Han føler seg elendig.

He feels miserable.

Breakdown of Han føler seg elendig.

• han: he
• føle seg: to feel
• elendig: terrible; miserable

Questions & Answers about Han føler seg elendig.

Why is seg used here?

Because Norwegian very often uses the reflexive pattern å føle seg + adjective when talking about how someone feels.

So:

• Han føler seg elendig = He feels miserable
• more literally, something like He feels himself miserable

That literal English version sounds unnatural, but it helps show the grammar.

Without seg, føle often means feel/sense something:

• Han føler vinden = he feels the wind
• Hun følte smerte = she felt pain

So in this sentence, seg is the normal Norwegian way to link the feeling to the person’s own state.

Why is it seg and not ham?

Because seg is the reflexive pronoun for the third person. It is used when the object refers back to the subject.

Here, the subject is han, and the person being referred to is the same person, so Norwegian uses seg.

Compare:

• Han føler seg elendig = he feels miserable
• Hun ser ham = she sees him

In the second example, ham refers to a different person from the subject hun, so it is not reflexive.

A useful comparison:

• Han vasker seg = he washes himself
• Hun vasker ham = she washes him

What form is føler?