Word
De har inte godkänt undantaget.
Meaning
They have not approved the exception.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about De har inte godkänt undantaget.
Why does inte go between har and godkänt?
In a standard Swedish main clause, the word inte usually comes directly after the first verb. Since har is the first verb (the auxiliary verb), inte steps in right after it, pushing the main verb godkänt further back. The rule is: Subject + Auxiliary Verb + inte + Main Verb + Object.
Why does the verb godkänt end in a "t"?
This is the supine form of the verb godkänna (to approve). In Swedish, whenever you use har (have) or hade (had) to talk about the past, the main verb that follows must be in the supine form, which almost always ends in a "t".
Why is it undantaget instead of just undantag?
The English sentence says "the exception", so we need the definite form. Undantag is an ett word, meaning "an exception" is ett undantag. To make an ett word definite, you add -et to the end, making it undantaget.
The word godkänt looks like two words put together. Is it?
Yes! It comes from god (good) and känna (to feel or know). Put together as godkänna, it literally means to deem something good, which translates to "approve".