Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig. - When I talk with my friends, I feel less unhappy.

når is used for:
- Repeated / habitual actions:
  - Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig.
    Whenever / when I talk with my friends, I feel less unhappy.
- General truths and future time:
  - Når det regner, blir jeg trøtt. – When it rains, I get tired.
  - Når jeg blir gammel, skal jeg reise mer. – When I get old, I will travel more.
da is used for:
- A single event in the past:
  - Da jeg snakket med vennene mine i går, følte jeg meg bedre.
    When I talked to my friends yesterday, I felt better.

In your sentence we’re talking about something that happens regularly or in general, so når is correct, not da.

Why is the word order “føler jeg meg” and not “jeg føler meg” after the comma?

Norwegian has the V2 rule in main clauses: the verb almost always comes in second position.

Your sentence has two parts:

Subordinate clause: Når jeg snakker med vennene mine
- Word order: conjunction (Når) + subject (jeg) + verb (snakker).
Main clause: føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig
- Because the subordinate clause comes first, the whole clause acts like one big element in first position.
- The verb of the main clause, føler, must therefore come second, before the subject:
  - Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig. ✅
  - Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, jeg føler meg mindre ulykkelig. ❌ (breaks V2)

If you start with the subject instead, you get normal order:

Jeg føler meg mindre ulykkelig når jeg snakker med vennene mine. ✅

Why is it “vennene mine” and not “mine venner” for “my friends”?

Both forms can exist, but they are used differently:

vennene mine = my friends (most neutral and common)
- vennene = the friends (plural definite)
- mine = my / mine (plural possessive)
- Word-for-word: the friends my
mine venner is also grammatically possible, but:
- In modern spoken Norwegian, vennene mine is more natural.
- mine venner can sound a bit more formal, emphatic, or written-style:
  - Mine venner, jeg vil takke dere alle. – My friends, I want to thank you all.

So in everyday speech, vennene mine is the usual way to say “my friends”.

Why do we need both “føler” and “meg” in “føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig”?

The verb føle (to feel) is often used reflexively in Norwegian when talking about your emotional or physical state:

å føle seg = to feel (a certain way)

So you need:

The verb: føler
The reflexive pronoun: meg, deg, seg, oss, dere, seg

Examples:

Jeg føler meg bra. – I feel good.
Føler du deg bedre? – Do you feel better?

In your sentence:

føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig
Literally: “feel I myself less unhappy”
Meaning: I feel less unhappy.

Without meg, the sentence sounds incomplete or unnatural:

Jeg føler mindre ulykkelig. ❌ (ungrammatical)

Can I say “Jeg er mindre ulykkelig” instead of “jeg føler meg mindre ulykkelig”?

You can, but there is a nuance:

Jeg er mindre ulykkelig.
- Focus on a more stable state: I am less unhappy (now / these days).
Jeg føler meg mindre ulykkelig.
- Focus on your perception or emotion at a certain moment or in a certain situation.

In your original sentence, it’s about how you feel when you’re talking with your friends, so føler meg fits very well.
But this is also possible:

Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, er jeg mindre ulykkelig.
This sounds fine, just a bit more like a description of a state than a felt experience.

Why is it “snakker med vennene mine” and not “snakker til vennene mine”?

The preposition changes the meaning slightly:

snakke med noen = talk *with someone*
- Implies a two-way conversation.
- Jeg liker å snakke med vennene mine. – I like talking with my friends.
snakke til noen = talk *to someone*
- Focuses more on one-way speaking or addressing:
  - A teacher speaking to a class.
  - A parent speaking to a child.
- Læreren snakket til elevene. – The teacher spoke to the students.

Since you’re describing a normal, interactive conversation with your friends, snakke med is the most natural choice.

Why is there a comma before “føler” in “Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg …”?

In Norwegian, you normally put a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause.

Når jeg snakker med vennene mine = subordinate clause (starts with Når)
føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig = main clause

So you write:

Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig.

If you reverse the order, you still use a comma:

Jeg føler meg mindre ulykkelig, når jeg snakker med vennene mine.
(This is grammatically possible, but the first version is more common in speech. Some style guides avoid the comma in this order, but the rule with the subordinate clause first is very clear.)

What exactly is the difference between “ulykkelig” and “trist”?

Both relate to negative emotions, but they’re not identical:

trist ≈ sad
- Can be mild or temporary.
- Jeg er trist i dag. – I am sad today.
- Det var en trist film. – It was a sad movie.
ulykkelig ≈ unhappy, miserable
- Stronger, more deep or lasting unhappiness.
- Often used about more serious emotional states:
  - Han er ulykkelig i ekteskapet sitt. – He is unhappy in his marriage.
  - Hun følte seg veldig ulykkelig. – She felt very unhappy/miserable.

In your sentence, mindre ulykkelig suggests that you might still be unhappy in general, but your friends make you feel less so.

Why is it “mindre ulykkelig” and not “mer lykkelig” if the English meaning is kind of “happier”?

Norwegian allows both negative comparisons and positive comparisons, and the nuance is slightly different:

mindre ulykkelig = less unhappy
- Implies your starting point is unhappiness, and that feeling is reduced.
- You might not be actually happy, just less unhappy.
mer lykkelig = happier / more happy
- Implies movement towards happiness.
- Jeg blir mer lykkelig når jeg snakker med vennene mine.

Your original sentence:

Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig.
Suggests that you’re generally unhappy, but friends make it less bad, not necessarily positive.

Why is it “vennene” and not just “venner”?

The difference is definite vs. indefinite plural:

venner = friends (indefinite plural)
- Used when you talk about friends in general:
  - Jeg har mange venner. – I have many friends.
vennene = the friends (definite plural)
- Refers to specific friends that are known from context:
  - Når jeg snakker med vennene mine …
    When I talk with my (particular) friends…

Because you also have mine (my), Norwegian normally uses the definite plural + possessive:

vennene mine = my (particular) friends
Using just venner mine would be incorrect.

Could I say “Når jeg prater med vennene mine” instead of “når jeg snakker …”?

Yes, you can:

snakke = to speak / to talk (neutral)
prate = to chat / to talk (more informal, relaxed)

So:

Når jeg prater med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig.
Sounds perfectly natural and a bit more casual.

Both verbs are very common in spoken Norwegian.

Why is the verb “snakker” in the present tense? Could it mean something like “whenever I talk”?

Yes. Norwegian present tense is often used for:

Things that are generally true or habitual:
- Jeg drikker kaffe hver morgen. – I drink coffee every morning.
- Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig.
  – When(ever) I talk with my friends, I feel less unhappy.

So snakker here covers the English idea of:

when I talk / whenever I talk
without needing a special form.

How do you pronounce “Når jeg snakker med vennene mine, føler jeg meg mindre ulykkelig” roughly in English terms?

Very roughly (standard Eastern Norwegian, approximated):

Når ≈ “nor” but with a slightly more rounded o.
jeg ≈ “yai” (like English “yay” with a bit of y at the start).
snakker ≈ “SNACK-er” (short a, rolled or tapped r at the end).
med ≈ “meh”.
vennene ≈ “VEN-neh-neh” (very short vowels).
mine ≈ “MEE-neh”.
føler ≈ “FUR-ler” but with lips rounded on the ø; no English equivalent, somewhere between “fur” and “full”.
meg ≈ “my” (rhymes with “sky”).
mindre ≈ “MIN-dreh”.
ulykkelig ≈ “oo-LÜK-keh-lee”, with y like the German ü.

Precise pronunciation depends on dialect, but this gives you a rough guide.