Breakdown of Om vinsten var verklig, skulle situationen inte vara omöjlig.
vara
to be
inte
not
om
if, whether
situationen
the situation
Questions & Answers about Om vinsten var verklig, skulle situationen inte vara omöjlig.
Why does the sentence use var (was) when talking about a present situation?
This is the unreal present conditional. To talk about a hypothetical or imaginary situation in the present, Swedish uses om (if) followed by the past tense (preteritum). This is very similar to English using the past tense to say 'if the win were real'.
Why does skulle come before situationen in the second half?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire if-clause (Om vinsten var verklig) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. Therefore, the first verb of the main clause (skulle) must take the second position, pushing the subject (situationen) to the third position.
Why is inte placed after situationen instead of right after the verb?
Why do we use verklig and omöjlig instead of verkligt and omöjligt?