Breakdown of Kvinnan förnekar att hon känner mannen.
hon
she
mannen
the man
kvinnan
the woman
känna
to know
att
that
förneka
to deny
Questions & Answers about Kvinnan förnekar att hon känner mannen.
How does att work in this sentence?
The word att means "that" and introduces a subordinate clause (bisats). The whole clause att hon känner mannen acts as the object of the verb förnekar. It tells us exactly what the woman is denying.
Does the word order change because this is a subordinate clause?
In a Swedish subordinate clause, the rule is Subject + sentence adverb (like inte) + Verb. Here, the subject hon comes right after att, followed directly by the verb känner because there is no "inte" (not) in this sentence. Because there is no adverb, the word order ends up looking exactly like a normal main clause.
Why do we use känner for "knows" instead of vet?
Swedish uses different words for "know". You use känner when talking about knowing or being familiar with a person. You use vet when you know a fact or a piece of information. Since she denies knowing a person (mannen), känner is the right choice here.
Why are kvinnan and mannen written with these endings?
These are the definite forms, meaning "the woman" and "the man". In Swedish, the word for "the" is attached to the end of the noun. Since kvinna and man are both "en" words, they take the endings -n and -en to become kvinnan and mannen.
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