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Vi står och tittar på luftballongen, som troligtvis är försenad.

Vi står och tittar på luftballongen, som troligtvis är försenad.
We are standing and looking at the hot air balloon, which is probably delayed.
From Lesson 251:Sentence adverbs (-vis)·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Vi står och tittar på luftballongen, som troligtvis är försenad.

How is troligtvis formed, and what does the -vis ending do?
troligtvis comes from the adjective trolig (likely/probable). By taking the neuter form (troligt) and adding the suffix -vis, it turns into a sentence adverb meaning "probably". The -vis suffix works a lot like "-ly" or "-wise" in English, turning adjectives into adverbs that describe the likelihood or manner of the whole sentence.
Could I use troligen instead of troligtvis in this sentence?
Yes! Both troligtvis and troligen mean "probably" and are completely interchangeable here. Adverbs derived with the -vis suffix are just another very common way to express these concepts in Swedish.
Why does the sentence say står och tittar (stand and look) instead of just translating "are looking"?
Swedish doesn't have a direct translation for the English continuous "-ing" tense. To show that an action is currently happening, Swedish often pairs a physical position verb like står (stand), sitter (sit), or ligger (lie) with the main verb using och. Since you generally stand to watch a hot air balloon, står och tittar is the most natural way to say "are looking".
Why does troligtvis come before the verb är here?
Because it is inside a subordinate (dependent) clause. In a main clause, an adverb like troligtvis would usually come after the first verb. However, the clause som troligtvis är försenad starts with som (which). In Swedish grammar, sentence adverbs must be placed before the verb in subordinate clauses.
Why is the word for delayed försenad rather than försenat?
försenad is an adjective describing the balloon. Because ballong is an en-word (en ballong, luftballongen), the adjective takes the standard en-word ending. If it were describing an ett-word, like a train (ett tåg), it would be försenat.

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