Reporting Passives
When recounting urban myths or unverified gossip, distance yourself from the claims using passive verbs of reporting. In Swedish, these are commonly used in their s-passive form:
- sägs (is said)
- påstås (is claimed)
- anses (is considered)
- tros (is believed)
To describe what is reportedly happening, follow the passive verb directly with a bare infinitive—the infinitive without the marker att (to).
| This crazy story is said to be a famous urban legend. | Den här galna historien sägs vara en känd vandringssägen. |
| The crocodile is claimed to live in the sewer under the city. | Krokodilen påstås leva i avloppet under staden. |
Notice how the infinitives vara (to be) and leva (to live) follow immediately after sägs and påstås, without any att in between.
Beliefs and Subordinate Clauses
Use anses and tros in the exact same way to talk about widespread beliefs and superstitions:
| The old hotel was destroyed in a fire and is considered to be haunted. | Det gamla hotellet blev förstört i en brand och anses vara hemsökt. |
| The old painting is believed to hide a curse. | Den gamla tavlan tros dölja en förbannelse. |
This structure works seamlessly even when nested inside subordinate clauses:
| Many are worried that the food is said to be poisoned. | Många är oroliga för att maten sägs vara förgiftad. |
| The forest is said to be haunted, but is it really just an urban legend? | Skogen sägs vara hemsökt, men är det verkligen bara en vandringssägen? |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io