Breakdown of Vi kan köpa antingen huset eller lägenheten.
vi
we
huset
the house
köpa
to buy
kunna
to be able to, can
eller
or
lägenheten
the apartment
antingen
either
Questions & Answers about Vi kan köpa antingen huset eller lägenheten.
How exactly do we use antingen ... eller in this sentence?
Antingen ... eller directly translates to "either ... or". In this sentence, it connects the two specific choices the speakers are deciding between: huset (the house) and lägenheten (the apartment).
Could I put antingen at the very beginning of the sentence?
You can, but you have to be careful with your word order! Swedish uses the "V2 rule" where the verb must be in the second position. If you start with Antingen, the verb kan has to come before the subject vi: Antingen kan vi köpa huset eller.... However, keeping antingen right next to the nouns (as it is in our example) is the most natural way to pair them.
Why do the words for house and apartment end in -et and -en here?
Those endings make the nouns definite, meaning "the house" and "the apartment". Hus is an ett-word, so it takes the -et ending to become huset. Lägenhet is an en-word, so it takes the -en ending to become lägenheten. The speakers are choosing between two specific, known properties.
Why is the verb köpa (to buy) in its infinitive form instead of the present tense köper?
Because it immediately follows the helping verb kan (can). Just like in English ("we can buy", not "we can buys"), Swedish helping verbs are followed by the basic infinitive form of the next verb, without needing the word att (to).
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