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Questions & Answers about Jag vill se allt i staden.
Why is there no att before se?
In Swedish, modal verbs like vill, kan, ska, måste, etc., can be followed directly by another verb in its infinitive form without using att (which is the equivalent of “to” in English). So you say jag vill se (“I want to see”) rather than jag vill att se.
Why is allt used here instead of alla?
Alla is the plural form used with countable nouns (e.g. alla människor = “all people”). Allt is the neuter singular form used when you mean “everything” or for mass concepts. Since allt here means “everything” in the city, you use allt.
What’s the difference between i staden and på staden?
In Swedish, you’re in a city, so you use i (in). På (on/at) is used for islands, squares, or surfaces (e.g. på ön = “on the island,” på torget = “at the square”). For cities, towns, villages, you always say i.
Why is it staden (the city) and not en stad?
Because the speaker implies a specific city that’s understood in context (perhaps the one they’re visiting or living in). When you talk about a definite noun in Swedish, you add the suffix -en to an en-word, so en stad (a city) becomes staden (the city).
Could you reorder the sentence to put i staden first?
Yes, but Swedish follows the V2 (verb-second) word order rule: the finite verb must come second. If you start with i staden, you need inverted word order:
– I staden vill jag se allt.
Here vill remains the second element, and the subject jag follows it.
Is se the infinitive form, and why isn’t it conjugated?
Yes, se is the infinitive (“to see”). In Swedish, after a modal verb like vill, the following verb stays in the infinitive without any conjugation or att. There’s no change for person or number: it’s always jag ser in present tense, but vill se uses the infinitive se.
How do you pronounce vill se allt i staden?
A rough guide:
• vill: [vɪl] – short “i,” single “l” sound
• se: [seː] – long “e” like in “say”
• allt: [aːlt] – long “a” then “lt”
• i: [iː] – long “ee”
• staden: [ˈstɑːdɛn] – “sta” like “star” without the r, “den” like “den” in English.
Put together: [vɪl seː aːlt iː ˈstɑːdɛn].