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Hon säger att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.

Hon säger att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.
She says that humor is her best method against anxiety.
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Questions & Answers about Hon säger att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.

What is the function of att in this sentence?

att introduces a subordinate clause, similar to English that in She says that….

  • Main clause: Hon säger (She says)
  • Subordinate clause: att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro (that humour is her best method against worry)

Unlike English, Swedish almost always keeps att in this kind of clause; you normally cannot omit it the way you can drop that in English.

Could you leave out att here, like in English She says humour is…?

No, not in standard written Swedish.

  • Correct: Hon säger att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.
  • Incorrect/nonnative: Hon säger humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.

In spoken language you might occasionally hear att dropped after very common verbs like tycker or tror, but it’s still considered informal, and with säga you should keep att.

Why is there no article before humor?

humor is used in a general, abstract sense (humour as a concept), not as a specific, countable thing. In Swedish, abstract and mass nouns often appear without an article in this kind of generic statement:

  • Humor är viktigt. – Humour is important.
  • Vatten är nödvändigt. – Water is necessary.

If you talked about a specific person’s humour as a trait, you could say Hennes humor är speciell (Her humour is special), with the definite form humorn.

Why do we use hennes and not sin/sitt/sina here?

hennes = her (non‑reflexive; can refer to any female person)
sin/sitt/sina = her/his/their own (reflexive; refers back to the subject of the same clause)

In the clause humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro:

  • Subject of the clause: humor
  • Possessive: hennes (refers to the woman mentioned in Hon säger)

sin must refer to the subject of its own clause, but here the subject is humor, not hon, so sin would mean humour’s own best method, which is nonsense. Therefore hennes is required.

Why is there no article in hennes bästa metod? Why not hennes den bästa metod?

With possessive pronouns (like hennes, min, din), Swedish does not use an article:

  • hennes bästa metod – her best method
  • min bästa vän – my best friend
  • deras största problem – their biggest problem

You cannot say hennes den bästa metod; the possessive itself already makes the noun phrase definite in this structure.

Why does bästa end in -a here and not bäst?

bästa is the attributive superlative form used before a noun:

  • bästa metod – best method
  • bästa vän – best friend

bäst is the predicative form, typically used after är, vara, etc., without a following noun:

  • Den här metoden är bäst. – This method is best.

So you say hennes bästa metod but Hennes metod är bäst.

Can you change the word order to att hennes bästa metod mot oro är humor?

Yes, that word order is also grammatically correct:

  • Hon säger att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro.
  • Hon säger att hennes bästa metod mot oro är humor.

Both are fine. The difference is in focus:

  • First version highlights humor first.
  • Second version highlights hennes bästa metod first.

In everyday speech, the original version (with humor first) is probably more common for this specific meaning.

Why is the verb är placed after humor and not earlier in the clause?

In a subordinate clause introduced by att, Swedish does not use verb‑second (V2) word order. The neutral order is:

[att] + subject + verb + …

So we get:

  • att humor är hennes bästa metod mot oro
    • subject: humor
    • verb: är

In main clauses you often see the verb in second position, but in att‑clauses you normally keep subject before verb.

What does mot mean here, and could you use another preposition?

mot literally means against. In this context it means “as a way of counteracting or fighting” something:

  • metod mot oro – a method against worry/anxiety
  • medicin mot huvudvärk – medicine for/against headache

Here, mot is the natural and idiomatic choice. för oro would mean “for worry” and doesn’t convey the idea of combating it, so it would sound wrong in this sentence.

Is oro closer to English worry, anxiety, or concern?

oro is a rather general word for inner unease. Depending on context, it can correspond to:

  • worry: Jag känner oro för framtiden. – I feel worry about the future.
  • anxiety (milder, everyday sense): Oro och stress kan påverka hälsan. – Anxiety and stress can affect your health.
  • concern: Det finns oro bland föräldrarna. – There is concern among the parents.

For clinical, psychological anxiety, Swedish often uses ångest. oro is broader and usually a bit milder.

What is the difference between säger and sa/sade?

All are forms of säga (to say):

  • säger – present tense: Hon säger… – She says / She is saying…
  • sa or sade – past tense: Hon sa/sade… – She said…

sa is the shorter, very common spoken and written form. sade is a bit more formal or old‑fashioned but still correct.