Breakdown of Vi applåderar, men magikern hör oss inte.
vi
we
inte
not
höra
to hear
oss
us
men
but
magikern
the magician
applådera
to applaud
Questions & Answers about Vi applåderar, men magikern hör oss inte.
Why is the order hör oss inte instead of hör inte oss?
This is the main point of this lesson! In Swedish main clauses, when you have an unstressed object pronoun like oss (us), it shifts in front of the negation inte. So instead of Subject-Verb-inte-Object (which is the normal rule for regular nouns), the order becomes Subject-Verb-Object-inte.
Why is the definite form magikern instead of magikeren?
The word magiker (magician) is an en word that already ends in -er. For these words, you just add an -n to make it definite (the magician) rather than adding the full -en ending. This avoids a clumsy extra syllable and makes it much easier to pronounce.
Does the word men trigger a different word order in the second half of the sentence?
No, men (but) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it simply links two independent main clauses together without affecting their internal word order. The second clause (magikern hör oss inte) just follows normal main clause rules, keeping the verb in the second position right after the subject.
Why does the verb hör not have a typical present tense ending like -ar or -er?
The infinitive of the verb is höra (to hear). Usually, present tense verbs get an -r or -er ending. However, because the root of this verb already ends in an r (hör-), Swedish drops the extra present tense ending to avoid a clunky double r sound. You will also see this rule apply to verbs like kör (drive) and lär (learn).
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