Breakdown of Bestämde de exakt var de ska gömma glasögonen?
de
they
var
where
ska
will
glasögonen
the glasses
exakt
exactly
gömma
to hide
bestämma
to decide
Questions & Answers about Bestämde de exakt var de ska gömma glasögonen?
In the second part, "var de ska gömma glasögonen", is the word order different from a normal question?
Yes! A direct question would be Var ska de gömma glasögonen? (Question word + Verb + Subject). But here, the question is embedded inside another sentence, making it an indirect question (a subordinate clause). In subordinate clauses, the subject comes before the verb, so the order becomes var de ska... (Question word + Subject + Verb).
Why do we use var (where) instead of vart (to where), since they have to move the glasses to hide them?
In Swedish, var is about a fixed location, while vart is about a destination or movement towards something. Even though hiding involves putting something somewhere, the focus of the verb gömma (to hide) is the location where the item will secretly stay. Therefore, you use var.
Why does the sentence use the past tense bestämde (decided) but then switch to the future ska gömma (will hide)?
The main action—the deciding—already happened, so bestämde is in the past tense. However, the indirect question describes what they made a decision about: a plan for the future. Just like in English, you can easily mix tenses when talking about a past decision regarding a future event.
How do we get the ending -en on the word glasögonen?
Glasögon (glasses) is a compound word made of glas (glass) and ögon (eyes). The word ett öga (an eye) is an irregular "ett"-word with the plural ögon (eyes). To make it definite ("the glasses"), you add the definite plural ending -en, giving us glasögonen.
Just a quick refresher: how should I pronounce de in this sentence?
Even though it is spelled de, it is almost always pronounced dom in everyday spoken Swedish. You will hear dom twice in this sentence!
Learn Bestämde de exakt var de ska gömma glasögonen 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