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Learn Hardcore Swedish: Segern var otrolig. - The victory was incredible.

Hardcore Swedish
/Watching a football match with friends
/Segern var otrolig.

Segern var otrolig.

Word

Segern var otrolig.

Meaning

The victory was incredible.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Swedish

Lesson

Watching a football match with friends

Breakdown of Segern var otrolig.

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Questions & Answers about Segern var otrolig.

Why is it Segern and not seger?

Because segern is the definite singular form of seger.

seger = victory / a victory
segern = the victory

In Swedish, the definite article is usually added as an ending to the noun, instead of being a separate word like English the.

So here, -n is marking definiteness.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Swedish often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

So:

seger = victory
segern = the victory

That means Segern var otrolig already contains the inside segern.

A separate definite word like den is not used here. You would not normally say den segern unless you mean something more like that victory or you are adding extra description in a special structure.

What is var?

var is the past tense of vara, which means to be.

Some useful forms are:

är = is / am / are (present)
var = was / were (past)
vara = to be

So:

Segern är otrolig = The victory is incredible
Segern var otrolig = The victory was incredible

Why is it otrolig and not otroligt or otroliga?

Because adjectives in Swedish often agree with the noun they describe.

Here, seger is an en-word (common gender), singular, so the adjective takes the basic en-word singular form:

en seger → otrolig

Compare:

ett resultat var otroligt = a neuter singular noun, so otroligt
segrarna var otroliga = plural, so otroliga

Also, in this sentence the adjective comes after var, so it is a predicative adjective. Swedish still shows agreement here:

Segern var otrolig
Resultatet var otroligt
Segrarna var otroliga

What is the basic word order in this sentence?

The word order is the normal Swedish order for a simple statement:

subject + verb + complement

So here:

Segern = subject
var = verb
otrolig = complement

This is very similar to English:

The victory was incredible

Swedish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses. In this sentence, the subject comes first, so the verb naturally comes second.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes, but the normal and most natural version is Segern var otrolig.

You may sometimes see unusual word order for style or emphasis, such as:

Otrolig var segern

That sounds literary, dramatic, or poetic rather than neutral everyday Swedish.

So for normal use, Segern var otrolig is the pattern to remember.

How is Segern var otrolig pronounced?

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

SEH-gern var oo-TROO-lig

A more IPA-style guide is roughly:

[ˈseːɡɛrn vɑːr uˈtruːlɪɡ]

A few useful pronunciation notes:

In segern, the g is a hard g sound.
The first syllable of segern is stressed: SEH-
In otrolig, the stress is on the second syllable: -TROO-
The o at the start of otrolig sounds like oo

Pronunciation varies somewhat by region and speaking style, but this will get you close.

Why is Segern capitalized?

It is capitalized only because it is the first word in the sentence.

Swedish does not capitalize all nouns the way German does.

So in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written:

Jag minns att segern var otrolig.

There, segern is lowercase.

Is otrolig always as strong as English incredible?

Not always. Otrolig can mean things like:

incredible
amazing
unbelievable

The exact strength depends on context and tone. In everyday Swedish, it is common and natural, and it does not always sound overly dramatic.

So in a sentence like Segern var otrolig, it can simply sound like strong praise, not necessarily something impossible or literally unbelievable.

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