Questions & Answers about Vi hade plockat undan skräpet i garaget.
Since plocka undan is a particle verb, which word gets the stress when I say this sentence?
In Swedish particle verbs, the stress always falls on the particle, not the verb! So you should emphasize undan, making it sound like "plockat UNDAN".
Could I put undan after the object, like "Vi hade plockat skräpet undan"?
No, in Swedish the particle generally has to stay right next to the verb. While English lets you say "cleared the trash away", Swedish keeps the verb and particle glued together as plockat undan skräpet.
Why is it plockat here instead of the past tense plockade?
Because it follows the helping verb hade (had). Just like in English, you use the supine form of the verb (which ends in -t for most regular verbs) after "have" or "had". So it is hade plockat (had cleared).
Do skräpet and garaget end the same way for a specific reason?
Yes! They are both "ett" words in their definite form, which means they translate to "the" something. Ett skräp (trash) becomes skräpet (the trash), and ett garage (a garage) becomes garaget (the garage).