Breakdown of Får du barnen att städa rummet?
barnet
the child
du
you (singular)
städa
to clean
rummet
the room
att
to
få
to make (someone do something)
Questions & Answers about Får du barnen att städa rummet?
I thought we were learning to use bare infinitives. Why is there an att before städa here?
The rule depends on the verb. While låta (to let) takes a bare infinitive, the verb få (to make or get someone to do something) requires the marker att before the action verb. Think of it like the English 'get the children TO clean'.
Could we use gör instead of får to mean 'make' here?
No, and this is a common trap for English speakers! In Swedish, you cannot use göra (to do or make) to mean causing someone to do an action. You must use få (to get or cause) or tvinga (to force).
Does får mean you are strictly forcing them to clean?
Not necessarily. In this context, få någon att göra något usually translates best as 'getting someone to do something'. It implies that you manage to convince, prompt, or instruct them to do it, rather than physically forcing them.
Why are barnen and rummet used instead of barn and rum?
Both are in their definite forms here. Barnen means 'the children' (plural definite) and rummet means 'the room' (singular definite). If you just used barn and rum, you would be asking if the person makes general children clean abstract rooms.
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