Breakdown of I fjol arbetade han som projektledare.
han
he
fjol
last year (used in 'i fjol')
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
arbeta
to work (more formal than jobba)
Questions & Answers about I fjol arbetade han som projektledare.
Why do we use the simple past (arbetade) here instead of the present perfect (har arbetat)?
The time expression i fjol (last year) refers to a completely finished time period. In Swedish, just like in English, you must use the simple past (preteritum) when the time frame is already over. If you wanted to use the present perfect, you would need an unfinished time frame, like i år (this year).
Why is the word order arbetade han instead of han arbetade?
This is a great example of the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule. Because you started the sentence with the time phrase i fjol, the verb (arbetade) must take the second position in the sentence. This pushes the subject (han) right after it.
Are i fjol and förra året the exact same thing?
Yes! Both mean "last year" and you can use them interchangeably. Förra året literally means "the previous year," while i fjol is a fixed expression that means the exact same thing and is very common in everyday speech.
Why is there no article like en before projektledare?
When you talk about someone's profession, nationality, or beliefs in Swedish, you usually drop the indefinite article (en or ett). After phrases like arbetar som (works as) or är (is), you just state the noun directly without "a" or "an".