Emphasizing the Subject
When giving live sports commentary, you often want to highlight exactly who made the crucial play. In Swedish, this is done using a structure called a "cleft sentence" (utbrytning).
Instead of just saying "The goalkeeper makes the save," you shift the spotlight by saying "It is the goalkeeper who makes the save!"
The formula is straightforward: Det är (It is) + [the person] + som (who/that) + [the action].
| It is the goalkeeper who makes the save! | Det är målvakten som gör räddningen! |
| It is the captain who scores the goal! | Det är kaptenen som gör målet! |
Actions in the Past
To emphasize someone who performed a play that just finished, simply change är to var (was). The rest of the structure stays exactly the same: Det var [the person] som...
| It was the captain who made the pass. | Det var kaptenen som slog passningen. |
| It was the defender who tackled the striker. | Det var försvararen som tacklade anfallaren. |
Confirming Who Did It
You can easily turn this structure into a question when you need to confirm which player performed an action or is in a certain state. Just invert the first two words, changing Det är to Är det (Is it) or Det var to Var det (Was it).
| Is it the captain who is dribbling? | Är det kaptenen som dribblar? |
| Was it the striker who missed the shot? | Var det anfallaren som missade skottet? |