry for her.

Here, 見て is the て-form of 見る, which can connect actions or circumstances.

So the flow is:

1. they saw her
2. they reacted by saying かわいそうだ

Because 彼女 is the object of 見る.

Inside 彼女を見て:

• 彼女 = her
• を = marks the direct object
• 見て = seeing

So:

• 彼女を見て = seeing her

This を belongs only to 見る. It does not mark 彼女 as the object of the whole sentence.

In Japanese, relative clauses come before the noun they describe.

So:

• 仕事へ行こうとしている彼女
• literally: [trying to go to work] her
• natural English: the woman who is trying to go to work

Then that whole noun phrase becomes the object of 見る:

• 仕事へ行こうとしている彼女を見て
• seeing the woman who was trying to go to work

This is very normal in Japanese. The descriptive part comes first, and the main noun comes last.

Because かわいそう behaves like a na-adjective / adjectival noun, so when it appears before と言う, it usually takes だ.

So:

• かわいそうだ = she is pitiful / poor thing
• かわいそうだと言う = say that she is pitiful

This is similar to:

• 静かだと言う
• 便利だと言う

With i-adjectives, you do not add だ:

• 暑いと言う
• not 暑いだと言う

So かわいそうだと is the normal form here.

Here, かわいそう means something like:

• pitiful
• poor thing
• I feel sorry for her

It does not mean cute, even though it may look similar to かわいい.

That is a very common learner confusion:

• かわいい = cute
• かわいそう = pitiable / poor thing / deserving sympathy

In this sentence, everyone is reacting sympathetically because she has a fever but is still trying to go to work.

言っていた is the past form of 言っている, and here it often means was saying.

Compare:

• 言った = said
• 言っている = is saying
• 言っていた = was saying / had been saying

So みんなかわいそうだと言っていた gives the feeling that, at that time, people were making that comment.

It often describes a scene in progress in the past, which fits well with 見て:

• they saw her
• everyone was saying poor thing

Literally, it means everyone was saying かわいそうだ.

In natural English, that may be translated in a few ways depending on context:

• everyone said poor thing
• everyone said she was pitiful
• everyone felt sorry for her

So the Japanese is built as reported speech, but the natural English meaning may sound more like an emotional reaction than a formal statement.

Yes.

The phrase before 彼女 modifies it:

• 熱があるのに仕事へ行こうとしている彼女
• the woman who, even though she has a fever, is trying to go to work

So all of that information belongs to 彼女.

Then the rest of the sentence tells us what happened when people saw her:

• ...彼女を見て、みんなかわいそうだと言っていた。

Yes. A very useful breakdown is:

1. 熱があるのに

   • even though she has a fever

2. 仕事へ行こうとしている

   • is trying to go to work

3. 彼女

   • the woman / her

Together:

• 熱があるのに仕事へ行こうとしている彼女
• the woman who is trying to go to work even though she has a fever

Then:

4. を見て

   • seeing her

5. みんな

   • everyone

6. かわいそうだと

   • that she is pitiful / poor thing

7. 言っていた

   • was saying

So the overall structure is:

• [the woman ...] を見て、[everyone] [poor thing] と言っていた。

This kind of chunking is often the easiest way to read long Japanese sentences.