Breakdown of När jag kom tillbaka hade någon låst dörren.
jag
I
ha
to have
dörren
the door
när
when
någon
someone / any (en-word)
komma tillbaka
to come back
låsa
to lock
Questions & Answers about När jag kom tillbaka hade någon låst dörren.
Why does the second part say hade någon instead of någon hade?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The first part of the sentence, När jag kom tillbaka (When I came back), counts as the first block of information. Because the verb must come second, the main verb hade takes the second position, swapping places with the subject någon.
How is the past perfect tense used in hade låst?
It works almost exactly like English! You use hade (had) followed by the supine form of the main verb, which here is låst (locked). You use this tense to show that the door was locked before the other past action (coming back) happened.
Is låst an irregular verb form?
No, it is regular. The verb att låsa (to lock) belongs to the group of verbs whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant (like s, k, p, t). To get the supine form used after har or hade, you just add a -t to the stem, making it låst.
What is the base form of kom in kom tillbaka?
Kom is the past tense of the irregular verb att komma (to come). Combined with tillbaka (back), it creates the common phrase for returning or coming back.
Learn När jag kom tillbaka hade någon låst dörren 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