We report observation of transverse electric (TE) dominant intersubband absorption in Si-doped GaInAsN/GaAs multiple-quantum-well structures. The TE dominant absorption is believed to be caused by the incorporation of nitrogen and the associated nitrogen state. When the confinement is strong in narrow quantum wells, the ground state is pushed up, which enhances the interaction with nitrogen state and significantly changes the nature of the state. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.