Breakdown of Man kan se skylten från vägen.
kunna
to be able to, can
se
to see
från
from
vägen
the road
man
one, you (people in general)
skylten
the sign (signboard)
Questions & Answers about Man kan se skylten från vägen.
The translation says 'you', but the Swedish word is man. Why not use du?
Man is a generic pronoun used to talk about people in general, exactly like the general 'you' or 'one' in English. If you used du here, it would specifically mean the person you are talking to, rather than just anyone driving by.
Could we use the object form en instead of man in this sentence?
No, because the pronoun is the subject of the sentence (the one doing the seeing). Man is always the subject. En is the object form (the one being seen or affected). You would use en if the action was happening to people in general, like in the sentence Skylten kan hjälpa en (The sign can help one/you).
Why is the verb se in the infinitive instead of the present tense ser?
Because it comes right after kan (can). Kan is a modal helper verb, and in Swedish, the verb that immediately follows a modal verb must be in its infinitive (dictionary) form.
Why do both skylten and vägen end in -en?
The -en ending is how Swedish attaches the word 'the' to en-words. En skylt (a sign) becomes skylten (the sign), and en väg (a road) becomes vägen (the road).
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