Breakdown of Han berättade sanningen för oss, men vi trodde honom inte.
han
he
vi
we
inte
not
tro
to believe
Questions & Answers about Han berättade sanningen för oss, men vi trodde honom inte.
Why is the past tense of believe trodde with a double D?
Trodde comes from the verb att tro (to believe). It belongs to Group 3, which consists of short verbs that end in a vowel other than 'a'. To make the past tense for these verbs, you add the suffix -dde. Another common example you might remember is att bo (to live), which becomes bodde.
Why do we say berättade ... för oss? Doesn't för usually mean for?
While för often translates to for, Swedish uses specific prepositions with certain verbs. The verb att berätta (to tell) is almost always paired with för to indicate who is receiving the information. So, berätta för is the standard way to say tell to someone.
Why does inte come after honom instead of right after the verb trodde?
Normally in a main clause, inte comes directly after the verb. However, when the object is a short, unstressed pronoun like honom (him), it jumps ahead of inte. This is a special word order rule in Swedish used with simple pronouns like mig, dig, and honom.
Why is it sanningen instead of just sanning?