Breakdown of Jag skulle ha gett honom rådet om han hade tvekat.
jag
I
han
he
ha
to have
honom
him
ge
to give
om
if, whether
skulle
would
tveka
to hesitate
rådet
the advice
Questions & Answers about Jag skulle ha gett honom rådet om han hade tvekat.
How does the grammar for 'I would have... if he had...' work in this sentence?
This sentence uses the unreal past conditional structure. The main clause describes the imagined result using skulle ha + the supinum (the 'have done' form) verb, gett. The condition clause uses om (if) followed by the past perfect: hade + the supinum verb, tvekat.
Is it possible to drop the word ha in this sentence?
Yes! In spoken and informal Swedish, it is very common to drop ha after words like skulle, kunde, and borde. You will very often hear or read Jag skulle gett honom rådet.
What happens to the word order if we start the sentence with the om clause?
If you flip the sentence, the main clause must still follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. Because the entire om clause counts as the first block of information, the verb skulle must come immediately after the comma: Om han hade tvekat, skulle jag ha gett honom rådet.
Why does the sentence use the definite form rådet?
In English, 'advice' is uncountable, so you usually just say 'given him advice.' In Swedish, ett råd is a regular countable noun. Because the speaker is referring to a specific piece of advice, it takes the definite ending -et to become rådet (the advice).
What is the base form of gett?
Gett is the supinum form of the irregular verb ge (to give). You use the supinum form after ha, har, or hade to create perfect tenses.
Learn Jag skulle ha gett honom rådet om han hade tvekat and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free