Breakdown of Trollstaven ligger under duken, men publiken rör den inte.
den
it (common)
inte
not
men
but
publiken
the audience
röra
to touch
under
under
ligga
to lie (be in a horizontal position) / to be located, be situated
trollstaven
the magic wand
duken
the cloth
Questions & Answers about Trollstaven ligger under duken, men publiken rör den inte.
Why is the word order rör den inte instead of rör inte den?
This is a rule called object pronoun shift. In a simple main clause, if the object is an unstressed pronoun like den, it usually jumps ahead of inte. If it were a regular noun, like trollstaven, it would stay after inte: publiken rör inte trollstaven.
Why do we use den for 'it' in this sentence?
The pronoun den refers back to trollstaven (the magic wand). Since trollstav is an en-word, we must use den to say 'it'. If the object were an ett-word, we would use det.
The verb rör means 'touch' here. Doesn't it also mean 'move'?
Yes, the root verb can mean both! However, rör by itself typically means 'touch', just like in this sentence. To say 'move', Swedes often add the particle på, as in rör på den (move it).
How is the word trollstaven formed?
It is a compound word made of troll (magic) and staven (the wand or stick). In Swedish compound words, the gender always comes from the final word. Because en stav is an en-word, trollstav is also an en-word.
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