Breakdown of Vi kan hjälpa er nu.
vi
we
nu
now
hjälpa
to help
kunna
to be able to, can
er
you (plural, object)
Questions & Answers about Vi kan hjälpa er nu.
Why does the sentence use er for "you" instead of dig?
In English, "you" can refer to just one person or a whole group. Swedish uses different words for this. dig is singular (one person), while er is plural (multiple people). So, in this sentence, "we" are offering to help a group of people, not just one person.
Is er the object form of ni?
Yes! Just like vi (we) becomes oss (us) when it receives the action, ni (the subject form for plural "you") becomes er when it is the object receiving the help.
Wait, doesn't er also mean "your"?
It does! er does double duty in Swedish. It can be the object pronoun meaning "you" (plural), like in this sentence. It can also be the possessive word for "your" (plural) when describing an en-word, like in er bil (your car). You can tell it means "you" here because it stands alone after a verb, rather than sitting in front of a noun.
Why is the verb hjälpa and not hjälper?
Because it comes directly after the helper verb kan (can). Just like in English where we say "can help" instead of "can helps", Swedish uses the basic dictionary form of the verb (the infinitive, usually ending in -a) after helper verbs like kan, vill (want to), or måste (must).
Learn Vi kan hjälpa er nu and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free