Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Etter krangelen føles klemmen ekstra god. - After the argument the hug feels extra good.

So Etter krangelen literally means “After the argument …”.
The -en ending is the regular definite singular ending for most masculine/common-gender nouns in Norwegian.

Why is it Etter krangelen and not just Etter krangel?

Using the bare noun krangel (without the definite ending) is unusual in this context. In Norwegian, when you talk about a specific event that both speakers know about, you normally use the definite form:

Etter krangelen = After the argument (we had / you know about)

If you dropped the definite ending and said etter krangel, it would sound incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Norwegian. To keep it indefinite, you’d normally use something like:

etter en krangel = after an argument (any argument)
etter krangling = after (some) arguing (using the verbal noun)

Could you also say Etter at vi kranglet instead of Etter krangelen? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they feel slightly different:

Etter krangelen føles klemmen ekstra god.
After the argument, the hug feels extra good.
– Focus on the argument as a thing/event.
Etter at vi kranglet, føles klemmen ekstra god.
After we argued, the hug feels extra good.
– Focus on the action “we argued”.

Grammatically:

etter + noun → Etter krangelen
etter at + clause → Etter at vi kranglet

Both are natural; the original sentence is just a bit more compact.

What exactly is føles? Is it a reflexive verb like føler meg?

Føles is the -s form of the verb å føle (“to feel”), but it is not reflexive here; it’s a so-called middle/passive form used in an impersonal way, similar to English “feels / is felt / seems”.

å føle = to feel (active)
- Jeg føler meg trist. = I feel sad.
å føles = to feel / to be felt / to seem (impersonal, with -s)
- Det føles rart. = It feels strange.

In klemmen føles ekstra god, the subject is klemmen (the hug), and føles means something like “is experienced as / feels”:

Klemmen føles ekstra god.
The hug feels extra good.

Why is the subject klemmen and not the person who is feeling it, like “I”?

Norwegian works here just like natural English:

The hug feels extra good. (subject = the hug)
Klemmen føles ekstra god. (subject = klemmen)

You could theoretically say something like Jeg føler at klemmen er ekstra god (I feel that the hug is extra good), but that sounds heavier and less natural.

Using klemmen as the subject with føles is the normal, idiomatic pattern when you describe how something feels to you.

Why is it klemmen and not simply klem?

Klemmen is the definite form of en/ei klem (“a hug”):

en (ei) klem = a hug
klemmen = the hug

The sentence is talking about a specific hug (the one that happens after the argument), so Norwegian uses the definite form:

Klemmen føles ekstra god. = The hug feels extra good.

If you said klem føles ekstra god, it would sound ungrammatical; you almost always need the article or the definite ending with countable nouns like klem.

What gender is klem in Norwegian, and does that matter here?

Klem is usually treated as common gender (historically masculine/feminine):

Indefinite: en klem (sometimes ei klem in dialects)
Definite: klemmen

This matters for agreement with adjectives like god:

klemmen (common gender) → god
If it were a neuter noun, you’d use godt instead in this kind of sentence.

So:

Klemmen føles ekstra god. ✅ (correct agreement)
Klemmen føles ekstra godt. ❌ (would sound wrong here)

Why is it ekstra god and not ekstra godt?

Because god is describing the noun klemmen, not the verb directly.

In Norwegian:

Predicative adjectives (after er, føles, blir, etc.) agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here:

Subject: klemmen (common gender, singular)
Adjective: god (common gender, singular form)

So:

Klemmen føles ekstra god. ✅

You’d use godt (neuter/“adverb-like”) in a different structure, for example:

Det føles ekstra godt. = It feels extra good.
(Here det is a dummy subject and godt behaves more like an adverb.)

Could I say Etter krangelen er klemmen ekstra god instead of føles? What is the difference?

You can say it, and it is grammatical:

Etter krangelen er klemmen ekstra god.

However, there is a nuance difference:

er ekstra god = is extra good
→ more neutral, objective statement.
føles ekstra god = feels extra good
→ emphasizes the subjective experience of the hug.

So føles here highlights how the hug is experienced emotionally after the argument.

Why does the sentence start with Etter krangelen and then invert to føles klemmen? Could I say Klemmen føles ekstra god etter krangelen?

Both word orders are correct:

Etter krangelen føles klemmen ekstra god.
Klemmen føles ekstra god etter krangelen.

Norwegian has the V2 rule: in main clauses, the finite verb usually comes in second position.

In sentence 1:

1st slot: Etter krangelen (time adverbial)
2nd slot: føles (the verb)
Then: klemmen ekstra god

In sentence 2:

1st slot: Klemmen (subject)
2nd slot: føles (the verb)

So the inversion in (1) is just standard Norwegian word order after a fronted time phrase. Both versions mean the same; (1) slightly emphasizes the time “after the argument.”

What does ekstra mean here, and could I replace it with other words?

Ekstra here means something like “especially / particularly / even more than usual”.

ekstra god = especially good, extra good

Other common intensifiers you might see in similar sentences:

veldig god = very good
så god = so good
kjempemorsom / kjempegod (colloquial, with kjempe- prefix) = really fun / really good

But ekstra god has the specific nuance that the hug feels better than it normally would, because it comes after the argument.