Breakdown of Medan degen vilar, kan man städa köket.
städa
to clean
vila
to rest
kunna
to be able to, can
man
one, you (people in general)
köket
the kitchen
medan
while
degen
the dough
Questions & Answers about Medan degen vilar, kan man städa köket.
Why is the word order kan man instead of man kan in the second half?
This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire first part of the sentence, Medan degen vilar (While the dough rests), acts as the first block of information. Because the verb must come second in a main clause, the verb kan comes immediately after the comma, pushing the subject man to the third position.
Why doesn't the first part, Medan degen vilar, have inverted word order too?
Medan degen vilar is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause starting with a word like 'while' that cannot stand alone). Subordinate clauses usually follow a strict Subject-Verb order, so the subject degen comes before the verb vilar.
What does man mean in this context?
man is a very common generic pronoun in Swedish. It translates to 'one' or the general 'you' in English. It is used when talking about things that apply to people in general, like 'you can clean the kitchen' or 'one can clean the kitchen'.
Why is the verb städa not in the present tense?
städa is in the infinitive form (the dictionary form) because it follows the modal verb kan (can). Just like in English ('can clean', not 'can cleans'), modal verbs in Swedish are followed by an infinitive verb without att (to).
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