Barnen måste passa sig vid sjön.

must

Breakdown of Barnen måste passa sig vid sjön.

• barnet: the child
• vid: by (as in 'by the window')
• sjön: the lake

Questions & Answers about Barnen måste passa sig vid sjön.

Why is it barnen and not just barn?

Barn is a bit special in Swedish:

• ett barn = a child (singular, indefinite)
• barnet = the child (singular, definite)
• barn = children (plural, indefinite)
• barnen = the children (plural, definite)

In the sentence, we are talking about specific, known children (for example, our children, the children we see), so Swedish uses the definite plural form barnen.

What exactly does måste do here, and why isn’t there att before passa?

Måste is a modal verb meaning something like must / have to.

In Swedish, modal verbs (like kan, vill, ska, måste) are followed directly by the infinitive form of the main verb without att:

• Barnen måste passa sig – The children must be careful
• Jag måste gå – I have to go
• Hon ska äta – She is going to eat

So you say måste passa, not måste att passa and not måste passar. The modal verb itself (måste) doesn’t change with person: jag/du/han/vi/de måste are all the same form.

What does passa sig literally mean, and how is it different from just passa?