Breakdown of När larmet går måste vi lämna byggnaden.
vi
we
gå
to go, to walk
måste
to have to, must
när
when
byggnaden
the building
lämna
to leave
larmet
the alarm
Questions & Answers about När larmet går måste vi lämna byggnaden.
Why is it måste vi instead of vi måste?
Because of the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause När larmet går (When the alarm goes off) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. That means the main verb måste must take the second position, pushing the subject vi after the verb.
Why does the sentence use går for an alarm?
While går usually means walks or goes, Swedish uses the set phrase larmet går to mean the alarm sounds or the alarm goes off. Notice that unlike English, Swedish doesn't need an extra word like off here.
Could I use då instead of när to say when in this sentence?
In this context, you must use när. När is a conjunction that links two events together (When X happens, Y happens). Då is usually an adverb meaning then, used to refer back to a specific point in time, so it wouldn't work to connect these two clauses.
How does the word byggnaden get its form?
The base word is en byggnad (a building). To say the building, Swedish attaches the definite article to the end of the word, turning it into byggnaden.
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