Learn Hardcore Swedish: Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne känns enkel. - The movie feels deep, but the book about the same subject feels simple.

Using känns softens the statement and makes it clear you’re talking about how the film and book appear to you or feel to the audience, not claiming an absolute truth.

What is the difference between känns, känner, and känna sig?

These are closely related but used in different ways:

känns
- This is from kännas, a so‑called “deponent” verb (ends in -s but is not a real passive).
- It’s used when something feels/appears/seems a certain way.
- Pattern: [subject] + känns + adjective
- Examples:
  - Filmen känns djup. – The film feels deep.
  - Det känns bra. – It feels good.
  - Vädret känns kallt. – The weather feels cold.
känner
- From känna, “to feel” or “to know (a person)”.
- You normally need a subject who feels something.
- Examples:
  - Jag känner smärta. – I feel pain.
  - Jag känner honom. – I know him.
känna sig
- Reflexive: “to feel (oneself) …”
- Pattern: [subject] + känner sig + adjective
- Examples:
  - Jag känner mig trött. – I feel tired.
  - Hon känner sig sjuk. – She feels ill.

In your sentence, the film and the book are not conscious beings; we’re talking about how they come across. That’s why we use känns, not känner or känner sig.

Why is it djup and not djupa in Filmen känns djup?

Because djup here is a predicative adjective (an adjective after a verb like är, blir, känns, verkar), and in that position Swedish normally uses the indefinite singular form that matches the noun’s gender:

Filmen is en-words (common gender):
→ Filmen känns djup.

Compare:

En djup film – attributive, before the noun
Filmen är djup. – predicative, after the verb
Filmerna är djupa. – plural subject → djupa

You would use djupa in predicative position only with a plural subject:

Filmerna känns djupa. – The films feel deep.

Shouldn’t it be djupt (with -t) somewhere? When do we use djup vs djupt?

The forms of djup work like most regular adjectives:

djup – common gender singular: en djup film, filmen är djup
djupt – neuter singular: ett djupt ämne, ämnet är djupt
djupa – plural (and definite attributive): djupa filmer, de djupa filmerna

In your sentence:

Filmen (the film) = en‑word → Filmen känns djup.
If the subject were neuter, e.g. ämnet (the subject/topic), you’d get:
- Ämnet känns djupt. – The subject feels deep.

So -t appears when the subject is neuter singular in predicative position.

Why is it enkel and not enkelt in boken … känns enkel?

Same rule as with djup:

Boken (the book) is an en‑word (common gender).
Predicative adjective agrees in gender and number with the subject.

So:

Boken känns enkel. – The book feels simple.
If it were a neuter noun:
- Språket känns enkelt. – The language feels simple.
  (språket = neuter → enkelt)
Plural:
- Böckerna känns enkla. – The books feel simple.

Why isn’t there any article in samma ämne? Why not det samma ämnet or something like that?

In Swedish, samma (“same”) has a special behavior:

No article before it:
You do not say det samma ämne or den samma bok.
- Correct: samma ämne – the same subject
- Correct: samma bok – the same book
The noun after samma is kept in the indefinite form:
- samma ämne, not samma ämnet
- samma bok, not samma boken

So the pattern is:

samma + (indefinite) noun
→ om samma ämne = about the same subject

What exactly does om mean in boken om samma ämne?

Here om is a preposition meaning “about” (content-wise).

boken om samma ämne = the book about the same subject/topic
Other examples:
- en bok om historia – a book about history
- en artikel om klimatförändringar – an article about climate change

So structure:

bok(en) om X = book about X
This is very common when talking about what something is about.

Could you also say boken med samma ämne? What’s the difference from boken om samma ämne?

In this context, boken om samma ämne is the natural and idiomatic choice.

om samma ämne = about the same subject (the content of the book)
med samma ämne would sound odd; med (“with”) is used more for:
- physical properties: boken med det röda omslaget – the book with the red cover
- accompaniment: jag kom med min vän – I came with my friend

There are some cases where med + noun can be used for content, but for “a book about X”, the standard phrase is:

en bok om X = a book about X

Why do we repeat känns in the second clause? Could we say Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne enkel?

Repeating känns is the normal, neutral style:

Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne känns enkel.

It is possible (especially in more formal or literary Swedish) to omit the repeated verb:

Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne enkel.

This is understood as if känns were repeated, but it sounds more written and slightly stylistic. In everyday spoken language, you’ll almost always repeat känns for clarity and naturalness.

Why is there a comma before men?

In Swedish, you normally put a comma between two independent main clauses that are joined by a conjunction like men (“but”), för (“for/because”), utan (“but rather”), etc.

Here you have two full clauses:

Filmen känns djup
boken om samma ämne känns enkel

They are joined by men, so:

Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne känns enkel.

In very informal writing, some people omit this comma, but the comma is standard and recommended.

Does men always mean “but”? Are there cases where it’s different?

In this kind of sentence, men is the normal word for “but” and introduces a contrast:

Filmen känns djup, men boken … känns enkel.

Common uses of men:

Jag vill gå, men jag är trött. – I want to go, but I’m tired.
Det är dyrt, men bra. – It’s expensive but good.

There are other contrastive conjunctions in Swedish:

fast (ännu) – “although / even though”, often more colloquial
utan – “but rather” (after a negation)

But in your sentence, men straightforwardly corresponds to English but.

Is Filmen and Boken capitalized because they’re at the beginning of each clause, like in English?

No. In Swedish, you only capitalize the first word of the sentence, not the first word of each clause.

In your example, capitalization works like this:

Filmen känns djup, men boken om samma ämne känns enkel.

Here:

Filmen is capitalized because it’s the first word of the sentence.
boken is not capitalized, even though it starts a new clause after men.

If you saw Boken capitalized in the middle of a sentence, it would normally mean it’s starting a new sentence or it’s part of a proper name.