Breakdown of På fredagar har de ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
Questions & Answers about På fredagar har de ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
Swedish uses the plural of the weekday without an article to talk about habitual or repeated events:
- På fredagar = On Fridays (every Friday / most Fridays)
- På fredag = On Friday (this coming Friday / one specific Friday)
So "På fredagar har de ofta ett litet prov i skolan." means this happens regularly on Fridays, not just once.
For regular, repeated events, Swedish normally uses the bare plural of time words:
- på fredagar – on Fridays
- på måndagar – on Mondays
- på kvällar – in the evenings
Adding an article would sound too specific, like talking about some particular set of Fridays. The natural, general way is just "på fredagar" with no article.
Yes. Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position.
If you start with the subject:
- De har ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
- Subject (de) is first, verb (har) is second.
If you move a time expression like "På fredagar" to the front, that time expression becomes first, so the verb still has to be second:
- På fredagar har de ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
- Time expression (På fredagar) is first.
- Verb (har) must come next.
- Subject (de) comes after the verb.
So placing "På fredagar" at the start forces "har de" (verb–subject) rather than "de har" (subject–verb).
In Swedish main clauses, adverbs like "ofta" usually come right after the finite verb:
- De har ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
- På fredagar har de ofta ett litet prov i skolan.
You cannot put it before the verb in normal statements:
- ❌ De ofta har ett litet prov… (wrong)
- ✅ De har ofta ett litet prov… (correct)
You can move the time expression instead:
- De har ofta ett litet prov i skolan på fredagar.
- I skolan har de ofta ett litet prov på fredagar.
In all these, "har" (the finite verb) comes before "ofta".
Two things are happening:
Gender of "prov"
- prov is a neuter noun (an ett-word).
- So you must say ett prov, not en prov.
Adjective agreement with neuter nouns
The adjective liten (“small”) has special forms:- Common gender (en-word), indefinite: en liten bok – a small book
- Neuter (ett-word), indefinite: ett litet prov – a small test
- Plural (both genders), indefinite: små prov – small tests
Because prov is an ett-word, you need the neuter form of the adjective: litet.
So: ett litet prov, not en liten prov.
"Lilla" is the definite form of liten in the singular:
- den lilla boken – the small book
- det lilla provet – the small test
In the sentence, "ett litet prov" is indefinite (“a small test”), so you must use the indefinite neuter form litet, not the definite form lilla.
Compare:
- ett litet prov – a small test
- det lilla provet – the small test
Prov is a general word for a test/exam/quiz in school or at university. It can cover a range of things:
- a short quiz
- a written test
- an oral exam
In this sentence, "ett litet prov" suggests a small, probably short test, like a quiz. You could sometimes also hear "ett test", but "prov" is the standard school word.
"i skolan"
- This is definite form: skolan = the school.
- "i skolan" often means “at school (as a place/activity in general)”, not one particular, unknown school.
- It’s similar to English “at school”, even though Swedish uses a definite form.
"i en skola"
- Means “in a school” (some particular but unspecified school building).
- This would sound too specific and concrete for a general habit like this, unless you really wanted to emphasize “in some (particular) school”.
"i skola"
- This is not grammatical in modern standard Swedish. You need either "i skolan", "i en skola", or another proper form.
So for a general statement about what happens when they are at school, "i skolan" is the natural choice.
Swedish uses different prepositions for time and place:
For days and parts of days (as time expressions), Swedish usually uses på:
- på fredagar – on Fridays
- på måndagar – on Mondays
- på morgonen – in the morning
For locations inside something (like a building), Swedish usually uses i:
- i skolan – in/at school
- i huset – in the house
- i stan – in town
So "på fredagar" is a time expression, and "i skolan" is a place expression.
In everyday spoken Swedish, de is usually pronounced [dom], the same as "dom".
So the sentence is commonly pronounced something like:
- "På fredagar har dom ofta ett litet prov i skolan."
In more careful or old-fashioned reading style, some people pronounce de as [deː], but in normal conversation, [dom] is standard.
Spelling:
- Subject: de (spoken dom)
- Object: dem (also spoken dom)
Yes, that sentence is completely correct:
- De har ofta ett litet prov i skolan på fredagar.
The difference is mostly emphasis:
På fredagar har de ofta…
– Puts a bit more focus on Fridays (when this happens).De har ofta… på fredagar.
– Feels a bit more neutral; starts with they as the topic.
Both mean essentially the same thing: they often have a small test in school on Fridays.
"Har" is the present tense of the verb ha (“to have”).
In Swedish, the present tense is used for:
- actions happening now:
- Jag har ont. – I have pain / It hurts.
- habitual actions:
- De har ofta prov på fredagar. – They often have tests on Fridays.
Swedish doesn’t distinguish between “have” and “are having” like English does; both are just present tense (har) in Swedish. Context (and words like ofta) show that this is a habit, not a one-time event.
Prov is a neuter noun (an ett-word).
The main forms are:
- Indefinite singular: ett prov – a test
- Definite singular: provet – the test
- Indefinite plural: prov – tests
- Definite plural: proven – the tests
Examples:
- De har ofta prov i skolan. – They often have tests in school.
- Proven är ganska lätta. – The tests are quite easy.