Sometimes the subject of a sentence isn't a person or a thing, but an action. In Swedish, you can use an infinitive clause starting with att (to) as the entire syntactic subject of your sentence.
| To master a language requires time. | Att mästra ett språk kräver tid. |
Keeping the V2 Word Order
The most important rule to remember is how the clause fits into Swedish's strict V2 (verb-second) word order.
The entire infinitive phrase counts as a single building block in the first position. Therefore, the main verb of the sentence must come immediately after the phrase ends.
Notice the structure in the example above: [Att mästra ett språk] (Position 1: Subject) + [kräver] (Position 2: Main verb) + [tid] (Position 3: Object).
| To practice regularly takes a lot of energy. | Att öva regelbundet tar mycket energi. |
Clause Length
An infinitive subject can be as short as a single verb, or it can be long and complex, containing its own objects, adverbs, or phrasal verb particles. Regardless of its length, the whole clause still acts as one grammatical unit before the main sentence verb.
| To fail should not bother you. | Att misslyckas borde inte störa dig. |
| To get up early requires discipline. | Att stiga upp tidigt kräver disciplin. |
| To master an instrument requires more than just talent. | Att mästra ett instrument kräver mer än bara talang. |