Breakdown of I hörnet vid trappan står en stol som ingen vill sitta på.
Questions & Answers about I hörnet vid trappan står en stol som ingen vill sitta på.
I hörnet literally means in the corner.
In Swedish:
- i = in, inside (within the limits of something)
- på = on, on top of, at
A hörn (corner) is usually seen as a kind of “space” you are in, not a surface you are on, so Swedish uses i here:
- i hörnet = in the corner
You would use på with surfaces or flat areas, e.g.: - på bordet = on the table
- på golvet = on the floor
So i hörnet is the natural choice when something is located inside the corner area.
Hörn is the indefinite form: a corner / corner.
Hörnet is the definite form: the corner.
Swedish makes definite nouns with an ending:
- ett hörn = a corner
- hörnet = the corner
In the sentence I hörnet vid trappan…, we are talking about a specific, known corner (the one by the stairs), so the definite form hörnet is used, just like English uses the.
Vid trappan literally means by the stairs or at the stairs.
- vid = by, at, next to (quite close, often directly at the side of something)
- trappan = the stairs / the staircase (trappa = stair/stairs, trappan = the stairs)
Comparison:
- vid trappan – by / at the stairs, close to them, possibly touching or directly adjacent
- nära trappan – near the stairs, in the general area but not necessarily right next to them
- bredvid trappan – beside the stairs, specifically next to them horizontally
In this sentence, vid trappan describes the corner more precisely: the corner that is by the stairs.
Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb-second word order).
That means the finite verb usually comes in second position, no matter what comes first.
The basic neutral order would be:
- En stol står i hörnet vid trappan.
A chair stands in the corner by the stairs.
Here, the subject en stol comes first, so står (the verb) comes second.
But in the given sentence, we start with a place phrase:
- I hörnet vid trappan (adverbial of place) comes first
- So the next thing must be the verb: står
- Then comes the subject: en stol
So:
- I hörnet vid trappan står en stol …
This is normal Swedish word order when you start the sentence with an adverbial (time, place, etc.).
Yes, Det står en stol i hörnet vid trappan is also correct and natural.
Differences in nuance:
I hörnet vid trappan står en stol…
– Emphasizes the location first. It’s like saying:
In the corner by the stairs, there is a chair…Det står en stol i hörnet vid trappan…
– More neutral, like English:
There is a chair standing in the corner by the stairs…
In both cases, the meaning is basically the same; it’s just a difference in focus and style.
Swedish often uses posture verbs instead of just är (is/are) for things that are located somewhere:
- stå (står) – stand
- ligga (ligger) – lie
- sitta (sitter) – sit
Objects “stand” if they are upright, “lie” if they are horizontal, etc.
So:
- Stolen står i hörnet. = The chair is (standing) in the corner.
- Boken ligger på bordet. = The book is (lying) on the table.
You can often use är as well, but it sounds less natural in this kind of locative description. In this case, står is the idiomatic choice because a chair is upright.
Here som is a relative pronoun, similar to that/which/who in English.
The phrase:
- en stol som ingen vill sitta på
means:
- a chair that nobody wants to sit on
Som introduces the relative clause som ingen vill sitta på, which gives extra information about en stol (which chair? → the one that nobody wants to sit on).
So:
- en stol = a chair
- som ingen vill sitta på = that nobody wants to sit on
Together: a chair that nobody wants to sit on.
The verb sitta means to sit, but when you specify what you are sitting on, you need the preposition på:
- sitta = to sit (in general)
- sitta på en stol = to sit on a chair
In English you also say sit on a chair, not just sit a chair. Swedish works the same way here: sit on (på) something.
So ingen vill sitta på (den) = nobody wants to sit on (it).
In the sentence, den is omitted because som already refers back to stol.
This is preposition stranding, which Swedish allows in relative clauses and questions, just like English.
Compare:
- English: the chair that nobody wants to sit on
- Swedish: stolen som ingen vill sitta på
In more formal Swedish you could move the preposition in front of som:
- stolen på vilken ingen vill sitta
(very formal / written style, feels stiff in everyday speech)
But in normal spoken and written Swedish, putting på at the end of the relative clause is completely natural and very common: som ingen vill sitta på.
Because som already refers back to en stol (the chair).
If you added den, you would be referring to the chair twice, which is ungrammatical here.
Correct:
- en stol som ingen vill sitta på
= a chair that nobody wants to sit on
Incorrect:
- en stol som ingen vill sitta på den ✗
In Swedish relative clauses:
- som is enough to refer back to the noun (stol in this case).
- You don’t repeat it with den, det, etc. in the same position.
In the full, non‑relative sentence you would normally say:
- Ingen vill sitta på den.
Nobody wants to sit on it.
But in a relative clause like:
- en stol som ingen vill sitta på
the som already stands for den stol(en). So in a sense, som = the chair, and på is connected to som. That’s why den is left out; it would be redundant.
So:
- Ingen vill sitta på den. – standalone sentence, “it” is needed.
- en stol som ingen vill sitta på – relative clause, “som” already carries the reference, so no den.
Swedish normally uses:
- sitta på en stol – sit on a chair
- sitta i en fåtölj / soffa / bil / stol med armstöd – sit in an armchair / sofa / car / chair with armrests
The logic:
- på – when you sit on top of a surface (a simple chair, a bench, a stool).
- i – when you are more inside or “enclosed” by what you sit in (armchairs, sofas, cars, etc.).
Since stol usually refers to a simple chair (often without sides that surround you), the default is sitta på en stol.
Trappa = stair / stairs / staircase (indefinite)
trappan = the stairs / the staircase (definite)
In context, we are clearly talking about a specific staircase that the speaker and listener can identify (for example, the main stairs in a house). That’s why the definite form trappan is used:
- vid trappan = by the stairs / at the stairs
Using the indefinite form vid en trappa (by a staircase) would sound like you’re talking about some random, unidentified staircase.
Stol is an en‑word (common gender) in Swedish.
- en stol = a chair
- stolen = the chair
Pattern:
- en stol → stolen
- en bil → bilen (the car)
- en bok → boken (the book)
In the given sentence we have en stol because it’s introduced for the first time: en stol som ingen vill sitta på – a chair that nobody wants to sit on. If we continued the story, we might later refer to it as stolen (the chair).
Grammatically, som could in theory refer to the nearest preceding noun phrase, but in real usage here, Swedish speakers will understand som as referring to en stol.
The structure is:
- I hörnet vid trappan står en stol
- som ingen vill sitta på.
Because som ingen vill sitta på describes something that you sit on, it naturally matches stol (chair), not trappan (stairs).
To make it explicitly about the stairs, you’d have to rephrase:
- I hörnet står en stol vid trappan, som ingen vill gå i.
(In the corner stands a chair by the stairs that nobody wants to walk on. – a bit odd, but now “walk on” fits stairs.)
In the original sentence, context and verb choice (sitta på) make stol the clear referent of som.