Breakdown of Sa de att någon spred skvallret på kontoret?
de
they
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
någon
someone / any (en-word)
kontoret
the office
säga
to say
att
that
skvallret
the gossip
sprida
to spread
Questions & Answers about Sa de att någon spred skvallret på kontoret?
Why is spred in the past tense when the English translation says 'was spreading'?
This is backshifting in indirect speech. The original direct quote was likely in the present tense: 'Someone is spreading the gossip' (Någon sprider skvallret). Because the main reporting verb is in the past tense (sa), the verb in the att clause must shift one step back into the past tense (spred). Note that Swedish also does not use a continuous '-ing' form here.
What is the infinitive of spred?
The infinitive is sprida (to spread). It is a strong verb, meaning it changes its core vowel rather than adding a standard ending in the past tense. The most common forms are sprida (infinitive), sprider (present), spred (past), and spridit (supine).
Why does skvallret drop a letter compared to its base form?
The base word is ett skvaller (gossip). When an ett word ends in '-er', it usually drops the 'e' when adding the definite ending -et. This makes it flow better in speech. So instead of the clunky 'skvalleret', it smoothly becomes skvallret.
Why is there no Swedish word for 'Did' at the start of the sentence?
Swedish does not use 'do' or 'did' as helper verbs to form questions. Instead, you create a yes/no question simply by putting the main verb first. So 'They said' is De sa, and the question 'Did they say?' is simply inverted to Sa de?
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