Breakdown of Vasen som de letar efter i antikaffären är dyr.
vara
to be
de
they
i
in
dyr
expensive
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
vasen
the vase
leta efter
to look for (physical items, everyday)
antikaffären
the antique shop
Questions & Answers about Vasen som de letar efter i antikaffären är dyr.
Can I leave out som in this sentence, just like we can drop 'that' in English?
Yes! Because som is the object of the relative clause (they are looking for the vase, not the vase looking for them), you can safely drop it. Saying Vasen de letar efter i antikaffären är dyr is completely natural in Swedish, just like 'The vase they are looking for...' is in English.
Why is the preposition efter placed after the verb instead of before som?
In Swedish, when a relative clause uses a preposition (like looking for), the preposition stays with the verb phrase. You cannot put it before the relative pronoun (you can never say efter som). This is called preposition stranding, and it is the required way to build these sentences in Swedish.
Why do we need efter here? Can't we just use letar?
The verb letar just means 'searching' or 'looking' in a general sense. To say that you are looking for a specific object, you must use the phrasal verb letar efter. Without efter, the sentence would be missing the 'for' part of 'looking for'.
Why does the sentence end with dyr instead of dyrt?
Dyr (expensive) is describing vasen (the vase). Even though vasen is separated from the adjective by a long clause, the adjective still has to match it. Because the base word is en vas (an en-word), the adjective takes the basic form dyr. If they were looking for an ett-word, like ett skåp (a cabinet), it would be dyrt.
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