Breakdown of Flera sökande får stipendiet fastän de inte har bra betyg.
de
they
inte
not
bra
good / well
ha
to have
flera
several
fastän
even though
få
to get, receive
betyget
the grade
stipendiet
the scholarship
sökanden
the applicant
Questions & Answers about Flera sökande får stipendiet fastän de inte har bra betyg.
Why is it sökande and not something like "sökander" for the plural "applicants"?
Sökande is a noun formed from the present participle of the verb att söka (to seek/apply). When words ending in -ande or -ende are used as nouns to describe people, they belong to noun group 5. This means they have a "zero plural" and do not change form in the indefinite plural. So, en sökande (an applicant) stays exactly the same as flera sökande (several applicants).
Why does inte come before the verb har in the second part of the sentence?
This happens because fastän (even though) introduces a subordinate clause. In Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like inte must be placed before the finite (conjugated) verb. This is often taught to learners as the BIFF rule. If it were a main clause on its own, it would follow the usual order: de har inte bra betyg.
What is the base form of stipendiet and why does it look like that?
The base form is ett stipendium (a scholarship). For neuter (ett) nouns borrowed from Latin that end in -ium, you drop the -um before adding the definite suffix -et. This is why stipendium becomes stipendiet, just like museum becomes museet.
Does the adjective bra change form to match the plural noun betyg?
No, bra is a special exception among adjectives because it is indeclinable, meaning it never adds an -a or -t and stays the same regardless of gender or number. As a bonus reminder, betyg (grade) is an ett word ending in a consonant, which is why its plural form also doesn't change (ett betyg, flera betyg).
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