Breakdown of Tror du att vegetarianen kanske undviker osten därför att den faktiskt innehåller laktos?
du
you (singular)
den
it (common)
tro
to believe
därför att
because
kanske
maybe / perhaps
att
that
osten
the cheese
undvika
to avoid
faktiskt
actually (as a matter of fact, in fact)
laktos
lactose
innehålla
to contain
vegetarianen
the vegetarian
Questions & Answers about Tror du att vegetarianen kanske undviker osten därför att den faktiskt innehåller laktos?
Why is kanske placed before the verb undviker? Shouldn't the verb come second?
This is because att vegetarianen kanske undviker osten is a subordinate clause (a sentence connected to the main sentence). In main clauses, the verb is usually the second idea. But in subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like kanske (maybe) step in before the verb. This follows the BIFF rule: in a Bisats (subordinate clause), Inte (and other sentence adverbs) comes Före (before) the Finite verb.
Does the BIFF rule also apply to faktiskt later in the sentence?
Yes! The phrase starting with därför att is another subordinate clause. Because of the same BIFF rule, the sentence adverb faktiskt (actually) must be placed right before the verb innehåller (contains).
Why is the word den used instead of det for "it" here?
The word den refers back to osten (the cheese). Since ost is an en-word (en ost), you must use den to say "it". If the sentence was about an ett-word like ett äpple (an apple), you would use det instead.
Why use därför att instead of just för att?
Both can mean "because" in everyday Swedish. However, därför att specifically answers the question "why?" and gives a direct reason. för att is also used to express a purpose, meaning "in order to". Using därför att here makes it perfectly clear that lactose is the reason for avoiding the cheese.
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