Breakdown of Sedan åkte de till flygplatsen.
de
they
åka
to go, to travel, to leave
till
to (direction, destination)
sedan
then
Questions & Answers about Sedan åkte de till flygplatsen.
Why does the past tense verb åkte end in -te instead of -de?
åkte is the past tense of åka (to go/travel) and belongs to Group 2b. For Group 2 verbs, if the stem ends in a hard, voiceless consonant (like k, p, t, s, or x), you add -te instead of -de to make it easier to pronounce. Since the stem of åka is åk-, we add -te to get åkte.
Why is the word order åkte de instead of de åkte?
This is the Swedish V2 rule in action. The conjugated verb must be the second piece of information in a main clause. Because this sentence starts with the time word sedan (then), the verb åkte must come immediately after it, which pushes the subject de into the third position.
Why does this sentence use åkte for "went" instead of gick?
In English, "went" can mean traveling by any method, but Swedish is more specific. You use gick (from gå) only when you are walking on foot. Since people usually take a car, bus, or train to the airport, you use åkte (from åka), which means traveling by vehicle.
I know de means "they", but how is it pronounced here?