att-Clauses

The conjunction att is the Swedish equivalent of English "that" in sentences like I know *that he's coming. Grammatically it is a *complementizer: it takes a whole clause and packages it so the clause can serve as the object or subject of a verb. This page covers what an att-clause is, the word order inside it (BIFF, like every subordinate clause), the everyday option of dropping att, and the two spelling/identity confusions that plague learners: att versus och, and the complementizer att versus the infinitive marker att.

att introduces an object clause

The most common job: the att-clause is the object of a verb of saying, thinking, knowing, or feeling — säga (say), tro (think/believe), veta (know), hoppas (hope), tycka (think/feel). The whole clause answers "say what? / know what?"

att introduces a subject clause

An att-clause can also be the subject — the thing the main verb is predicated of. English does this too (That you came made me happy), though it often prefers a "dummy" it (It made me happy that you came). Swedish allows both: the att-clause up front, or a placeholder det with the att-clause later.

Inside the att-clause: BIFF order

An att-clause is a subordinate clause, so it follows BIFF order like every other subordinate clause (see Subordinating Conjunctions and Subordinate Clauses). The visible consequence: a sentence adverb such as inte sits before the finite verb, not after it.

Watch the flip from main clause to embedded clause: Han kommer inte (main, inte after the verb) becomes ...att han inte kommer (subordinate, inte before the verb). The content is identical; only the order changes, because subordination changes it.

Dropping att

Here is the practical good news. After the common verbs of saying and thinking — tro, tycka, säga, veta, hoppas, känna — att is optional and is very often dropped in speech and informal writing, exactly as English drops "that" (I think he's asleep).

The crucial point — and the one learners miss: dropping att does not change the word order. The clause is still subordinate, so it still follows BIFF. The inte still goes before the verb even with no att in sight.

Note that att is not freely droppable everywhere. It is reliably optional after verbs of saying/thinking; it is normally kept when the att-clause is a subject (Att du kom...), after many nouns and adjectives (glad att..., det faktum att...), and in more formal writing.

att (complementizer) vs och (and)

Spoken Swedish reduces both att and och in ways that make them sound alike, and beginners frequently write one for the other. Keep their jobs separate: att subordinates a clause ("that"); och coordinates equals ("and"). If the word is introducing what someone says/knows/thinks, it is att; if it is joining two things of equal rank, it is och.

att (complementizer) vs att (infinitive marker)

There is a second att — the infinitive marker, the "to" of att gå "to go," att läsa "to read." It is the same spelling but a different function: it sits in front of a bare verb (an infinitive), not in front of a full clause with its own subject. The complementizer att introduces a finite clause (att han kommer "that he comes"); the infinitive att introduces just a verb (att komma "to come"). See The Infinitive for the infinitive marker in detail.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• att is the complementizer "that": it turns a clause into the object (Jag vet att han kommer) or subject (Att du kom gjorde mig glad) of a verb.
• An att-clause is subordinate, so it follows BIFF — inte goes before the verb.
• att is droppable after common verbs of saying/thinking (Jag tror (att) han sover), but the BIFF order stays even when att is gone.
• Keep att "that" apart from och "and" (coordinator) and from the infinitive marker att "to" (which precedes a bare verb, not a clause).