Breakdown of Var och en måste läsa instruktionen för livbåten.
läsa
to read
måste
to have to, must
för
for, to
var och en
each one
instruktionen
the instruction
livbåten
the lifeboat
Questions & Answers about Var och en måste läsa instruktionen för livbåten.
Does var och en count as a singular or plural subject?
It is strictly singular, just like "each one" in English. Even though it talks about a group of people, you treat it as a single person grammatically. For example, if you added "their own" to this sentence, you would use the singular reflexive pronoun sin rather than the plural sina.
Could I just say Alla måste läsa... instead of using Var och en?
Yes, but the focus shifts. Alla means "everyone" or "all" as a collective group. Var och en emphasizes that each individual person is personally responsible. You will often see it used in safety rules like this one to ensure nobody assumes someone else will do the task for them.
Does var och en ever change its form?
Yes, it changes depending on the gender of the noun it replaces or refers to. Because this sentence refers to people in general, we use the common gender ("en" word) form: var och en. If it were referring specifically to an "ett" word, such as ett barn (a child), it would change to vart och ett.
Why isn't there an att (to) before läsa?
Måste (must / have to) is a modal verb. Just like with "must" in English, Swedish modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive form of the main verb (läsa) without using the infinitive marker att.
Why is it instruktionen för livbåten instead of livbåtens instruktion?
While livbåtens instruktion (the lifeboat's instruction) is grammatically correct, using the definite noun plus the preposition för (for) sounds much more natural in Swedish when talking about a manual or instructions belonging to a specific object or machine.
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