Förlusten känns orättvis idag.

Förlusten means the loss.

Swedish usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• en förlust = a loss
• förlusten = the loss

So the -en ending is doing the job of the here.

Känns comes from kännas, which means to feel, to seem, or to come across as.

In this sentence, it means that the loss gives the impression of being unfair:

• Förlusten känns orättvis = The loss feels unfair
• It can also be understood as The loss seems unfair

So this is about how the loss is experienced or perceived.

Because förlusten is a thing, not a person.

Swedish often uses:

• kännas for how something feels
• känna sig for how a person feels

Compare:

• Förlusten känns orättvis. = The loss feels unfair.
• Jag känner mig trött. = I feel tired.

So you would not normally say förlusten känner sig orättvis, because that would sound like the loss itself has human feelings.

Using känns makes the sentence more subjective.

• Förlusten känns orättvis = the loss feels unfair, seems unfair, comes across as unfair
• Förlusten är orättvis = the loss is unfair

So känns suggests a personal impression, especially in this moment. That fits well with idag: today, the loss feels unfair.

Because predicative adjectives in Swedish agree with the noun’s gender and number.

Here, förlusten is:

• singular
• common gender (en-word)

So the adjective stays in its basic common-gender singular form:

• en förlust
• förlusten
• orättvis

Compare:

• Ett beslut känns orättvist. = A decision feels unfair.
  
  • beslut is a neuter noun, so the adjective becomes orättvist
• Förlusterna känns orättvisa. = The losses feel unfair.
  
  • plural gives orättvisa

A very important point: even though förlusten is definite, the adjective does not take a definite ending here, because it is predicative after the verb känns, not placed directly before the noun.

That is a very normal place for a time word in Swedish.

• Förlusten känns orättvis idag. = neutral, natural
• Idag känns förlusten orättvis. = also correct, with more focus on today

So idag can often go at the beginning or the end, depending on emphasis.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is correct and natural. When you move idag to the front, Swedish uses normal V2 word order, which means the verb comes second:

• Idag känns förlusten orättvis.

You cannot say:

• Idag förlusten känns orättvis. ❌

So if a time word comes first, the verb must come right after it.

It looks a bit like one, because it ends in -s, but in this sentence it is best understood as the normal verb kännas, not as a true passive in meaning.

So:

• känns here means feels/seems
• it does not mean something like is felt in a literal passive sense

This is one of those Swedish -s verbs that learners often just need to learn as its own verb form.

A few useful points:

• förlusten
  • the ö does not exist in standard English
  • the stress is on lust
• känns
  • the beginning sounds roughly like a soft sh/khy sound, not a hard English k
  • ä is somewhat like the vowel in English bed, but not exactly
• orättvis
  • rätt has a short vowel and a strong tt
• idag
  • stress is on the second syllable: i-DAG

A rough beginner-friendly approximation might be:

• förlusten ≈ fer-LUST-en
• känns ≈ shens
• idag ≈ ee-DAG

Those are only approximations, but they can help you get started.