You may already know då as "then" or "when". In formal or written Swedish, it is also a subordinating conjunction meaning "since" or "because".
Using "då" for Causality
Like eftersom (because), då connects a subordinate clause to a main clause to explain a cause.
| since, because | då |
| The visibility was bad because the fog came in. | Sikten var dålig då dimman kom in. |
| The lighthouse keeper thrived, since the isolation gave him peace and quiet. | Fyrvaktaren trivdes bra, då isoleringen gav honom lugn och ro. |
Starting with "då" (The V2 Rule)
You can place the då-clause at the beginning of your sentence. Because Swedish strictly uses V2 (verb-second) word order, the entire subordinate clause acts as the first element. This means the main clause immediately following the comma must start with a verb.
| Since the lighthouse is old, the glow is weak. | Då fyren är gammal, är skenet svagt. |
| Since the visibility is zero in the fog, most seafarers stay at home. | Då sikten är noll i dimman, stannar de flesta sjöfarare hemma. |
Adverbs in Subordinate Clauses
Since då introduces a subordinate clause, sentence adverbs like plötsligt (suddenly) or nyligen (recently) are placed before the first verb in the clause.
| The lighthouse keeper looks out because the visibility suddenly gets bad. | Fyrvaktaren tittar ut då sikten plötsligt blir dålig. |
| The glow probably won't go out, since they have recently renovated the remote lighthouse. | Skenet lär inte slockna, då man nyligen har renoverat den avlägsna fyren. |
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