Breakdown of Vi letade efter stugan dit mannen flyttade i fjol.
vi
we
mannen
the man
fjol
last year (used in 'i fjol')
flytta
to move
Questions & Answers about Vi letade efter stugan dit mannen flyttade i fjol.
Why do we use dit here instead of där for the word 'where'?
In English, we use 'where' for both location and destination. Swedish splits these up. Because the man is moving to the cottage (indicating motion towards a destination), you must use dit (to where) instead of där (where at).
Is i fjol the same as saying förra året for 'last year'?
Yes! i fjol is a very common, idiomatic expression that means exactly the same thing as förra året (last year). You will hear it all the time in everyday speech, so it is a great phrase to know at the B1 level.
Why do we need the word efter after letade?
In Swedish, the verb letar (to search) requires the preposition efter when you mention the specific thing you are searching for. It translates perfectly to 'looked for' in English.
How does dit affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
The word dit acts as a relative adverb that starts a subordinate clause. This means the clause follows the standard subordinate word order: subject (mannen) then verb (flyttade). If you added a sentence adverb like inte (not), the BIFF rule reminds us it would go before the verb: dit mannen inte flyttade.