Learn Swedish: Skatterna blev undersökta av forskarna. - The treasures were examined by the researchers.

Skatterna blev undersökta av forskarna.

The treasures were examined by the researchers.

Breakdown of Skatterna blev undersökta av forskarna.

bli

to become

of, by / from (cause)

Questions & Answers about Skatterna blev undersökta av forskarna.

Why does the word for examined end in -a here (undersökta)?

In a passive sentence using bli (like blev here), the past participle acts just like an adjective. Because the subject, Skatterna (The treasures), is plural, the past participle must take the plural -a ending to match it.

Could I say Skatterna undersöktes instead of using blev?

Yes, you can! Swedish has two common ways to form the passive. The s-passive (undersöktes) focuses slightly more on the ongoing action itself, while the bli passive (blev undersökta) puts a bit more focus on the result or transition. Both mean 'were examined' and are often perfectly interchangeable.

I thought en skatt meant 'a tax'. Why is it translated as 'treasures' here?

The Swedish word en skatt is a homonym that means both 'a tax' and 'a treasure'. You have to rely on context to tell them apart. Since these are being examined by forskarna (the researchers), 'treasures' is the most logical translation here.

Why do we use av for 'by' in this sentence?

When writing a passive sentence, the person or group actually doing the action (the agent) is introduced by the preposition av. It works exactly like 'by' in English passive sentences.