When writing formal documents such as incident reports or official statements, you will often need to connect related events clearly and professionally. In Swedish, you can do this using formal relative adverbs.
These words are formed by combining var- (where) with a preposition. They refer back to the entire preceding clause, functioning similarly to words like "whereupon" or "whereby" in English.
Varpå (Whereupon)
Use varpå to describe an action that happens immediately as a result of, or right after, the previous event. It translates to "whereupon" or "at which point".
| The alarm went off, whereupon the course of events escalated. | Larmet gick, varpå händelseförloppet eskalerade. |
Varefter (After which)
Varefter combines var- and efter (after). It is used to show a chronological sequence of events, meaning "after which" or "subsequently".
| The security guard registered the intrusion, after which he called the police. | Väktaren registrerade intrånget, varefter han ringde polisen. |
Varigenom (Whereby)
Varigenom combines var- and igenom (through). It is used to express how the action in the first clause directly enabled or caused the action in the second clause. It translates to "whereby" or "through which".
| She wrote the statement, whereby the vandalism could be proven. | Hon skrev redogörelsen, varigenom skadegörelsen kunde bevisas. |
Word Order
These relative adverbs introduce a relative clause. Because they act as the conjunction linking the two ideas, the clause that follows them uses standard relative subordinate clause word order: the adverb comes first, immediately followed by the subject, and then the verb.
| They stopped the burglary, whereby the damage could be minimized. | De stoppade inbrottet, varigenom skadan kunde minskas. |
| The conflict escalated, after which the security guard had to call the police. | Konflikten eskalerade, varefter väktaren var tvungen att ringa polisen. |