Breakdown of Att kombinera karriären och familjen är sällan rimligt.
vara
to be
familjen
the family
och
and
att
to
sällan
rarely
karriären
the career
kombinera
to combine
rimlig
reasonable
Questions & Answers about Att kombinera karriären och familjen är sällan rimligt.
Why do we use the definite forms karriären and familjen here, when English just says 'career and family'?
In Swedish, broad concepts and abstract nouns often take the definite form when we talk about them in a general sense. While English leaves them bare ('career and family'), Swedish prefers karriären (the career) and familjen (the family) to refer to the general phenomena.
Why does the adjective rimligt end with a -t?
The adjective rimligt describes the entire action: Att kombinera karriären och familjen (Combining career and family). When a whole phrase or infinitive verb acts as the subject of a sentence, Swedish treats it as a neuter noun (like the pronoun det). Because of this, the adjective takes the neuter -t ending.
Does the V2 (verb-second) rule still apply here even though är is the sixth word?
Yes! The entire infinitive phrase Att kombinera karriären och familjen acts as a single building block that takes up the first position in the sentence. The verb är then correctly takes the second position, followed immediately by the sentence adverb sällan.
Since this lesson is about dels ..., dels ..., how could I use it to expand on this sentence?
While the base sentence doesn't use it, you can easily attach a dels ..., dels ... (partly ..., partly ...) clause to explain the two reasons why it is rarely reasonable. For example: ... dels för att man blir stressad, dels för att tiden inte räcker till (... partly because you get stressed, partly because there is not enough time).
Learn Att kombinera karriären och familjen är sällan rimligt 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