Questions & Answers about Hon dricker sällan kaffet.
Why is it Hon dricker sällan instead of Hon sällan dricker like in English?
In Swedish main clauses, the verb must always be in the second position (this is known as the V2 rule). Because Hon (She) takes up the first position, the verb dricker (drinks) must come right after it. Sentence adverbs like sällan (rarely) and inte (not) are usually placed after the verb.
Can I put sällan at the end of the sentence like the time adverbs idag or nu?
Usually, no. While basic time adverbs like idag (today) or nu (now) normally go at the beginning or the end of a sentence, sällan is an adverb of frequency. It behaves just like the word inte, meaning it naturally sits directly after the verb in a standard main clause.
What if I start the sentence with Sällan for emphasis?
You can start the sentence with Sällan, but you still have to follow the rule that the verb comes second! If you put Sällan first, the subject and verb have to swap places: Sällan dricker hon kaffet.
Why does it say kaffet instead of just kaffe?
Because the sentence means she rarely drinks the coffee (perhaps referring to a specific pot of coffee). Kaffe is an ett-word, so to say 'the coffee', we add -t to the end, making it kaffet. If she rarely drank coffee in general, it would just be Hon dricker sällan kaffe.
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