Questions & Answers about Ingen vill vara sjuk.
What role does ingen play here?
It’s an indefinite pronoun meaning “no one/nobody,” and it’s the subject of the sentence. In pronominal use like this, ingen normally refers to people.
How do ingen, inget, and inga differ?
- ingen = “no” with a common-gender noun, or “no one” as a pronoun: Ingen vill …
- inget = “no” with a neuter noun: Inget barn vill …
- inga = “no” with plural nouns: Inga barn vill … Examples:
- Ingen vill vara sjuk. (No one wants to be sick.)
- Inget barn vill vara sjukt. (No child—neuter—wants to be sick.)
- Inga barn vill vara sjuka. (No children want to be sick.)
Why is there no att before vara?
After Swedish modal verbs (e.g., vill, ska, kan, måste, bör), the infinitive appears without att. So it’s “vill vara,” not “vill att vara.”
Why vara and not är?
After a modal like vill, you must use the infinitive: vara. The finite form är can’t follow a modal. Compare:
- Ingen vill vara sjuk. (correct)
- Ingen vill är sjuk. (incorrect)