Breakdown of Jag undrade när det skulle åska, och sedan såg jag blixten.
jag
I
och
and
se
to see
sedan
then
när
when
undra
to wonder
det
there (dummy subject)
skulle
would
åska
to thunderstorm
blixten
the lightning
Questions & Answers about Jag undrade när det skulle åska, och sedan såg jag blixten.
How does skulle åska work in this sentence to mean 'was going to thunder'?
The word skulle is the past tense of ska (will / am going to). When you combine skulle with a verb in its bare infinitive form (here, åska), it creates the 'future in the past'. It describes an action that was in the future from the perspective of the past, just like 'was going to' or 'would' in English.
I thought åska was a noun meaning 'thunder'. Why is it used after skulle?
Åska is actually both a noun (the thunder) and a verb (to thunder). Because skulle is a helping verb, it must always be followed by the bare infinitive form of a verb. So here, åska is acting as the verb 'to thunder'.
Why is the word order såg jag instead of jag såg in the second half?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The word och (and) connects two main clauses. In the second clause, the adverb sedan (then) takes up the first position. To keep the verb in the second position, the verb såg must come right after sedan, pushing the subject jag to the third position.
Is there a trick to remembering the difference between åska and blixt?
Yes! Åska is the rumbling sound (thunder), while blixt is the visual flash (lightning). You can see this clearly in the sentence: the speaker wonders about the sound (åska) but physically sees the flash of lightning (blixten).
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