Breakdown of Jag följde kunden till dörren.
jag
I
till
to (direction, destination)
dörren
the door
kunden
the customer
följa
to follow
Questions & Answers about Jag följde kunden till dörren.
How do we form the past tense for följde?
Följde is the simple past (preterite) of the verb följa (to follow). It belongs to Group 2a, which includes regular verbs whose stem ends in a voiced consonant (like l, m, n, r, v, or j). To make the past tense, you take the stem följ- and add the suffix -de, giving you följde.
Does följde in this sentence mean I walked behind them or accompanied them?
While följa directly translates to "follow", in Swedish it is also the standard verb for "to accompany" or "to escort". Jag följde kunden till dörren means you politely walked with them to the door to show them out, not that you secretly stalked them from behind.
Why do kunden and dörren both end in -en?
In Swedish, the definite article (the word "the") is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front of it. Both en kund (a customer) and en dörr (a door) are "en-words". To make them definite ("the customer", "the door"), you add -en to the end, resulting in kunden and dörren.
Could I use mot instead of till for "to the door"?
Till means you went all the way to your destination. If you used mot (towards), the sentence jag följde kunden mot dörren would mean you walked the customer in the direction of the door, but you might have stopped before actually reaching it.
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