Learn Hardcore Swedish: Som barn var hon blyg och låtsades ibland att hon inte hörde frågan. - As a child she was shy and sometimes pretended that she did not hear the question.

Adding an article (som ett barn) would sound unusual here and would focus on “like a child (in a childlike way)”, rather than “during her childhood”. For the temporal/life‑stage meaning, the bare form som barn is the normal idiomatic choice.

Why is the word order som barn var hon blyg and not som barn hon var blyg?

Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the clause.

In Som barn var hon blyg:

Som barn = first position (an introductory time/role phrase)
var = the finite verb, must come next
hon = subject
blyg = predicative adjective

So the order is: [Intro element] – [Finite verb] – [Subject] – [Rest].

You cannot say Som barn hon var blyg, because that would put the subject (hon) in second position and push the verb to third position, which breaks the V2 rule in a main clause.

What exactly does låtsades mean, and what is the base form of the verb?

The verb is låtsas (to pretend). Its main forms are:

infinitive: att låtsas – to pretend
present: låtsas – (she) pretends
past (preterite): låtsades – (she) pretended
supine: låtsats – (has) pretended

In the sentence, låtsades is the past tense, matching var (“was”):

var = was
låtsades = pretended

So: Som barn var hon blyg och låtsades ibland …
= As a child she was shy and sometimes pretended …

Note: låtsas is one of those Swedish verbs that ends in -s but is not reflexive. You do not add sig (låtsas sig is wrong). The meaning “pretend” is already contained in låtsas itself.

Where can I put ibland, and why is it after låtsades here?

ibland means “sometimes”, and in a main clause it can go in a few natural places:

Ibland låtsades hon att …
Hon låtsades ibland att …
Hon låtsades att hon ibland inte hörde frågan. (slightly different nuance)

In the original sentence:

… var hon blyg och låtsades ibland att …

here ibland is placed after the finite verb (låtsades) and before the subordinate clause (att hon inte hörde frågan). This is a very common place for sentence adverbs (like ibland, alltid, ofta, inte) in a main clause:

Subject in first position: Hon
Finite verb: låtsades
Adverb: ibland

So the order is: Hon – låtsades – ibland – att …

You could also move ibland to the very beginning for emphasis:

Ibland var hon blyg och låtsades att hon inte hörde frågan.

But låtsades ibland is fully natural and very common.

Why do we need att in låtsades ibland att hon inte hörde frågan? Can it be left out like in English?

In English we can say:

“She pretended she didn’t hear the question.”
(no that)

In Swedish, the conjunction att (that) introducing a subordinate clause is much less optional. It is normally kept:

Hon låtsades att hon inte hörde frågan.

Leaving it out:

✗ Hon låtsades hon inte hörde frågan.

sounds wrong or very non‑standard.

So in Swedish:

att + clause = that + clause

In most cases like this, keep the att. There are contexts where att can be dropped, but for learner‑friendly and natural Swedish here, att is the correct and expected form.

Why is the word order att hon inte hörde frågan and not att hon hörde inte frågan?

This is about the difference between main clause word order and subordinate clause word order in Swedish.

In subordinate clauses introduced by att, som, när, etc., the typical order is:

subject – (sentence adverbs like inte) – finite verb – rest

So:

att hon inte hörde frågan
= that she not heard the question

You do not use V2 word order inside a subordinate clause, so you don’t move the finite verb to second position. Therefore:

✗ att hon hörde inte frågan is incorrect in standard Swedish.

Compare:

Main clause: Hon hörde inte frågan.
(Subject – finite verb – inte)
Subclause: … att hon inte hörde frågan.
(att – subject – inte – finite verb)

Why is hörde in the past tense? Could it be har hört instead?

hörde is the preterite (simple past) of höra (to hear):

hon hörde – she heard

The whole sentence is telling a past story about her childhood, so simple past is used consistently:

var (was)
låtsades (pretended)
hörde (heard)

Swedish uses the same tense in reported/indirect speech in the past:

English: “She pretended she didn’t hear the question.”
Swedish: Hon låtsades att hon inte hörde frågan.

You would use har hört (has heard) if you want to emphasize a connection to the present or a completed action relevant now, which doesn’t fit this background description of her as a child. So har hört would feel wrong here.

Why is it frågan (the question) and not en fråga (a question)?

In Swedish, the definite form is usually shown with a suffix on the noun:

en fråga – a question
frågan – the question

In this sentence, we are talking about a particular, concrete question someone has just asked her. She is pretending she didn’t hear that specific question, not just any question in general. Therefore the definite form frågan is natural and expected.

Compare:

Hon svarade inte på frågan. – She didn’t answer the question.
Hon gillar att få en fråga. – She likes to get a question (any question).

Why is var used instead of har varit in Som barn var hon blyg?

var is the preterite (simple past) of vara (to be).
har varit is the present perfect (has been).

In a narrative description of the past, especially with a clear time frame like Som barn (as a child), Swedish typically uses simple past:

Som barn var hon blyg. – As a child, she was shy.

Using har varit would give a sense of “she has been shy (up to now)”, focusing on relevance to the present, not on a period clearly finished in the past. That does not match the meaning “back then, in her childhood”. So var is the correct tense here.

Why is hon repeated after att instead of leaving it out?

In Swedish you must include the subject pronoun in each clause. Swedish does not normally allow “subject dropping” like some other languages.

So:

… var hon blyg och låtsades ibland att hon inte hörde frågan.

Even though we already know “she” is the subject, we still have to say hon again in the subordinate clause:

att hon inte hörde frågan – that she didn’t hear the question

Leaving it out:

✗ att inte hörde frågan

is ungrammatical, because a finite verb (hörde) in Swedish needs an explicit subject (here: hon).

How do you pronounce låtsades and hörde?

Approximate pronunciation (Swedish varies by region, but this is a common standard):

låtsades
- IPA: [ˈlɔ̂tːsadɛs] (roughly)
- lå – like English “law” but shorter and tenser (the å sound)
- t is clearly pronounced
- sa – like “sa” in “salsa”
- The final -des is unstressed and relatively weak.
The important points: å is not like English “cat” or “father”, but closer to a short version of “aw” in “law”, and the t is pronounced; it’s not silent.
hörde
- IPA: [ˈhøːɖɛ] (roughly)
- hö – the ö is like the vowel in British English “bird” or “fur” (but with rounded lips)
- r influences the following consonant; in many accents the rd cluster becomes a retroflex [ɖ] sound
- de – unstressed, like a weak “deh”.

For learning purposes, you can think:

låtsades ≈ “LOHT-sah-dess”
hörde ≈ “HURR-deh” (with the “u” like in “fur” and rounded lips)