Breakdown of Läkaren har inte tappat tålamodet på en vecka.
en
a, an (common)
inte
not
ha
to have
veckan
the week
tappa
to drop / to lose
läkaren
the doctor
på
in/within (a period of time)
tålamodet
the patience
Questions & Answers about Läkaren har inte tappat tålamodet på en vecka.
Why do we use på instead of i for the duration here?
This is the core rule for negative duration! When something has not happened for a certain amount of time, Swedish uses på. If the sentence were positive (like 'He studied for a week'), you would use i. Because of the negative word inte, we must say på en vecka.
The translation says 'his patience', but the Swedish says tålamodet (the patience). Why?
In English, we use possessive words (my, his, her) for personal traits and body parts. Swedish often prefers using the definite form (adding -et or -en) when it is already obvious who it belongs to. So 'his patience' simply becomes tålamodet (the patience).
Literally, what does the verb tappat mean?
The verb tappa (here in its past participle form tappat) means to drop or lose something physically, like dropping a pen or losing your keys. Just like in English, it is used figuratively in the expression tappa tålamodet to mean losing your patience.
What is the rule for placing inte in this sentence?
In a standard main sentence, the word inte (not) comes immediately after the first verb. Here, the first verb is the helper verb har, so inte steps right in between har and the second verb tappat.
Learn Läkaren har inte tappat tålamodet på en vecka and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free