Questions & Answers about Det luktar kaffe i köket.
Why do we need det at the start? Can I just say Luktar kaffe i köket?
In Swedish you almost always need a subject, even when English uses it as a “dummy” or doesn’t feel like it has a real subject.
- Det here is a dummy subject, similar to English it in It smells like coffee.
- Luktar is a verb that must have some subject in normal word order, so you say Det luktar …
✅ Natural: Det luktar kaffe i köket.
❌ Weird/elliptical: Luktar kaffe i köket.
The version without det might occur in very casual speech as a fragment, but it’s not standard full-sentence grammar.
What exactly does luktar mean? Is it like English smell?