Breakdown of Man borde vara tyst under lektionen.
vara
to be
lektionen
the lesson
man
one, you (people in general)
tyst
quiet
under
under
böra
should, ought to
Questions & Answers about Man borde vara tyst under lektionen.
Why is it just vara and not att vara here?
Borde (should) is a modal verb. When giving advice with modal verbs in Swedish, you follow them with the bare infinitive of the next verb, which means you drop the att (to). So it is borde vara (should be), similar to how we drop "to" after "should" in English.
Why use man instead of du if the English translation can mean "you should be quiet"?
Man is an indefinite pronoun that means "one" or "people in general". While English speakers often say "you" when talking about general rules, Swedish prefers man when the advice or rule isn't directed at one specific person.
Does the adjective tyst take a special ending because of man?
No, it stays in its basic form, but that is an important rule to remember! The general pronoun man is treated grammatically as a common gender singular word (an en-word). Therefore, adjectives describing it do not get an extra -t or -a ending.
Doesn't under mean "under" or "beneath"?
Yes, when talking about physical location, under means "under" or "below". However, when you use it with an event or a period of time, like lektionen (the lesson), it means "during".
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