Breakdown of Idag känns övningen mycket svår.
mycket
much / very
idag
today
svår
difficult
kännas
to feel (to have a certain feel, to seem)
övningen
the exercise
Questions & Answers about Idag känns övningen mycket svår.
Why does the verb känns end in an '-s'?
Känns belongs to a group of verbs ending in -s that have an active meaning instead of a passive one. The regular verb känner means that a person actively feels something. Adding the -s creates känns, which is used to describe the impression an object gives off (like this exercise feeling difficult).
Can I use känns to say how I am feeling, like 'I feel happy'?
No, you use känner (specifically the reflexive känner mig) for your own internal emotions or physical feelings, like jag känner mig glad (I feel happy). You use känns only to describe how an outside object, event, or situation feels to you.
Why is the word order känns övningen instead of övningen känns?
This is a great reminder of the Swedish V2 rule. The verb must be the second piece of information in the sentence. Because we start with the time word Idag (Today), the verb känns has to come right after it. This pushes the subject, övningen (the exercise), into the third position.
Why is the adjective svår (difficult) not written as svårt here?
Adjectives in Swedish must match the noun they describe. Because övning is an en-word in the singular (övningen), the adjective takes its basic form, svår. If the subject were an ett-word, like provet (the test), it would be provet känns mycket svårt.
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