Breakdown of Hunden vars ägare sover skäller.
hunden
the dog
sova
to sleep
vars
whose
ägaren
the owner
skälla
bark
Questions & Answers about Hunden vars ägare sover skäller.
How does vars work here, and does it need to change to agree with hunden?
Why is the word for owner in the indefinite form (ägare) instead of the definite form (ägaren)?
Because vars acts as a possessive word (showing ownership), it follows the same rule as words like min (my) or hans (his). The noun that comes immediately after a possessive word must drop its definite article and be in the indefinite form.
It feels weird to have two verbs right next to each other (sover skäller). Is this correct?
Yes, it is! This happens because a relative clause (vars ägare sover) is interrupting the main sentence. The first verb, sover, belongs to the owner in the relative clause. The second verb, skäller, is the action of the dog in the main sentence. If you remove the 'whose' part, you can see the main sentence clearly: Hunden skäller (The dog is barking).
Do we need commas around vars ägare sover to separate the two verbs?
No. Swedish uses commas much less frequently than English to separate clauses. Even when two verbs end up next to each other like this, you usually do not use a comma unless the sentence is exceptionally long or complex.
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