Questions & Answers about Kan du komma ner nu?
Why does the sentence start with Kan instead of Du?
Because this is a yes/no question in Swedish. In main clauses, Swedish usually puts the finite verb first when asking a yes/no question.
- Statement: Du kan komma ner nu. = You can come down now.
- Question: Kan du komma ner nu? = Can you come down now?
This verb-first pattern is very common in Swedish.
Why is it komma and not kommer?
Because kan is a modal verb. After modal verbs in Swedish, the next verb is normally in the infinitive form.
So:
- kan = can
- komma = come
Not kan kommer
This is similar to English:
- can come
- not can comes
Also, Swedish usually does not use att after modal verbs, so kan komma is correct, not kan att komma.
What does ner mean here?