Breakdown of Det får inte vara förbjudet.
vara
to be
det
it (neuter)
inte
not
få
to be allowed to, may
förbjuden
forbidden
Questions & Answers about Det får inte vara förbjudet.
Why does inte go between får and vara?
In a standard Swedish main clause with an auxiliary verb like får and a main verb like vara, the negation inte is placed right after the first verb. The second verb comes after the negation.
Doesn't får usually mean "may" or "is allowed to"? Why is it translated as "must not"?
Yes, får usually means "may" or "is allowed to". When you add inte, it literally means "is not allowed to". In English, we usually say "must not" to express this strong rule. Be careful not to use måste inte here, because that actually means "don't have to", not "must not".
Why do we use the infinitive vara instead of är here?
Because it follows the auxiliary verb får. Just like in English where we say "must not be" instead of "must not is", Swedish uses the infinitive base form of the verb after an auxiliary.
Why does förbjudet end in a "t"?
The word förbjudet is an adjective describing the subject det. Since det is a neuter word, the adjective takes the neuter -t ending instead of its basic form förbjuden.
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