Sentence Intertwining (Satsfläta)
In Swedish, you will often encounter a complex question structure known as satsfläta (sentence intertwining). This happens when a question word—which logically belongs inside a subordinate clause—is pulled all the way to the front of the entire sentence.
The structure follows this pattern: [Question Word] + [Main Clause Verb] + [Main Clause Subject] + att + [Subordinate Clause].
| Who do you think the interpreter translated for? | Vem tror du att tolken översatte för? |
Notice how vem starts the sentence, but it is actually the object of översatte för at the very end. The main clause (tror du) wraps around the extracted word to form the question.
| What do you consider the interpreter should add? | Vad anser du att tolken bör tillägga? |
Negation and Intertwining
When pulling a question word out of a subordinate clause, the subordinate clause itself still follows standard grammar rules. Most importantly, sentence adverbs like inte (not) must still be placed before the finite verb (the BIFF rule).
Watch how inte behaves when we extract a question about what someone could not perceive (uppfatta):
| What did you say you could not perceive? | Vad sa du att du inte kunde uppfatta? |
The Language of Interpretation
Sentence intertwining is highly common in professional discussions, such as language interpretation, where people constantly ask what someone else said, meant, or thought. You will frequently extract questions regarding a tvetydig (ambiguous) statement or a specific fackterm (technical term).
| What did you say he meant by an ambiguous answer? | Vad sa du att han menade med ett tvetydigt svar? |
| Which technical term did you say they usually use? | Vilken fackterm sa du att de brukar använda? |
Extracting Longer Phrases
The extracted element does not have to be a single word like vem or vad. You can pull an entire question phrase—such as "which wording" (vilken formulering) or "which nuance" (vilken nyans)—all the way to the front of the main clause.
| Which wording do you hope the interpreter chooses? | Vilken formulering hoppas du att tolken väljer? |
| Which nuance do you think we missed? | Vilken nyans tror du att vi missade? |