Breakdown of Bilen som vi tittar på är redan såld.
vara
to be
vi
we
bilen
the car
titta på
to look at
redan
already
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
såld
sold
Questions & Answers about Bilen som vi tittar på är redan såld.
Why is the word for "sold" spelled såld here instead of sålt or sålda?
In this sentence, the past participle såld is acting as an adjective describing Bilen (the car). Because en bil is an en-word and there is only one of them (singular), we use the en-word form of the participle. If we were talking about an ett-word like huset (the house), it would be sålt, and if it were plural like bilarna (the cars), it would be sålda.
How do I know whether to use som or att for the word "that"?
Use som when "that" refers back to a noun to describe it, acting similarly to "which" or "who" in English. Here, som refers back to Bilen. You use att when "that" introduces a completely new statement or fact, like in Jag vet att bilen är såld (I know that the car is sold).
Is it grammatically correct to leave the preposition på hanging at the end of the clause som vi tittar på?
Yes, it is! Just like in English ("that we are looking at"), it is perfectly natural in Swedish to leave a preposition at the end of a relative clause. The verb phrase here is tittar på (look at), and since the object is represented by som at the beginning of the clause, på stays exactly where it is.
Why is there no word for "are" in the phrase vi tittar på (we are looking at)?
Swedish doesn't have a separate "is/are doing" form (the present continuous) like English does. The simple present tense tittar covers both "look" and "are looking". Trying to translate the English literally by adding är before tittar would be grammatically incorrect in Swedish.
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