Breakdown of En övergiven plats känns alltid märklig.
en
a, an (common)
alltid
always
kännas
to feel (to have a certain feel, to seem)
platsen
the place
märklig
strange (peculiar, remarkable)
övergiven
abandoned
Questions & Answers about En övergiven plats känns alltid märklig.
Why does the verb känns end in an -s? Is this a passive sentence?
It has the passive -s ending, but it is not passive in meaning. Kännas means 'to feel' in the sense of 'to give a certain feeling or impression'. Verbs like this always end in -s but are active in meaning. You use känns here because the place gives off a strange feeling.
Why is it märklig instead of märkligt? Doesn't the adjective describe the verb?
No, märklig is describing the subject, en plats (a place), not how the action is performed. Verbs of impression like kännas (to feel), se ut (to look), and verka (to seem) connect the subject to an adjective. Since plats is an en-word, the adjective takes the en-word form märklig.
How does the word övergiven work here?
Övergiven means 'abandoned' and is the past participle of the verb överge (to abandon). In Swedish, past participles are often used exactly like adjectives to describe nouns. Since it describes en plats, it takes the basic en-word form.
If I wanted to start the sentence with Alltid, how would the word order change?
Swedish strictly follows the V2 rule, meaning the verb must be the second piece of information in a main clause. If you start with Alltid, the verb känns must come immediately after it: Alltid känns en övergiven plats märklig.
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