Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden.

In Norwegian, when føle is used about how someone feels in themself (tired, sick, weak, etc.), it is normally used reflexively: å føle seg.

Hun føler seg psykisk svak.
= She feels mentally weak. (her own state)

Without seg, føle usually means “to feel” in the sense of perceive / touch / sense something external:

Hun føler kulden. = She feels the cold.
Jeg føler glede. = I feel joy.

So:

Hun føler seg svak. ✅ (She feels weak.)
Hun føler svak. ❌ (ungrammatical in this meaning)

You need seg because she is feeling something about herself, not perceiving something outside herself.

What is the difference between psykisk and mentalt? Are both natural here?

Both psykisk and mentalt can mean “mental” in English, but there are nuances:

psykisk – often used about mental health / psychological state; slightly more clinical or related to psychology.
- psykisk helse = mental health
- psykiske problemer = psychological problems
mentalt – adverb from mental, more general “mentally / in terms of the mind”.
- mentalt sterk = mentally strong
- mentalt sliten = mentally tired

In your sentence:

Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden.
Hun føler seg mentalt svak i denne perioden.

Both are understandable. Psykisk svak sounds a bit more like “psychologically fragile / with mental-health weakness”. Mentalt svak sounds more like general mental strength, focus, or stamina.

In everyday speech, Norwegians might often choose softer phrases, e.g.:

Hun føler seg psykisk sliten. = She feels mentally exhausted.
Hun føler seg mentalt utslitt. = She feels mentally worn out.

Is psykisk svak one word or two? What exactly is the grammar of psykisk svak?

Psykisk svak is two separate adjectives:

psykisk = psychological / mental
svak = weak

Together they form an adjective phrase describing hun:

She is svak (weak), specifically in a psykisk (mental) way → “mentally weak”.

This is similar to English:

mentally weak, physically tired, emotionally strong.

So grammatically:

Hun (subject)
føler seg (verb + reflexive pronoun)
psykisk svak (predicative adjective phrase)
i denne perioden (time expression)

Why doesn’t svak change form to agree with hun? I thought Norwegian adjectives change.

Norwegian adjectives change form in some positions, but not here.

Attributive position – before a noun, they normally change:
- en svak mann (a weak man)
- ei svak jente (a weak girl)
- et svakt barn (a weak child)
- de svake barna (the weak children)
Predicative position – after er, blir, føler seg, etc., the adjective is in the base form for singular:
- Hun er svak.
- Han føler seg svak.
- Det virker svakt.

Your sentence uses svak in predicative position, so it stays svak, not svake or anything else.

Is psykisk an adjective or an adverb here?

Formally, psykisk is an adjective, but here it works like an adjective modifying another adjective (svak), forming a combined description psykisk svak (“mentally weak”).

It’s similar to English “mentally weak”, where mentally is an adverb modifying weak. Norwegian often just uses two adjectives like this:

psykisk sterk = mentally strong
fysisk aktiv = physically active
emosjonelt ustabil (here the adverbial -t is visible) = emotionally unstable

So you can think of psykisk svak as one combined descriptive unit.

Why is it i denne perioden and not på denne perioden?

In Norwegian, time periods are usually introduced with i (“in”):

i denne perioden = in this period
i ferien = in the holidays
i sommer = in (the) summer
i det siste = lately / in recent times

På is used for some specific time expressions (and for locations on surfaces, events, etc.), e.g.:

på mandag = on Monday
på kvelden = in the evening
på den tiden = at that time

For a more abstract “period” of time, i denne perioden is the natural choice.

Why do we say denne perioden with -en on periode when we already have denne?

Norwegian often uses double definiteness: a demonstrative and a definite ending on the noun.

Pattern with en periode (a period):

Indefinite: en periode = a period
Definite: perioden = the period
Demonstrative + definite noun: denne perioden = this period

So:

❌ denne periode – ungrammatical
✅ denne perioden – correct

This happens with most common-gender nouns:

en bok → boka → denne boka (a book → the book → this book)
en bil → bilen → den bilen (a car → the car → that car)

Can I move i denne perioden to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Norwegian word order is quite flexible with time expressions. All of these are acceptable:

Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden.
I denne perioden føler hun seg psykisk svak.
Hun føler seg i denne perioden psykisk svak. (less common, but still possible)

The most typical are:

The original: Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden.
Fronted time: I denne perioden føler hun seg psykisk svak.

Bringing i denne perioden into the middle (after seg) is grammatically fine but sounds more marked or stylistically heavy in everyday speech.

Could we say Hun er psykisk svak i denne perioden instead of Hun føler seg ...? What’s the difference?

You can say Hun er psykisk svak i denne perioden, but there’s a nuance:

Hun føler seg psykisk svak ...
→ focuses on her subjective experience: she feels that she is mentally weak right now.
Hun er psykisk svak ...
→ sounds more like an objective description or judgment of her state. It can feel stronger and more “labeling”.

In many contexts, føler seg is softer and more natural when you’re talking about temporary, personal feelings:

Hun føler seg deprimert. = She feels depressed.
Han føler seg ensom. = He feels lonely.

How would I say this in a more everyday or less harsh way in Norwegian?

Psykisk svak can sound quite strong or stigmatizing in some contexts. More everyday, softer alternatives include:

Hun føler seg psykisk sliten i denne perioden.
= She feels mentally tired in this period.
Hun føler seg mentalt utslitt for tiden.
= She feels mentally worn out these days.
Hun har det tungt psykisk i denne perioden.
= She is having a tough time mentally in this period.
Hun sliter psykisk i denne perioden.
= She is struggling mentally in this period.

What does Hun tell me about gender? Can it ever mean anything other than “she”?

Hun is the pronoun for “she” (female person) in Norwegian. It does not have a gender-neutral meaning like singular “they” in English.

Basic personal pronouns:

jeg = I
du = you (singular)
han = he
hun = she
vi = we
dere = you (plural)
de = they

So Hun føler seg psykisk svak ... clearly refers to a female person.

How is the reflexive pronoun system working here? Why is it seg, not hun or something else?

Norwegian has special reflexive pronouns, used when the subject acts on itself. For å føle seg, you always choose the reflexive that matches the subject:

jeg føler meg ... = I feel ...
du føler deg ... = you feel ...
han/hun føler seg ... = he/she feels ...
vi føler oss ... = we feel ...
dere føler dere ... = you (pl.) feel ...
de føler seg ... = they feel ...

So with hun, the correct reflexive is seg:

Hun føler seg psykisk svak. ✅
Hun føler hun psykisk svak. ❌ (wrong)
Hun føler henne psykisk svak. ❌ (wrong)

How do you pronounce the words in Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden?

An approximate pronunciation (Standard Eastern Norwegian):

Hun – /hʉn/
- Like “hoon”, with rounded u (like German ü).
føler – /ˈføːlər/
- fø like in French feu; long vowel.
- -ler like “ler”.
seg – /sæi/ or /sæj/
- Similar to English “sigh”, but starting with s and a bit more fronted.
psykisk – /ˈsyːkɪsk/
- ps both pronounced.
- sy like German ü again; long.
- Final -isk like “isk” in “frisk”.
svak – /svɑːk/
- sv as in “swan”.
- a broad, like in British “father”; long vowel.
i – /iː/
- Like English “ee” in “see”; long.
denne – /ˈdɛnːə/
- de like “den” in English “den”.
perioden – /pæriˈuːdən/ or /pɛriˈuːdən/
- Stress on -o-: pe-ri-O-den.
- Second e is reduced, almost like a weak “uh”.

Together, spoken naturally, some sounds will blend: Hun føler seg psykisk svak i denne perioden.