Breakdown of Vi pratade med polisen medan vi väntade.
vi
we
prata
to speak
polisen
the police officer
vänta
to wait / to expect (a baby)
Questions & Answers about Vi pratade med polisen medan vi väntade.
What does medan do in this sentence?
Medan means "while". It is a subordinating conjunction, which is a word that links a secondary phrase (a subordinate clause) to the main sentence. Here, it connects the two actions that are happening at the exact same time: talking and waiting.
What happens to the word order if we start the sentence with medan vi väntade?
If you put the "while" part first, that whole phrase counts as the first block of information. Because of the Swedish V2 rule (the verb must come second), the main verb pratade has to come right after the comma. It becomes: Medan vi väntade, pratade vi med polisen.
Are pratade and väntade regular past tense verbs?
Yes! They both belong to the most common group of Swedish verbs. These verbs form their past tense by adding -ade to the stem. Since the sentence is about something happening in the past, both actions must be in the past tense.
Why is it polisen with an -en at the end?
Polisen is the definite form, meaning "the police". Just like in English, you say you talked to "the police", not just "police". In Swedish, you make it definite by attaching the article to the end of the noun (en polis becomes polisen).