Breakdown of Kan du stänga fönstret, annars blir sovrummet kallt.
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Questions & Answers about Kan du stänga fönstret, annars blir sovrummet kallt.
Literally, Kan du … means Can you …, but in everyday Swedish it’s very commonly used as a polite request, much like English Could you … / Would you … depending on tone.
If you want to sound a bit more formal/softer, Swedish often uses:
- Kan du vara snäll och stänga fönstret? (Can you please close the window?)
- Skulle du kunna stänga fönstret? (Could you close the window?)
Because after a modal verb like kan, Swedish uses the infinitive form of the main verb:
- kan + infinitive → kan stänga (can close)
stäng is the imperative (command form):
- Stäng fönstret! = Close the window!
So your sentence is a request with a modal, not an imperative.
fönster = window (an ett-word, i.e., neuter gender)
fönstret = the window (definite form)
Swedish often attaches the definite article to the end of the noun:
- ett fönster = a window
- fönstret = the window
- fönster = windows
- fönstren = the windows
annars most often means otherwise / or else. It introduces the consequence if the first action doesn’t happen.
In your sentence it’s placed after a comma and works like a linking adverb:
- Kan du stänga fönstret, annars blir sovrummet kallt.
= Close it; otherwise the bedroom will get cold.
You can also start a new sentence with it:
- Kan du stänga fönstret? Annars blir sovrummet kallt.
Both are possible, but annars triggers the common Swedish V2 word order rule: the finite verb typically comes in the second position in a main clause.
After annars, Swedish often puts the verb first and the subject after it:
- Annars blir sovrummet kallt. (Otherwise the bedroom gets cold.)
Without annars (or with a simpler start), you get the more “neutral” subject-first order:
- Sovrummet blir kallt. (The bedroom gets cold.)
- är = is (a state/condition)
- blir = becomes / gets (a change into a state)
So:
- Sovrummet är kallt. = The bedroom is cold (already cold).
- Sovrummet blir kallt. = The bedroom gets cold (it turns cold, as a result).
In your sentence, blir fits because leaving the window open causes a change.
sovrum is also an ett-word:
- ett sovrum = a bedroom
- sovrummet = the bedroom
- sovrum = bedrooms
- sovrummen = the bedrooms
Here, sovrummet refers to a specific bedroom (contextually “the bedroom”).
Because Swedish adjectives agree with the gender/number of the noun they describe.
sovrummet is an ett-word (neuter), so the predicate adjective takes -t:
- Ett sovrum är kallt. (A bedroom is cold.)
- Sovrummet blir kallt. (The bedroom gets cold.)
For an en-word you’d use the basic form:
- En lägenhet är kall. (An apartment is cold.)
Plural uses -a:
- Rummen är kalla. (The rooms are cold.)
You can write it either way. Swedish often uses a comma here to connect two closely linked main clauses, but it’s also very natural to split them:
- With comma: Kan du stänga fönstret, annars blir sovrummet kallt.
- Two sentences: Kan du stänga fönstret? Annars blir sovrummet kallt.
Both are common; two sentences can feel slightly clearer in writing.
A rough guide (dialects vary):
- stänga: the ä is like a front vowel similar to the vowel in English bed, but usually a bit “brighter/tenser” in Swedish. The ng is like in English sing.
- fönstret: ö is a rounded front vowel (not found in most English accents). Many learners approximate it by shaping the lips for o while trying to say e.
- sovrummet: o here is often a long vowel (depending on accent) and the u in rum is also a Swedish vowel that doesn’t match English u well (it’s more fronted).
If you want, tell me which accent you’re aiming for (Stockholm/Standard Swedish vs Finland Swedish, etc.) and I can give more precise IPA.