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Var skulle picknicken ursprungligen vara?

Var skulle picknicken ursprungligen vara?
Where was the picnic originally going to be?
From Lesson 178:Future in the past (skulle)·Swedish

Breakdown of Var skulle picknicken ursprungligen vara?

vara
to be
var
where
skulle
would
ursprungligen
originally
picknicken
the picnic

Questions & Answers about Var skulle picknicken ursprungligen vara?

How does skulle mean "was going to" here?
In Swedish, to express the "future in the past" (that something was going to happen), you use the past tense of ska, which is skulle, followed by a bare infinitive. Here, skulle ... vara means "was going to be". You never use a literal translation of the English word "going" for this grammar structure.
Why is the adverb ursprungligen placed between the subject and the second verb?
This follows the standard Swedish word order for questions with two verbs. The question word (Var) comes first, followed by the auxiliary verb (skulle), and then the subject (picknicken). Sentence adverbs like ursprungligen (originally) are placed immediately after the subject and before the main verb (vara).
How is the adverb ursprungligen formed?
It starts with the noun ursprung (origin). Adding -lig makes the adjective ursprunglig (original). Finally, adding the suffix -en turns the adjective into the adverb ursprungligen (originally), which functions very much like the "-ly" ending in English.
Is picknicken just an English loanword with a Swedish ending?
Exactly! Picknick is an established loanword that acts as a standard en-word in Swedish. To say "the picnic", you simply add the definite suffix -en to get picknicken.

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