Trots den sena timmen är barnen inte oroliga.

Despite the late hour, the children are not worried.

Breakdown of Trots den sena timmen är barnen inte oroliga.

• vara: to be
• inte: not
• barnet: the child
• sen: late
• orolig: worried
• den: the
• trots: despite
• timmen: the hour

Questions & Answers about Trots den sena timmen är barnen inte oroliga.

What does Trots mean here and is it a preposition or a conjunction?

Trots here is a preposition meaning “despite” or “in spite of.” It takes a noun phrase (no att). If you want to introduce a full clause you’d use the conjunction trots att.

Why isn’t there an att after trots?

When trots governs a noun phrase it behaves like a preposition: trots den sena timmen = “despite the late hour.” If you use a clause, you need att, for example trots att klockan var sen.

Why is the noun phrase den sena timmen built that way?

It’s a definite NP:

• timmen is timme with the definite –n ending (“the hour”).
• den functions like a demonstrative article (“the”).
• The adjective sen takes its weak form sena in a definite phrase.

Why is the adjective spelled sena and not sen or sent?

• sen is the base form (and also an adverb).
• In a definite NP adjectives take the weak ending for common gender: sen → sena.
• sent is the neuter indefinite/adverb form (“he arrived late”: han kom sent).

Why does the sentence read är barnen inte oroliga instead of barnen är inte oroliga?

Swedish follows the V2 rule: when an adverbial (Trots den sena timmen) starts the sentence, the finite verb (är) must be second, then the subject (barnen), then the negation (inte), then the adjective.

Why is inte placed before oroliga rather than immediately after är?

In inverted (V2) order the sequence is: verb – subject – inte – rest. So är (verb), barnen (subject), inte (negation), oroliga (adjective).

What form is oroliga, and why does it end in –a?

oroliga is the weak adjective form for definite plural (because barnen is “the children,” definite plural). Weak adjectives in definite contexts take –a.

How do you form the definite plural of barn, and why is it barnen?

barn (child) is a neuter noun whose plural indefinite stays barn. To make it definite you add –en: barnen = “the children.”

Could I say Trots att klockan var sen instead of Trots den sena timmen?

Yes. Trots att klockan var sen, är barnen inte oroliga is perfectly natural and means the same. The first version uses a prepositional NP, the second a subordinate clause with att.

Do I need a comma after timmen?

Swedish often omits commas after short introductory phrases. Both
“Trots den sena timmen är barnen inte oroliga”
and
“Trots den sena timmen, är barnen inte oroliga”
are acceptable, though the comma is optional.