Breakdown of Nyser du, låter jag dig önska något.
jag
I
du
you (singular)
dig
you (singular)
något
something / any (ett-word)
låta
to let, allow
nysa
to sneeze
önska
to wish
Questions & Answers about Nyser du, låter jag dig önska något.
Why is there no word for "if" here, and why does the sentence start with a verb (Nyser)?
This is a V1 conditional clause. In Swedish, you can drop the word om (if) to create an "if" statement. When you do this, the verb must go in the very first position. So, Nyser du means exactly the same as Om du nyser (If you sneeze).
Why does the second half say låter jag instead of jag låter?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire first clause (Nyser du) counts as the first "block" of information in the sentence. The main verb (låter) must take the second spot, which pushes the subject (jag) to the spot right after it.
The translation says "make a wish", but the Swedish says önska något. Why?
Swedish doesn't usually use a direct translation of "make a wish" (like göra en önskan), which would sound unnatural. Instead, it uses the verb directly: önska något literally means "wish [for] something".
Why is önska in the infinitive form without att (to) before it?
The verb låta (to let or allow) acts like a helping verb here. When you let someone do something (låta någon göra något), the second verb takes the bare infinitive form without att. It mirrors English perfectly here: you say "I let you wish", not "I let you to wish".
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