Breakdown of De hade lastat pallen innan han försökte lyfta den.
han
he
de
they
den
it (common)
ha
to have
försöka
to try
innan
before
lasta
to load
lyfta
to lift / to take off, lift off
pallen
the pallet
Questions & Answers about De hade lastat pallen innan han försökte lyfta den.
Why is it den at the end of the sentence instead of det?
The word den means it here and refers back to pallen (the pallet). Since en pall is an en-word, you must use den to say it. If he were trying to lift an ett-word, like ett bord (a table), you would use det instead.
What tense is hade lastat?
It is the past perfect tense, which translates exactly to had loaded in English. You form it by combining hade (the past tense of att ha) with the supine form of the main verb (lastat). This is used to show that one action in the past happened before another action in the past.
Why do we use innan here for before instead of före?
We use innan because it acts as a conjunction connecting to a full clause that has its own subject and verb (han försökte). You typically use före as a preposition when before is followed only by a noun or pronoun, like in före maten (before the food).
Why is there no att (to) between försökte and lyfta?
While you can say försökte att lyfta, the word att is very commonly dropped in everyday Swedish after certain verbs like försöka (to try), börja (to begin), and sluta (to stop). The second verb just stays in its infinitive form (lyfta).
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