Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun føler seg litt flau i det rare kostymet, men publikum ler. - She feels a bit embarrassed in the strange costume, but the audience laughs.

In Norwegian, many verbs that describe feelings or bodily sensations are reflexive, which means they are used with a reflexive pronoun (meg, deg, seg, oss, dere, seg).

å føle seg = “to feel” (as in to feel embarrassed, to feel sick, to feel tired)
- Hun føler seg litt flau. = She feels a bit embarrassed.

Without seg, føler normally needs a direct object:

Hun føler kulden. = She feels the cold.

So:

Hun føler seg flau. (correct for “She feels embarrassed.”)
Hun føler flau. (wrong, sounds like “She feels embarrassment as a physical object.”)

Why is it seg and not hun after føler?

Seg is the reflexive pronoun that refers back to the subject in 3rd person (he, she, they).

Subject is hun (she) → reflexive form is seg (herself).
So: Hun føler seg = She feels herself (i.e. she feels, in herself, a certain way).

Compare with other persons:

Jeg føler meg. (I feel)
Du føler deg. (You feel)
Han føler seg. (He feels)
Vi føler oss. (We feel)
Dere føler dere. (You plural feel)
De føler seg. (They feel)

Why is it litt flau and not litt flaue?

Adjectives in Norwegian agree with the noun’s number and definiteness, or with the subject when used with være, føle seg, etc.

flau is the singular, indefinite form used with han/hun/det/den:
- Hun er flau.
- Han føler seg flau.
flaue is used in:
- Definite forms: den flaue jenta, den flaue gutten
- Plural: De er flaue.

Here, hun is a single person, so we use the singular form flau:

Hun føler seg litt flau. ✅
Hun føler seg litt flaue. ❌ (would only work with a plural subject: De føler seg litt flaue.)

What is the difference between flau and sjenert?

Both relate to embarrassment or shyness, but they’re not identical:

flau
- Often “embarrassed,” “awkward,” “self-conscious” because of a situation.
- Can be temporary:
  - Hun blir flau når hun gjør feil på scenen.
- Can also describe something cringe/embarrassing:
  - Det var en flau vits.
sjenert
- More like “shy” as a personality trait.
- Often used about people who are quiet/hesitant with others:
  - Hun er veldig sjenert.

In this sentence, she feels embarrassed because of the costume (a situation), so flau is more natural than sjenert.

Why is it i det rare kostymet and not med det rare kostymet?

The preposition changes the meaning:

i det rare kostymet = in the strange costume
- She is wearing it; she is inside it physically.
- Focus on being dressed in it.
med det rare kostymet = with the strange costume
- She has it with her / brings it / uses it.
- Could mean she is holding it, carrying it, or using it somehow, not necessarily wearing it.

Since the scene is about her wearing the costume on stage, i is the natural choice.

Why do we say det rare kostymet and not just det rare kostyme?

Norwegian often uses double definiteness with nouns that have an article plus an adjective.

Structure:

Definite article (det/den/de) + adjective + noun with definite ending.

For a neuter noun like kostyme:

Indefinite: et kostyme (a costume)
Definite without adjective: kostymet (the costume)
Definite with adjective: det rare kostymet (the strange costume)

You cannot say:

det rare kostyme ❌
You must add the definite ending on the noun: kostymet ✅

Why is the adjective rare and not rart here?

Adjectives in Norwegian change form based on gender, number, and definiteness.

Basic forms of rar (strange, weird):

Masculine/feminine singular, indefinite: rar
Neuter singular, indefinite: rart
Plural and all definite forms: rare

Since det rare kostymet is definite (the strange costume), we must use rare:

et rart kostyme (a strange costume – neuter, indefinite)
det rare kostymet (the strange costume – definite)

So rare here comes from the definite form, not from the gender.

Is publikum singular or plural in Norwegian?

Publikum is grammatically singular in Norwegian, even though it refers to a group of people (the audience).

You treat it as a singular neuter noun:
- Publikum er stille. (The audience is quiet.)
- Publikum ler. (The audience laughs.)

If you want to refer back to publikum with a pronoun, people vary between:

det (it) – treating it as a singular group
de (they) – focusing on the individuals

Both can occur in real usage, but grammatically the noun itself is singular.

Why is there a comma before men?

In Norwegian, you normally put a comma before coordinating conjunctions that link two main clauses. Common conjunctions: og, men, for, eller.

Here we have two full main clauses:

Hun føler seg litt flau i det rare kostymet
publikum ler

Each has its own subject and verb, so they are separate clauses. When joined with men, Norwegian spelling rules require a comma:

Hun føler seg litt flau i det rare kostymet, men publikum ler.

Why is the word order publikum ler and not ler publikum after men?

Norwegian main clauses usually follow V2 word order: the finite verb is in second position.

The clause after men is a new main clause, so normal V2 rules apply:

Publikum ler.
- 1st element: Publikum (subject)
- 2nd element: ler (verb)

We only invert to Verb–Subject when some other element comes first, for example:

På scenen ler publikum.
- 1st element: På scenen (adverbial)
- 2nd element: ler (verb)
- 3rd element: publikum (subject)

After men, we just start a standard main clause, so publikum ler is correct.

Could we also say Hun er litt flau instead of Hun føler seg litt flau? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

Hun er litt flau.
- Simple state: “She is a bit embarrassed.”
- Sounds slightly more like a description of her current state.
Hun føler seg litt flau.
- Emphasizes her own perception of how she feels.
- Slightly more about her subjective feeling in that moment.

In many contexts, they are interchangeable. In your sentence, both could work, but Hun føler seg litt flau i det rare kostymet highlights that she experiences this feeling because of the situation.

Is kostyme neuter or masculine in Norwegian? How do we know?

Kostyme is a neuter noun in Norwegian.

You can see this from:

Indefinite article: et kostyme (not en kostyme)
Definite form: kostymet (not kostymen)
With adjective:
- et rart kostyme (a strange costume – neuter, indefinite)
- det rare kostymet (the strange costume – neuter, definite + double definiteness)

A general rule of thumb: neuter nouns often take -et in the definite singular.

How would this sentence look in the past tense?

You mainly change the verbs:

føler → følte (regular verb)
ler → lo (irregular verb)

Past tense version:

Hun følte seg litt flau i det rare kostymet, men publikum lo.
- She felt a bit embarrassed in the strange costume, but the audience laughed.