Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg glad. - The feedback from the teacher makes me happy.

In the sentence Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg glad, you are talking about a specific piece of feedback (for example, the feedback you just received), not feedback in general.

So Norwegian uses the definite form tilbakemeldingen, matching the English “the feedback (from the teacher) makes me happy.”

If you said Tilbakemelding fra læreren gjør meg glad, it would sound incomplete or like a headline, not a normal full sentence.

Why do we say fra læreren and not av læreren for “from the teacher”?

Both fra and av can be translated as “from” in English, but they’re used differently:

fra = from as a source/origin
- Jeg fikk en e‑post fra læreren. = I got an email from the teacher.
- Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren = the feedback from the teacher
av = from/by as an agent in many passive constructions, or “made of”
- Boken er skrevet av læreren. = The book is written by the teacher.
- En statue av stein. = A statue of stone.

In tilbakemeldingen fra læreren, the teacher is simply the source of the feedback, so fra is the natural choice.
Tilbakemeldingen av læreren is not idiomatic in this context.

Why is it læreren (the teacher) instead of just lærer?

As with tilbakemeldingen, læreren is also in the definite form:

en lærer = a teacher
læreren = the teacher

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren implies you and the listener both know which teacher you’re talking about (for example, my teacher, or the teacher of this class).

You could say fra en lærer = from a teacher, but that would be more general or indefinite, like “some teacher, I’m not saying which one.” The original sentence clearly refers to a specific teacher, so læreren is natural.

Why is it meg and not jeg in gjør meg glad?

Jeg and meg correspond to English “I” and “me”:

jeg = I (subject form)
meg = me (object form)

In this sentence:

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren = subject
gjør = verb
meg = object (the person affected by the action)
glad = complement describing meg

So the structure is: [subject] + gjør + [object] + [adjective]
= “The feedback from the teacher makes me happy.”

Using jeg here would be ungrammatical, just like saying “The feedback makes I happy” in English.

Is the word order gjør meg glad fixed? Can I say gjør glad meg or meg gjør glad?

The word order here is quite fixed. The normal pattern is:

[subject] + [verb] + [object] + [adjective complement]

So:

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg glad. ✅

These alternatives are wrong or very unnatural:

*Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør glad meg. ❌
*Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren meg gjør glad. ❌

However, you can insert adverbs or other modifiers, as long as you keep the basic order:

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg veldig glad.
= The feedback from the teacher makes me very happy.

But object (meg) still comes before the adjective (glad).

Is gjøre noen glad a fixed pattern? How does it work more generally?

Yes, å gjøre noen + adjektiv is a very common and productive pattern in Norwegian:

gjøre meg glad = make me happy
gjøre oss triste = make us sad
gjøre henne sint = make her angry
gjøre deg stolt = make you proud

Grammar pattern:

gjøre + [object pronoun/noun] + [adjective]

The adjective describes the new state the person is in as a result of the action. In your sentence, tilbakemeldingen is the thing that puts you into the state glad.

Why doesn’t glad change form here? Should it agree with meg in gender or number?

In gjør meg glad, glad is a predicative adjective (it describes the state of the object meg). With personal pronouns in such constructions, you normally use the basic form of the adjective:

gjør meg glad
gjør deg sur
gjør oss trøtte

There is no gender form for pronouns, so nothing to agree with in that sense.

You will see changes like glad / glade mostly with nouns:

en glad lærer = a happy teacher
ei glad jente = a happy girl
et glad barn = a happy child
glade lærere = happy teachers
læreren er glad = the teacher is happy
lærerne er glade = the teachers are happy

With meg, the base form glad is what you want.

What is the difference between gjør meg glad, jeg blir glad, and det gleder meg?

All can be translated with “make(s) me happy” in English, but they have slightly different structures and nuances:

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg glad.
- Literal: The feedback from the teacher makes me happy.
- Structure: gjøre + object + adjective
- Emphasizes that the feedback causes this emotional state.
Jeg blir glad av tilbakemeldingen fra læreren.
- Literal: I become happy from the feedback from the teacher.
- Structure: bli + adjective + av + source
- Focuses more on your emotional reaction as a change of state.
Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gleder meg.
- Literal: The feedback from the teacher delights me / pleases me.
- Verb: å glede (to make glad / to please)
- Slightly more formal/literary than gjør meg glad, but correct and quite common.

All three are fine; gjør meg glad and gleder meg are especially close in meaning.

What’s the difference between glad, lykkelig, and fornøyd?

All can relate to positive feelings, but they’re not interchangeable:

glad
- General “happy, pleased, in a good mood”.
- Works for everyday reactions: Jeg er glad i dag. = I’m happy today.
lykkelig
- Stronger, more like “truly happy”, “joyful”, “blissful”.
- Often used for deeper or long‑term happiness:
  - Han er lykkelig gift. = He is happily married.
  - Hun er veldig lykkelig nå.
fornøyd
- “Satisfied, content, pleased with something.”
- Often linked to expectations being met:
  - Jeg er fornøyd med tilbakemeldingen. = I’m satisfied with the feedback.

In your sentence, glad fits perfectly because it’s a natural reaction word: the feedback puts you in a happy mood.

Can I move fra læreren to another position in the sentence?

Yes, fra læreren is a prepositional phrase and can move somewhat freely, as long as the sentence stays clear and natural:

Tilbakemeldingen fra læreren gjør meg glad. ✅ (neutral, most common)
Tilbakemeldingen gjør meg glad, særlig den fra læreren. ✅
Fra læreren gjør tilbakemeldingen meg glad. ❌ (word order is very unnatural)

You generally keep:

Subject near the beginning (Tilbakemeldingen (fra læreren))
Then the verb (gjør)
Then object and complement (meg glad)

You can add fra læreren after tilbakemeldingen or after the whole sentence as an extra detail, but you don’t normally split subject and verb in a way that sounds unnatural.

How do you pronounce tilbakemeldingen and læreren?

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, but in a standard Eastern Norwegian approximation:

tilbakemeldingen
- Roughly: til-BA-ke-mel-ding-en
- Stress mainly on -BA- and secondary on mel-.
- The -en at the end is usually quite weak.
læreren
- Roughly: LÆ-re-ren
- Stress on the first syllable LÆ-.
- The æ is like the “a” in English “cat”, but a bit longer/purer.

You don’t normally pronounce every consonant very strongly; Norwegian tends to reduce unstressed endings like -en.