Breakdown of Jag vill bryta ovanan, så jag låter bli att reagera.
jag
I
att
to
vilja
to want to
så
so
bryta
to break
låta bli
to refrain
reagera
to react
ovanan
the bad habit
Questions & Answers about Jag vill bryta ovanan, så jag låter bli att reagera.
How exactly does låter bli att work here?
The phrase låta bli means to refrain from doing something. When followed by an action, you must connect it using att plus the infinitive form of the next verb. So låter bli att reagera directly translates to 'refrain from reacting'.
What is the word ovanan made of?
It is built from the noun en vana (a habit). The prefix o- gives a word a negative or opposite meaning, similar to 'un-' in English. So en ovana means a bad habit, and the -n at the end makes it definite: ovanan (the bad habit).
Why is the word order så jag låter bli instead of så låter jag bli?
The word så (so) is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it simply links two independent sentences together. It does not count as the first position of the new sentence. Therefore, the subject jag takes the first position, and the verb låter follows in the strict second position (the V2 rule).
Why do we use the present tense låter instead of the infinitive låta here?
Even though låta bli functions as a set phrase, låta is still the active main verb of this half of the sentence. Because the speaker is doing this right now, it must be conjugated to the present tense låter. Only the final action verb, reagera, is kept in the infinitive.
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