Breakdown of Den där vågen är farlig, därför seglar vi i söder.
vara
to be
vi
we
i
in
den där
that (en)
farlig
dangerous
därför
therefore
segla
to sail
vågen
the wave
söder
south
Questions & Answers about Den där vågen är farlig, därför seglar vi i söder.
Why is the word order seglar vi instead of vi seglar after därför?
The word därför (therefore) takes the very first position in the second half of the sentence. Because Swedish strictly follows the V2 rule, meaning the main verb must come in the second position, the verb seglar must come right after därför. This forces the subject vi to slide into the third spot.
Why is the noun in the definite form (vågen) when the English translation is just "that wave"?
In Swedish, the pointing words den här (this) and den där (that) must always be followed by the definite form of the noun. Since en våg (a wave) becomes vågen (the wave), you literally say "that there the-wave" to get den där vågen.
If the sentence uses den där, shouldn't the adjective end in "-a" like farliga?
You only add the "-a" to the adjective when it sits directly between the pointing word and the noun, like in the phrase den där farliga vågen (that dangerous wave). In our sentence, the adjective comes after the verb är (is). When placed after the verb, the adjective just matches the noun's gender. Since en våg is an "en" word, we use the base form farlig.
Why do we use the preposition i in the phrase i söder?
When talking about general geographic directions or regions, compass words like söder (south) and norr (north) usually take the preposition i. So i söder simply means "in the south".
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