Breakdown of Han sa att rutan inte blev krossad.
han
he
inte
not
säga
to say
bli
to become
att
that
krossad
smashed
rutan
the pane
Questions & Answers about Han sa att rutan inte blev krossad.
Why does inte come before blev in this sentence?
Because att rutan inte blev krossad is a subordinate clause (a clause starting with att). In Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like inte must be placed before the first verb. This is often remembered by the acronym BIFF (Bisats, Inte Före Finita verbet).
Why is blev used here for 'was' instead of var?
Using blev (the past tense of bli, meaning 'to become') creates the passive voice. It focuses on the actual event or action of the pane being smashed. If the sentence used var instead, like Han sa att rutan inte var krossad, it would simply describe the physical state of the glass, meaning 'He said that the pane was not in a broken state.'
Why does the word krossad end in -ad?
krossad is a past participle, which is a verb form used like an adjective. Just like a regular adjective, it has to agree with the noun it describes. Because rutan (the pane) is a singular en-word, the participle gets the standard -ad ending. If the noun were an ett-word like fönstret (the window), it would be krossat.
What is the difference between rutan and fönstret?
While both can sometimes be translated as 'the window' in everyday English, rutan refers specifically to the pane of glass itself. fönstret refers to the entire window, including the frame. Since the sentence is about something being smashed, rutan is the most natural and precise word to use.
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