Questions & Answers about Han säger att hon är gravid.
Do I always have to use att when reporting what someone says?
att translates to "that" and connects the main sentence to the reported speech. Just like in English ("He says she is pregnant"), it is very common to drop att in casual spoken Swedish, making it Han säger hon är gravid. However, it is best to include it when writing.
How do pronouns work in indirect speech compared to direct quotes here?
When changing a direct quote to indirect speech, pronouns often shift to match the new perspective. Here, if the original quote was "She is pregnant" (Hon är gravid), the pronoun stays as hon because it refers to a third person. But if the direct quote was "I am pregnant" (Jag är gravid), the indirect speech would shift the pronoun: Han säger att han är gravid (He says that he is pregnant).
What happens to the second verb (är) if we change the first verb to the past tense?
Swedish usually matches tenses in indirect speech, just like English. If you change säger (says) to the past tense sa (said), the second verb typically shifts to the past tense too: Han sa att hon var gravid (He said that she was pregnant).
Why is gravid in its base form, without a -t or -a at the end?
Adjectives in Swedish must agree with the gender and number of the noun or pronoun they describe. Because hon (she) refers to a single person (which takes the en-word form), you use the base form gravid. If the sentence were about multiple people, the adjective would take the plural ending: De är gravida.
Learn Han säger att hon är gravid 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