Learn Swedish: Konstnären som målade porträttet pratade under visningen. - The artist who painted the portrait spoke during the tour.

Konstnären som målade porträttet pratade under visningen.

The artist who painted the portrait spoke during the tour.

Breakdown of Konstnären som målade porträttet pratade under visningen.

who / which / that (relative pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Konstnären som målade porträttet pratade under visningen.

Why does under mean "during" here instead of "underneath"?

The preposition under is used for both space and time in Swedish. When followed by a physical object, it means "underneath" or "below". When followed by an event or a period of time, like visningen in this sentence, it functions as a temporal preposition and translates to "during".

How does the V2 (verb-second) rule work here if the main verb pratade is the fifth word?

In Swedish, the V2 rule dictates that the verb must be the second grammatical block in a main clause, not necessarily the second word. Here, the entire subject phrase Konstnären som målade porträttet acts as one single block. Therefore, the verb pratade correctly takes the second position.

Is som the only way to say "who" when connecting these phrases?

Yes, som is the standard relative pronoun in Swedish used to link clauses. While English switches between "who" for people and "which" or "that" for things, Swedish simply uses som for all of them. You cannot use the question word vem here.

Does visningen always mean "the tour"?

The base word en visning comes from the verb visa, which means "to show". It literally translates to "a showing" or "a viewing". In an art gallery, real estate, or museum context, it is the standard word for a guided tour or a viewing.