Breakdown of Du tog nog ryggsäcken som jag letade efter.
jag
I
du
you (singular)
ta
to take
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
leta efter
to look for (physical items, everyday)
nog
probably
ryggsäcken
the backpack
Questions & Answers about Du tog nog ryggsäcken som jag letade efter.
I thought nog meant "enough". Why does the translation say "probably"?
You are right that nog often means "enough" (like in jag har fått nog - I've had enough). But when it is used as a modal particle, like in this sentence, it means "probably", "I suppose", or "I think". It shows that the speaker is making a very likely guess.
In English, we can just say "the backpack I was looking for". Can I drop som here and say ryggsäcken jag letade efter?
Yes, you can! Just like in English, when som ("that") is the object of the phrase, you can leave it out in everyday Swedish. Du tog nog ryggsäcken jag letade efter is perfectly fine and sounds very natural.
Does letade efter mean "looked after"?
No, this is a common trap for English speakers! Leta efter means "to look for" or "to search for". If you want to say "look after" (like taking care of something), you would use a phrase like ta hand om.
The English translation says "was looking for", but isn't letade just the regular past tense?
Yes, letade is the regular past tense of letar. Swedish does not have a separate continuous tense (like "was looking" or "am looking") built into its verbs. The simple past tense letade covers both "looked" and "was looking", and you just tell which one it is from the context.
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