Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg føler meg utrygg i mørket.

Jeg føler meg utrygg i mørket.
Emphasizes your subjective feeling. It’s about your inner experience: I feel unsafe (I experience myself as unsafe) in the dark.
Jeg er utrygg i mørket.
States it more as a fact or condition: I am unsafe in the dark. This can still be about feelings, but it sounds a bit more like a general trait or situation.

In everyday speech, both can be used, but føler meg highlights the feeling a bit more explicitly, similar to English I feel unsafe vs I am unsafe.

What does utrygg literally mean, and how is it formed?

Trygg means safe / secure.
U- is a common Norwegian negative prefix, like un- in English.

So:

trygg → safe, secure
utrygg → unsafe, insecure

This u- prefix works with many adjectives:

lykkelig (happy) → ulykkelig (unhappy)
vennlig (friendly) → uvennlig (unfriendly)
rettferdig (fair) → urettferdig (unfair)

Why is it i mørket and not just i mørke?

Mørke is a neuter noun:

indefinite: (et) mørke – a / some darkness
definite: mørket – the darkness / the dark

In Norwegian, when you talk about “in the dark” as a general state (like English afraid of the dark), the definite form is very natural:

i mørket – in the dark (in the darkness)

You can see i mørke in some contexts, but:

i mørket usually refers to the state of darkness (what surrounds you).
i mørke can sound a bit more like “in darkness” in a more abstract, descriptive, or literary way.

For this everyday sentence, i mørket is the normal and most idiomatic choice.

Could you say i det mørke instead of i mørket?

You could, but it changes the meaning a bit.

i mørket
= in the dark / in the darkness (a general state, like lack of light around you)
i det mørke
Literally in that dark (thing/area).
This sounds more specific, like you are talking about a particular dark place or patch of darkness you’ve already mentioned.

For the general fear of the dark, you want i mørket.

Why is the preposition i used here? Could it be på mørket?

Here you need i.

Norwegian uses i (in) for many situations where something surrounds you or is a “medium” you are in:

i mørket – in the dark
i regnet – in the rain
i snøen – in the snow
i skogen – in the forest

På mørket is not idiomatic in this meaning. På is used with other kinds of expressions (on the table, on TV, on the bus, etc.), but not for in the dark.

Is the word order fixed, or could I say Jeg føler meg i mørket utrygg?

The natural word order is:

Jeg føler meg utrygg i mørket.

That is: subject (jeg) – verb (føler) – reflexive pronoun (meg) – adjective (utrygg) – adverbial (i mørket).

You could move i mørket around in some contexts, but:

Jeg føler meg utrygg i mørket. – normal, natural
I mørket føler jeg meg utrygg. – also correct; emphasizes in the dark
Jeg føler meg i mørket utrygg. – sounds unnatural/awkward in Norwegian

So, keep utrygg close to føler meg, and put i mørket at the end or at the beginning if you want to stress it.

Why is the adjective utrygg in this form? Should it have an extra ending?

After å være (to be) and å føle seg (to feel), adjectives appear in their basic form when they describe a singular subject:

Jeg er utrygg.
Jeg føler meg utrygg.

The adjective only changes when:

The noun is neuter singular, and the adjective comes before the noun:
- et utrygt barn – an unsafe/insecure child
  But: Barnet er utrygt. – The child is insecure.
The noun is plural:
- utrygge barn – insecure children
- Barna er utrygge. – The children are insecure.

Here the adjective describes jeg (I), which is treated like a singular, non-neuter subject, so utrygg is correct.

Can I omit meg and only say Jeg føler utrygg i mørket?

No, not in standard Norwegian.

When you want to say “I feel [adjective]” about yourself, you need å føle seg + adjective:

Jeg føler meg utrygg.
Jeg føler meg sliten.
Jeg føler meg ensom.

Without meg, Jeg føler utrygg is ungrammatical here.
(You could say Jeg føler utrygghet – I feel insecurity – but that is a different structure and sounds more formal.)

Is there a difference between å føle seg utrygg and å være utrygg in nuance?

Yes, there is a nuance:

å føle seg utrygg
Focuses on your experience/feeling at that moment. It’s subjective and can change quickly.
å være utrygg
Can describe either:
- your feeling, as a more general state or trait, or
- a situation / place that is actually unsafe (objectively).

Examples:

Barn kan føle seg utrygge i nye situasjoner.
Children can feel unsafe in new situations.
Denne veien er utrygg om vinteren.
This road is unsafe in winter.

Could I use other words instead of utrygg, like redd or usikker?

Yes, but they change the nuance:

redd – afraid, scared
- Jeg er redd i mørket. – I am afraid in the dark.
  Stronger focus on fear.
usikker – uncertain, unsure / insecure (about yourself)
- Jeg føler meg usikker. – I feel unsure / insecure.
  More about uncertainty or lack of confidence, less about physical safety.
utrygg – unsafe, insecure
Sits between the two: it can be about physical safety or emotional insecurity.

In Jeg føler meg utrygg i mørket, utrygg is a good choice because it covers both not feeling safe and possibly being a bit afraid, without saying directly I’m scared.

How do you pronounce føler, utrygg, and mørket?

Approximate pronunciation (Bokmål, standard Eastern accent):

føler – [FØØ-ler]
- ø like the vowel in French peu, or like saying English “fur” but with rounded lips.
- The r is usually a flap or tap.
utrygg – [OO-trygg]
- u like oo in food.
- y is like German ü or French u in lune (say ee with rounded lips).
- Final -gg is a hard g, like in go, not like English -gg in jogging.
mørket – [MØR-keh]
- ø as in føler.
- e in the last syllable is a short, unstressed eh sound.
- Final t is usually pronounced in careful speech; in some dialects it may be very soft or dropped.