Questions & Answers about Det jag gillar mest med vår picknick är att alla sitter länge och pratar.
Why does the sentence start with Det when English would usually start with What?
In Swedish, det can introduce a clause that English often expresses with what.
So Det jag gillar mest med vår picknick is literally something like The thing that I like most about our picnic, but in natural English it is often best understood as What I like most about our picnic.
This pattern is very common:
- Det jag vill veta är ... = What I want to know is ...
- Det hon sa var sant. = What she said was true.
Why is there no som in Det jag gillar mest?
Because Swedish often leaves out som in this kind of construction when it would be the object of the clause.
So both of these are possible:
- det jag gillar
- det som jag gillar
In this sentence, det jag gillar mest sounds very natural and compact.
A useful rule of thumb:
- If som would be the subject, you usually need it.
- If som would be the object, it is often omitted.
Compare:
- mannen som kom = the man who came → som needed
- boken jag läste = the book (that) I read → som can be omitted
Why is it jag gillar and not gillar jag?
Because jag gillar is inside a subordinate/relative clause, where Swedish normally keeps subject + verb order.
So:
- det jag gillar = what I like
If you said gillar jag, that would sound like main-clause inversion, which is a different structure:
- Det gillar jag. = That I like.
So in your sentence:
- Det jag gillar mest ... is one chunk
- inside that chunk, the normal order is jag gillar
What does mest mean here, and could bäst be used instead?
Mest means most.
So jag gillar mest means I like most or I like the most.
With gilla, both mest and bäst can appear in real Swedish, but they are not exactly the same in feel:
- mest = most
- bäst = best
In this sentence, mest focuses on degree: this is the part of the picnic the speaker likes most of all.
Why is it med vår picknick? Why not another preposition?
Here med is part of a very natural Swedish way to say about or in connection with something.
So:
- Det jag gillar mest med vår picknick
means roughly - What I like most about our picnic
A more literal word-for-word reading would be something like with our picnic, but in English we usually say about our picnic.
This use of med is common:
- Det bästa med sommaren ... = The best thing about summer ...
- Det svåra med svenska ... = The difficult thing about Swedish ...
Why is it vår picknick and not vårt picknick?
Because picknick is an en-word in Swedish:
- en picknick
For en-words, the possessive forms are:
- min
- din
- sin
- vår
- er
So:
- vår picknick = our picnic
If it were an ett-word, you would use vårt instead.
What is the job of är att in the sentence?
Är att ... introduces the thing that the speaker likes most.
Structure:
- Det jag gillar mest med vår picknick = the subject idea
- är att alla sitter länge och pratar = what that subject idea is
So the att-clause works like a noun phrase here: it names the content of what is liked.
English can do something similar:
- What I like most is that everyone sits for a long time and talks.
In Swedish, keeping att here is normal and expected.
Why is the word order att alla sitter and not att sitter alla?
Because after att, Swedish uses subordinate-clause word order, which normally keeps subject + verb:
- att alla sitter
- att hon kommer
- att vi pratar
You do not use main-clause inversion after att.
So:
- Alla sitter = correct inside the att-clause
- Sitter alla would be question/main-clause order, not right here
Why does Swedish use sitter here? Is it just sit, or does it mean something more?
It literally means sit, but Swedish often uses position verbs like:
- sitta = sit
- stå = stand
- ligga = lie
These are very common when describing what people are doing while in that position.
So alla sitter ... och pratar gives the image that everyone is sitting around and talking.
In English, we might sometimes leave out the posture and just say everyone talks, but Swedish often prefers to include it when it is part of the scene.
What does länge mean here?
Länge means for a long time.
So:
- alla sitter länge och pratar = everyone sits for a long time and talks
It suggests that the people do not leave quickly; they remain there for quite a while, talking together.
Be careful not to confuse:
- lång = long
- länge = for a long time
Examples:
- en lång film = a long film
- Vi pratade länge. = We talked for a long time.
Does länge apply to both sitter and pratar?
In natural reading, yes, it affects the whole scene.
Alla sitter länge och pratar suggests that everyone stays there a long time, sitting and talking.
If you changed the word order to:
- alla sitter och pratar länge
that would sound more like the emphasis is specifically on how long they talk.
Both are possible, but the original phrasing makes the whole relaxed duration feel important.
Why isn’t the subject repeated before pratar?
Because och joins two verbs with the same subject:
- alla sitter
- (alla) pratar
Swedish does not need to repeat alla if the subject is the same.
So:
- alla sitter länge och pratar = everyone sits for a long time and talks
You could repeat the subject in some contexts for emphasis, but normally you would not.
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