Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld.

Jeg er trøtt is a simple statement of state: I am tired.
Jeg kjenner meg trøtt focuses more on your subjective experience right now: I’m feeling tired / I feel tired.

In everyday speech, jeg er trøtt is more common and neutral. Jeg kjenner meg trøtt can sound a bit more reflective or slightly more formal/emphatic, but it’s still normal.

Why do we need meg after kjenner? Can I just say jeg kjenner trøtt?

You cannot say jeg kjenner trøtt in Norwegian; that is ungrammatical.

Here kjenne seg is used reflexively, like “to feel (oneself)”. So you must use a reflexive pronoun:

Jeg kjenner meg trøtt – I feel tired.
Du kjenner deg trøtt – You feel tired.
Han kjenner seg trøtt – He feels tired.

Without meg/deg/seg, kjenne normally means “to know” or “to be familiar with” someone/something:

Jeg kjenner ham. – I know him.
Kjenner du denne byen? – Do you know this town? / Are you familiar with this town?

So here, meg is required to get the meaning “feel (myself)”.

What is the difference between kjenne, føle, and vite?

These three often confuse learners:

kjenne
- “to know” (be familiar with)
  - Jeg kjenner henne. – I know her.
  - Kjenner du denne sangen? – Do you know this song?
- with a reflexive pronoun: kjenne seg = “to feel (oneself)”
  - Jeg kjenner meg trøtt. – I feel tired.
føle
- “to feel” (physically or emotionally), more literally like English to feel
  - Jeg føler meg trøtt. – I feel tired.
  - Jeg føler smerte i ryggen. – I feel pain in my back.
vite
- “to know (a fact)”
  - Jeg vet det. – I know that.
  - Vet du hva klokka er? – Do you know what time it is?

In your sentence, you could also say:

Jeg føler meg trøtt i kveld. – This is also correct and quite natural.
Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld. – Slightly more like “I experience myself as tired tonight,” but very similar in meaning.

Is trøtt an adjective, and does it change form for gender or number?

Yes, trøtt is an adjective meaning “tired”.

In the predicative position (“be tired”, “feel tired”), it normally stays the same form regardless of gender and number:

Jeg er trøtt. – I am tired.
Hun er trøtt. – She is tired.
Vi er trøtte. – We are tired.

Notice the plural: trøtte (with -e) is often used in the plural predicative. Both vi er trøtt and vi er trøtte are heard, but trøtte is more standard in writing.

In your sentence:

Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld. – “trøtt” is predicative and matches the subject jeg, but you don’t see a gender change.

Why is it i kveld and not something like på kveld or denne kvelden?

For parts of the day used like “this evening / tonight”, Norwegian normally uses i + time word:

i dag – today
i morgen – tomorrow
i går – yesterday
i kveld – this evening / tonight
i ettermiddag – this afternoon

So i kveld is the natural, idiomatic way to say “tonight / this evening”.

På kveld is wrong in this meaning.
Denne kvelden exists, but it is more like “this particular evening” in a narrative context:

Denne kvelden var spesiell. – This (particular) evening was special.

In your sentence, i kveld is the normal choice.

Does i kveld mean “this evening” or “tonight”?

i kveld covers both English “this evening” and “tonight”.

It usually refers to the part of the day from late afternoon/early evening until you go to bed. Whether you translate it as “this evening” or “tonight” in English depends on context, but it’s the same Norwegian phrase.

So:

Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld.
- “I feel tired this evening.”
- or: “I feel tired tonight.”

Can I move i kveld to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. You can say:

I kveld kjenner jeg meg trøtt.

This is perfectly correct and often used to emphasize “tonight”.

Note the word order: in Norwegian main clauses, when you place an adverbial (i kveld) first, the verb (kjenner) must come second:

I kveld kjenner jeg meg trøtt.
- [Adverbial] + [Verb] + [Subject] + ...

Is there any difference between jeg føler meg trøtt i kveld and jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld?

Both are correct and very similar in meaning.

Jeg føler meg trøtt i kveld.
- Closer to English “I feel tired tonight.”
- Very common and neutral.
Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld.
- Also means “I feel tired tonight.”
- Slightly more like “I experience myself as tired,” a bit more introspective or formal-sounding to some ears, but still ordinary language.

In everyday speech, many people would default to jeg er trøtt i kveld or jeg føler meg trøtt i kveld.

Could I just say jeg er trøtt i kveld instead?

Yes, absolutely:

Jeg er trøtt i kveld. – “I am tired tonight.”

This is probably the most natural and common way to say it in spoken Norwegian. Your original sentence is still fully correct; it just adds the explicit “feel myself” idea.

Why is it jeg kjenner meg and not jeg kjenner jeg?

Because kjenne seg is a reflexive verb construction, and reflexive verbs use object/reflexive pronouns, not subject pronouns.

Pronouns:

Subject: jeg, du, han, hun, vi, dere, de
Object/reflexive: meg, deg, ham/han, henne, oss, dere, dem
Reflexive 3rd person: seg

So:

Jeg kjenner meg trøtt. – I feel (myself) tired.
Not: jeg kjenner jeg trøtt (ungrammatical).

What tense is kjenner here, and how is kjenne conjugated?

Kjenner is the present tense of the verb kjenne.

Basic conjugation:

å kjenne – to know / to feel (infinitive)
jeg kjenner – I know / feel (present)
jeg kjente – I knew / felt (past)
jeg har kjent – I have known / have felt (present perfect)

So you could say:

I går kjente jeg meg også trøtt. – Yesterday I also felt tired.

Is meg stressed or unstressed when spoken?

In normal speech, meg here is usually unstressed and reduced, often sounding like “mæ” in many dialects.

So the sentence typically sounds like:

Jeg kjenner mæ trøtt i kveld. (phonetically, in many accents)

If you stress meg, you would be emphasizing myself for contrast, which would be unusual in this context. Normally the focus is on trøtt or i kveld, not on meg.

Could kjenne seg be used with other adjectives in the same way?

Yes. Kjenne seg + adjective is a general pattern meaning “to feel (oneself) + adjective”. Some examples:

Jeg kjenner meg frisk. – I feel healthy.
Hun kjenner seg ensom. – She feels lonely.
Vi kjenner oss trygge her. – We feel safe here.
Han kjenner seg nervøs før eksamen. – He feels nervous before the exam.

Your sentence fits the same pattern:

Jeg kjenner meg trøtt i kveld. – I feel tired tonight.