Breakdown of Jag har inte satt på skivspelaren på en evighet.
jag
I
en
a, an (common)
inte
not
ha
to have
på
in/within (a period of time)
evigheten
the eternity
sätta på
to turn on
skivspelaren
the record player
Questions & Answers about Jag har inte satt på skivspelaren på en evighet.
Why do we use på en evighet here when a duration like "for an eternity" is usually i en evighet?
Because the sentence is negative (inte). When you state how long something hasn't happened, Swedish uses på for the duration. If this were a positive sentence about an ongoing action, like "I played records for an eternity", you would use i (i en evighet).
There are two pås in this sentence. Are they doing the same thing?
No, they have completely different jobs! The first på is part of the phrasal verb sätta på, which means "to turn on" (a device). The second på is the time preposition working with en evighet to show how much time has passed.
Is satt related to sitta (to sit) or sätta (to put/place)? I always mix them up!
Here, it belongs to sätta. The phrasal verb is sätta på (to turn on). Sätta conjugates as sätter, satte, har satt. It is very easy to confuse them because the simple past tense of sitta is also satt (sitter, satt, har suttit), but since we have har here, we know it's the supine form of sätta.
Can I move the first på to after the object, like "Jag har inte satt skivspelaren på"?
No. In English you can say "turned the record player on", but in Swedish, the verb and its particle (the preposition that changes its meaning) must stay together. It has to be satt på skivspelaren.
Learn Jag har inte satt på skivspelaren på en evighet and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free