Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Dealing with tech issues often means explaining what is *not* working. When you use negative words like **inte** (not) in complex sentences, Swedish uses a special word order rule.

### The BIFF Rule

In a regular main clause, **inte** comes *after* the verb. But in a subordinate clause (a dependent clause starting with words like *att*, *om*, or *eftersom*), **inte** jumps **before** the conjugated verb. 

Swedes learn this as the **BIFF** rule: **B**isats, **I**nte **F**öre **F**inita verbet (Subordinate clause, *inte* before the finite verb).

{{item:900233}}

{{item:900237}}

### Conditions and Causes

The BIFF rule applies to all subordinate clauses, including those starting with **om** (if), **eftersom** (since/because), or **när** (when).

{{item:900243}}

{{item:900247}}

### Indirect Questions

Question words like **varför** (why) can also connect clauses. When used this way, they act as subjunctions, meaning the BIFF rule applies here too.

{{item:900254}}

{{item:900240}}

### Starting the Sentence with a Subordinate Clause

When you place the subordinate clause at the beginning of your sentence, the BIFF rule still dictates the word order *inside* that clause (**inte** before the verb). 

Remember that the entire subordinate clause counts as the first position in the sentence. Because of the V2 (verb-second) rule, the main clause must immediately follow with its verb.

{{item:900235}}

{{item:900257}}

Negation in subordinate clauses (inte)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite ending (barnet, hunden)

Indefinite articles and -ar verbs (en, ett)

Basic word order

Singular adjectives (stor, stort)

Plural adjectives (-a)

Sentence negation (inte)

Yes/No questions

Basic question words (vad, vem, var)

Regular Group 2 verbs (-er)

Short verbs and irregulars (har, gör)

The infinitive marker (att)

Modal verbs (kan, vill, måste, får)

Future intention (ska)

Time adverbs (imorgon, igår)

Word order inversion

Adverbs of frequency (ibland, aldrig)

Everyday things (dörren, stolen, tåget)

Definite suffix spelling changes

Plural nouns Group 1 and 2 (-or, -ar)

Plural nouns Group 3 (-er, -r)

Neuter indefinite plurals

Definite plural suffixes (-na, -a, -en)

Object pronouns (mig, dig, oss)

Reflexive pronouns (sig)

Expanded question words (när, varför)

Which and what (vilken, vilket, vilka)

Coordinating conjunctions (men, eller, för)

Prepositions of place (i, på, till, från)

Quantifiers (mycket, många)

Indefinite pronouns (någon, något, några)

First and second person possessives (min, din, vår, er)

Third person possessives (hans, hennes, dess, deras)

Reflexive possessives (sin, sitt, sina)

The genitive (-s)

Adjectives before singular nouns

Adjectives before plural nouns (-a)

Double definiteness (den, det, de)

Demonstratives (den här, det här, de här)

The imperative mood

Past tense of vara and ha (var, hade)

Possessives for names (-s)

Definite plural adjectives (de ... -a)

Genitive case for names (-s)

Numbers 1 to 10 (en, två, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elva till tjugo)

Counting by tens to 100 (trettio, fyrtio...)

Days of the week (måndag, tisdag...)

Months of the year (januari, februari...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (första, andra...)

Greetings and politeness (hej, tack, förlåt)

Particle verbs of direction (gå ut, komma in)

Simple past: Group 1 (-ade)

Simple past: Group 2a (-de)

Simple past: Group 2b (-te)

Simple past: Group 3 (-dde)

Simple past: Group 4

Present perfect: Groups 1 and 2 (har)

Present perfect: Groups 3 and 4

Past perfect (hade)

Future predictions (kommer att)

Future with present tense

The adjective small (liten, litet, små)

Demonstratives of distance (den där, det där, de där)

Negative pronouns (ingen, inget, inga)

Universal pronouns (all, allt, alla)

The generic pronoun (man, en)

Possessive generic pronoun (ens)

Reciprocal pronoun (varandra)

Qualitative pronouns (sådan, sådant, sådana)

Habitual time expressions (på)

Specific past time expressions (i)

Past time expressions (för ... sedan)

Future time expressions (om)

Location and motion adverbs (här/hit, där/dit)

Consequences (så)

Correlative conjunctions (både ... och)

Either and neither (antingen ... eller, varken ... eller)

Verbs of opinion and belief (tycker, tror, tänker)

Subordinate clauses (att, om)

Time clauses (när, innan, medan)

Clauses of cause (eftersom, därför att)

V2 word order inversion

Relative clauses as subjects (som)

Relative clauses as objects (som)

Relative clauses for places (där)

Adverbs from adjectives (-t)

Adjective comparative and superlative (-are, -ast)

Irregular comparisons

Question	Answer
the screen	skärmen
I see that the screen does not work.	Jag ser att skärmen inte fungerar.
the program	programmet
Because the program does not work, the boss is angry.	Eftersom programmet inte fungerar är chefen arg.
the password	lösenordet
She says that the password is not correct.	Hon säger att lösenordet inte stämmer.
to start (a machine, engine, business)	starta
If you do not have the password, you cannot start the computer.	Om du inte har lösenordet kan du inte starta datorn.
I do not understand why the program does not answer.	Jag förstår inte varför programmet inte svarar.
I get stressed when the computer does not work.	Jag blir stressad när datorn inte fungerar.
the document	dokumentet
The boss is angry because I do not have the document.	Chefen är arg eftersom jag inte har dokumentet.
It is a problem that the document is not ready.	Det är ett problem att dokumentet inte är klart.
the file	filen
I know that the file is not dangerous.	Jag vet att filen inte är farlig.
We cannot read the file if you do not open it.	Vi kan inte läsa filen om du inte öppnar den.
the virus	viruset
I hope that the computer does not have a virus.	Jag hoppas att datorn inte har ett virus.
Because the virus does not disappear, I am stressed.	Eftersom viruset inte försvinner är jag stressad.
to save (money, resources, data)	spara
I am stressed because I have not saved the document.	Jag är stressad eftersom jag inte har sparat dokumentet.
You must not close the program if you do not save.	Du får inte stänga programmet om du inte sparar.
I do not know why the computer does not start.	Jag vet inte varför datorn inte startar.
It is good that the password is not difficult.	Det är bra att lösenordet inte är svårt.
to click	klicka
If you do not click, nothing happens.	Om du inte klickar händer inget.
The boss is angry because I have not saved the file.	Chefen är arg eftersom jag inte har sparat filen.
the button	knappen
The screen turns black if you do not click on the button.	Skärmen blir svart om du inte klickar på knappen.
He says that the button does not work today.	Han säger att knappen inte fungerar idag.