Evaluating Simple Nouns
In formal and academic Swedish, you will often express opinions using the verbs anse (to consider) and finna (to find, in an abstract sense). When evaluating a standard noun, the object comes immediately after the verb, followed by the adjective.
| The researcher finds the process very suitable. | Forskaren finner processen mycket lämplig. |
The Formal Object (Det)
When the "thing" you are evaluating is an action rather than a noun—expressed as an att + infinitive clause—Swedish requires a placeholder object. This is called the anticipatory formal object (formellt objekt), and we use the word det.
Much like the English "it" in "I consider it appropriate to...", det holds the place of the actual object in the sentence structure.
Structure: Subject + Verb + det + Adjective + att + Infinitive
| We consider it appropriate to evaluate the study. | Vi anser det lämpligt att utvärdera studien. |
Notice that the evaluating adjective always takes its neuter form (ending in -t, such as orimligt or meningsfullt) because it grammatically agrees with det.
| I find it unreasonable to misunderstand the theory. | Jag finner det orimligt att missförstå teorin. |
Grading and Assessing
This structure is extremely common when discussing academic assessments, such as evaluating projects (att bedöma) or grading essays (att betygsätta).
| The researcher finds it meaningful to assess the project. | Forskaren finner det meningsfullt att bedöma projektet. |
| We find it impossible to grade the essay. | Vi finner det omöjligt att betygsätta uppsatsen. |
Questions and Word Order
To form a question with this structure, invert the subject and the verb as usual. The formal object det stays in the object position, immediately following the subject.
| Do you consider it meaningful to discuss the result? | Anser du det meningsfullt att diskutera resultatet? |