Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Etter forelesningen følte hun seg både inspirert og motivert til å lese mer. - After the lecture she felt both inspired and motivated to read more.

In the sentence, Etter forelesningen means “After the lecture”, referring to a specific lecture that both speaker and listener know about (for example, the one that just finished).

If you said:

Etter en forelesning følte hun seg … = After a lecture she felt …

this would sound more general or vague, like it could have been any lecture, not a particular one you have in mind.

You could also have:

Etter forelesninger føler hun seg … = After lectures (in general), she feels …

Here the plural forelesninger expresses a general habit, not one specific event.

What exactly does forelesning mean, and how is it different from time and klasse?

All three can be related to “class” in English, but they’re used differently:

forelesning
- Literally “lecture”.
- Typically used at university or college.
- Suggests a more formal setting where a lecturer talks and students mainly listen.
- Example: Jeg har forelesning klokka ti. – I have a lecture at ten o’clock.
time
- Means a lesson/class period (especially in school), or simply “hour”.
- Used a lot in primary/secondary school.
- Example: Vi har mattetime nå. – We have math class now.
klasse
- Usually means a group of students, not the event/lesson.
- Example: Klassa er stor. – The class (group) is big.

So Etter forelesningen… strongly suggests a university-style lecture rather than just any kind of school class.

Why is the word order “Etter forelesningen følte hun seg …” and not “Etter forelesningen hun følte seg …”?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb (here, følte) must be in second position in the clause.

Neutral order:
- Hun følte seg inspirert.
- Subject (hun) is first, verb (følte) is second.

When you move an adverbial to the front (like Etter forelesningen), that whole phrase counts as position 1, so the verb must still be in position 2:

Etter forelesningen (adverbial – position 1)
følte (finite verb – position 2)
hun (subject – position 3)
seg både inspirert og motivert til å lese mer. (rest)

So:

✅ Etter forelesningen følte hun seg …
❌ Etter forelesningen hun følte seg … (breaks the V2 rule)

Why do we say “følte hun seg” with seg? Why not just “hun følte” or henne?

seg is the reflexive pronoun for 3rd person singular (he/she/it) when the object refers back to the subject.

hun = she (subject form)
henne = her (object form, non‑reflexive)
seg = herself/himself/itself (reflexive)

Hun følte seg … literally means “She felt herself …”, i.e. she felt (in herself) inspired and motivated.

You use seg when subject and object are the same person:

Han vasker seg. – He washes himself.
Hun føler seg trøtt. – She feels tired.

If you used henne, it would refer to another female person, not to hun:

Hun så henne. – She saw her (some other woman).

Reflexive forms in singular:

jeg føler meg – I feel
du føler deg – you feel (singular)
han/hun føler seg – he/she feels

Why is it “følte hun seg inspirert og motivert” and not just “hun var inspirert og motivert”?

Both are grammatically correct, but they express slightly different nuances:

å føle seg + adjective = to feel + adjective
Focuses on the subjective experience.
- Hun følte seg inspirert. – She felt inspired.
å være + adjective = to be + adjective
States a condition or state, often more neutral.
- Hun var inspirert. – She was inspired.

In this context:

Etter forelesningen følte hun seg både inspirert og motivert …
emphasizes how she experienced her state right after the lecture, mirroring the English “she felt both inspired and motivated”.

If you said:

Etter forelesningen var hun inspirert og motivert …

it describes her state, but it sounds a bit more like an external fact and less like her inner sensation at that moment.

What does the structure “både … og …” mean, and how is it used?

både … og … corresponds to “both … and …” in English.

It links two (or more) elements of the same grammatical type:

With adjectives:
- Hun er både inspirert og motivert.
  She is both inspired and motivated.
With nouns:
- Både lærere og studenter var der.
  Both teachers and students were there.
With verbs:
- Han både leser og skriver norsk.
  He both reads and writes Norwegian.

In the sentence:

både inspirert og motivert
joins two adjectives that describe how she feels.

You could drop både and just say:

… hun følte seg inspirert og motivert …

That’s still correct; både just adds emphasis that both qualities apply.

Why is it “motivert til å lese mer”? Could we use for instead of til, like “motivert for å lese mer”?

In standard Norwegian, motivert normally takes the preposition til when it’s followed by a verb:

motivert til å gjøre noe – motivated to do something

So:

✅ motivert til å lese mer
Less standard / less natural: motivert for å lese mer

for with motivert is more natural when followed by a noun, not a verb:

motivert for studier – motivated for studies
motivert for jobben – motivated for the job

The pattern in your sentence is:

motivert til å + infinitive
- motivert til å lese mer – motivated to read more

Why do we need “å” in “til å lese mer”? Could we say “til lese mer”?

å is the infinitive marker in Norwegian, similar to “to” in English when used before verbs (“to read”, “to write”).

In most constructions (especially after adjectives and prepositions), the infinitive verb needs å:

Jeg liker å lese. – I like to read.
Jeg prøver å lære norsk. – I’m trying to learn Norwegian.
Hun er klar til å gå. – She is ready to go.
motivert til å lese – motivated to read

So:

✅ til å lese mer
❌ til lese mer

An important exception: after modal verbs (and a few others), you don’t use å:

Hun kan lese norsk. – She can read Norwegian.
Han skal lese mer. – He will/shall read more.

But after til, you do: til å lese.

What exactly does mer mean here, and how is it different from flere?

mer and flere both translate to “more” in English, but they’re used differently:

mer
- Used with uncountable nouns, activities, adjectives and adverbs.
- Means “more” in the sense of a greater amount / to a greater degree.
- Examples:
  - mer kaffe – more coffee
  - lese mer – read more (more time/pages/overall)
  - mer interessant – more interesting
flere
- Used with countable plural nouns.
- Means “more (items/people)” or “several”.
- Examples:
  - flere bøker – more books / several books
  - flere studenter – more students

In til å lese mer, mer refers to a greater amount of reading (more time, more pages, more often). You cannot use flere here, because there is no plural noun after it.

Why is følte in the simple past tense? Could we also say “har følt”?

følte is the preterite (simple past) of å føle (“to feel”):

Hun føler seg … – She feels …
Hun følte seg … – She felt …

Norwegian often uses the simple past where English might also use a simple past:

Etter forelesningen følte hun seg …
= After the lecture, she felt … (one completed event in the past)

You can use the present perfect (har følt) in Norwegian, but it changes the meaning:

Etter forelesningen har hun følt seg mer motivert.
= Since the lecture, she has felt more motivated.
(emphasizes an ongoing state from that time up to now)

In your sentence, we’re just narrating what happened right after that specific lecture, so følte (simple past) is the natural choice.

Are inspirert and motivert verbs or adjectives here, and why do they look like past participles?

inspirert and motivert are past participles of the verbs:

å inspirere – to inspire → inspirert
å motivere – to motivate → motivert

In this sentence they function as adjectives describing her state:

hun følte seg inspirert og motivert
= she felt (herself) inspired and motivated.

This is very similar to English, where we also use past participles as adjectives:

inspired, motivated, tired, excited, etc.

Note on forms:

With a singular subject (like hun), the adjective form is the “base” form:
- Hun er inspirert.
With a plural subject, you often add -e:
- De følte seg inspirerte og motiverte.
  They felt inspired and motivated.

So here they’re grammatically adjectives, even though their form comes from the verb participle.