Breakdown of Läkaren rådde honom att böja leden utan att stressa.
att
to
honom
him
läkaren
the doctor
stressa
to stress
Questions & Answers about Läkaren rådde honom att böja leden utan att stressa.
How does the structure for "advised him to bend" work here compared to English?
It matches English perfectly! The reporting verb rådde (advised) is followed by the object honom (him) and then the infinitive phrase att böja (to bend). The pattern is råda någon att göra något (to advise someone to do something).
What is the infinitive form of rådde?
The infinitive is att råda (to advise). It is an irregular verb: råder (present), rådde (past), and har rått (supine).
Why is it utan att stressa instead of an "-ing" word like in English "without rushing"?
Swedish does not have an "-ing" form (gerund) for verbs like English does. When you want to say "without doing something", you always use the preposition utan followed by att and the infinitive of the verb. So "without rushing" becomes utan att stressa.
Does stressa really mean "rushing"? I thought it meant being stressed out.
It means both! In Swedish, att stressa often means to hurry, rush, or do things too fast, which is the action that leads to feeling stressed. If you want to tell someone "do not rush", a very common way to say it is stressa inte.