Set phrases and abstract nouns (spela roll, i grunden)

Phrases You Cannot Build From Their Parts

Each of these is a fixed unit. You know every word in them and none of that helps.

Note that råd appears in two of them with two different meanings — ge råd is advice, ha råd is money. Swedish simply has two words spelled the same.

The Negative Frame

Spela roll almost always appears negated: det spelar ingen roll — it does not matter. Learn the whole sentence; you will use it constantly.

Four Abstract Nouns and Their Frames

Stället is the spot — a place thought of as a position rather than a location, which is why i stället för means instead of. Fallet is the case: i så fall, i det fallet. Grunden is the foundation, and i grunden means fundamentally. Planet is a level or plane — an abstract height, not an aeroplane.