Breakdown of Vi vet att hon har varit arbetslös hittills i år.
vara
to be
hon
she
vi
we
i
in
ha
to have
veta
to know (facts, information)
året
the year
att
that
hittills
so far
arbetslös
unemployed
Questions & Answers about Vi vet att hon har varit arbetslös hittills i år.
Why do we use the present perfect (har varit) here instead of the simple past (var)?
The time expression hittills i år (so far this year) is the key. We use the present perfect because the time period (this year) is not finished yet, and the situation (being unemployed) started in the past but is still relevant right now. If the sentence was about a finished time period, like förra året (last year), we would use the simple past: hon var arbetslös förra året.
If we wanted to say "she has not been unemployed", where would inte go in this sentence?
It would go before the verb har: Vi vet att hon inte har varit arbetslös. The word att (that) introduces a subordinate clause. As a B1 reminder, in Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like inte or alltid (always) must be placed before the first verb.
How is the word arbetslös formed?
It is a compound built from arbete (work or job) and the suffix -lös (which means "-less" or "without"). Notice the connecting -s- added in the middle: arbetslös. It literally means "workless".
Why is "this year" translated as i år?
In Swedish, the preposition i is used with specific time words to indicate the current, ongoing period you are in right now. Just like i dag means "today" (this day) and i kväll means "this evening", i år is the standard way to say "this year".
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