Question 1

Why do the verbs avbokades and skickades end in -s?

Accepted Answer

This is the Swedish passive voice, often called the s-passive. Adding an -s to the end of the verb shows that an action is being done to the subject, rather than the subject doing the action. The meeting didn't cancel itself, and the confirmation didn't send itself. Because the actions happened in the past, the -s is attached to the past tense verbs avbokade and skickade.

Question 2

How do we use trots att compared to just trots?

Accepted Answer

Trots att translates to even though or despite the fact that, and it must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb (here, bekräftelsen skickades). If you use just trots (despite), you only follow it with a noun or pronoun, such as trots bekräftelsen (despite the confirmation).

Question 3

Does trots att affect the word order of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, trots att introduces a subordinate (dependent) clause. In this exact sentence, we only have a subject (bekräftelsen) and a verb (skickades), so it looks like standard order. However, if you wanted to add a sentence adverb like inte (not), it must come before the verb because of the Swedish subordinate clause rule. For example: trots att bekräftelsen inte skickades (even though the confirmation was not sent).

Question 4

What is the base form of bekräftelsen?

Accepted Answer

The base noun is en bekräftelse (a confirmation). For en words that already end in a vowel like -e, you usually just add an -n to make it definite (the confirmation), rather than adding a full -en.

Mötet avbokades trots att bekräftelsen skickades.

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