Breakdown of Du låter kompisen sköta hunden.
du
you (singular)
hunden
the dog
låta
to let, allow
kompisen
the buddy
sköta
to handle
Questions & Answers about Du låter kompisen sköta hunden.
Why is there no att before sköta?
Just like in English where we say "let the friend take" instead of "let the friend to take", Swedish uses the bare infinitive after causative verbs like låta (let) and få (make). You simply use sköta without an att.
I thought låter meant "sounds". Does it have two meanings?
Yes, låta means both "to sound" and "to let" or "allow". You can usually tell which one it is from the context. Because it is followed by an object (kompisen) and another verb (sköta), it acts as a causative verb meaning "let" in this sentence.
Could I use ta hand om instead of sköta to mean "take care of"?
Absolutely. Ta hand om and sköta are very often interchangeable when talking about caring for animals, people, or things. Saying Du låter kompisen ta hand om hunden would mean exactly the same thing.
Why does the Swedish sentence say kompisen and hunden (the friend, the dog) instead of "your friend" and "your dog"?
Swedish frequently uses definite forms (kompisen, hunden) where English uses possessives like "your" if the context makes it obvious whose friend or dog it is. Using din kompis and din hund is also correct, but just using the definite forms sounds very natural in Swedish.
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