Jeg er kvalm.

• Jeg = the subject pronoun I
• er = the present tense of å være (to be)
• kvalm = an adjective describing how the speaker feels

So grammatically, it is:

subject + verb + adjective

Because kvalm is an adjective, and in Norwegian adjectives like this normally go with å være.

So Norwegian says, literally:

I am nauseous

not I have nauseous.

There is also a noun kvalme (nausea), and then you can say Jeg har kvalme, but that sounds a bit more like talking about the condition itself. Jeg er kvalm is the most natural everyday way to say it.

Yes, kvalm is an adjective.

In this sentence it stays in its basic form because it describes jeg.

Like many Norwegian adjectives, it can change in other contexts:

• kvalm = common gender / singular basic form
• kvalmt = neuter
• kvalme = plural / definite forms

Examples:

• Jeg er kvalm.
• Det er kvalmt her inne.
• Vi ble kvalme.

But with jeg, you use kvalm.

No. A man and a woman both say:

Jeg er kvalm.

Norwegian does not change the adjective here based on the speaker’s sex.

Yes, absolutely.

Jeg føler meg kvalm means I feel nauseous, and it is very natural.

The difference is small:

• Jeg er kvalm = direct, simple statement of your condition
• Jeg føler meg kvalm = emphasizes how you are feeling

Both are common.

Kvalm is specific: it means you feel nauseous or sick to your stomach.

Syk is much broader: it means ill or sick in general.

So:

• Jeg er kvalm = I feel nauseous
• Jeg er syk = I am sick / ill

If you only mean stomach nausea, kvalm is the better word.

Because kvalm is a predicate adjective, not a noun.

After er, Norwegian often uses an adjective directly:

• Jeg er trøtt
• Han er glad
• Vi er klare
• Jeg er kvalm

You do not put an article in front of adjectives in this kind of structure.

Add ikke after the verb:

Jeg er ikke kvalm.

That is the normal word order in a simple statement:

subject + verb + ikke + adjective

For a yes/no question, Norwegian puts the verb first:

Er jeg kvalm?

This is a very important pattern in Norwegian:

• Jeg er kvalm.
• Er jeg kvalm?

So the verb er moves in front of the subject jeg.

This is Bokmål because it uses jeg.

In Nynorsk, the usual form would be:

Eg er kvalm.

The adjective kvalm is the same; the main difference here is jeg versus eg.

A careful learner-friendly approximation is:

yai ehr kvahlm

A few useful notes:

• jeg varies a lot by dialect
• er is short
• kvalm is one syllable

Do not worry if you hear different pronunciations of jeg. That is very normal in Norwegian.

Yes. It is completely normal and common in everyday speech.

You can use it for things like:

• feeling carsick
• feeling sick after eating
• feeling like you might throw up

It sounds natural, not overly formal, and not old-fashioned.