Breakdown of Vi köper inte huset, för det är dyrt.
vara
to be
det
it (neuter)
vi
we
huset
the house
inte
not
köpa
to buy
dyr
expensive
för
because (coordinating)
Questions & Answers about Vi köper inte huset, för det är dyrt.
Why does för translate to 'because' in this sentence?
In Swedish, för is a coordinating conjunction that means 'because' or 'for.' It links two complete, independent sentences together: Vi köper inte huset and det är dyrt. It is very popular in everyday speech because it lets you keep the normal word order in the second part (Subject + Verb: det är).
Why is there a 't' at the end of dyrt, and why use det for 'it'?
They both refer back to huset (the house). Because hus is an ett word (ett hus), the pronoun for 'it' must be det (instead of den). The adjective must also match this ett word, so dyr (expensive) gets a -t at the end to become dyrt.
Why does inte come after the verb köper?
In a standard Swedish sentence, the verb must be in the second position (this is called the V2 rule). The subject Vi is in position one, so the verb köper takes position two. The negative word inte drops in directly after the verb.
How does huset mean 'the house'?
In Swedish, the word 'the' is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front. For an ett word ending in a consonant, like hus (house), you add -et to make it huset (the house).
Learn Vi köper inte huset, för det är dyrt 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