Breakdown of Bron förstördes först, men den renoverades senare.
den
it (common)
först
first
senare
later
men
but
bron
the bridge
renovera
to renovate
förstöra
to destroy
Questions & Answers about Bron förstördes först, men den renoverades senare.
Why does one passive verb end in -des (förstördes) and the other in -ades (renoverades)?
It depends on the verb group. Renovera belongs to Group 1, where the active past tense ends in -ade (renoverade). To make it passive, you simply add an -s, giving you renoverades. Förstöra belongs to Group 2, where the active past tense ends in -de (förstörde). Adding an -s to that gives you förstördes.
Why use den for "it" here instead of det?
The pronoun has to match the gender of the noun it replaces. Since "bridge" is an en-word (en bro, bron), you must use den to say "it". If the noun had been an ett-word like ett hus (a house), you would have used det.
Why is "first" translated as först instead of första?
Första is an adjective used to describe a noun, like in the phrase den första bron (the first bridge). In this sentence, "first" is being used as a time adverb telling us the sequence of events. When using "first" as an adverb, you always use först.
Why doesn't the word order invert after men? Doesn't the V2 rule apply?
Men is a coordinating conjunction, which means it glues two independent clauses together without acting as the "first position" in the new clause. Because of this, it doesn't trigger the V2 inversion rule. The new clause starts fresh with the subject den in the first position, followed normally by the verb renoverades in the second position.
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