Word
Kaffet kallnar om du väntar.
Meaning
The coffee grows cold if you wait.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Kaffet kallnar om du väntar.
du
you (singular)
kaffet
the coffee
vänta
to wait / to expect (a baby)
om
if, whether
Questions & Answers about Kaffet kallnar om du väntar.
How does the verb kallnar relate to the adjective kall?
The verb kallnar is formed by adding -na to the adjective kall (cold). This creates an inchoative verb, which simply means a verb that describes a change of state, translating here to "becomes cold" or "gets cold".
Could I just say "kaffet blir kallt" instead of using kallnar?
Absolutely. Saying kaffet blir kallt (the coffee becomes cold) means exactly the same thing. However, using the single verb kallnar is a very common, concise, and natural way to express this in Swedish.
Are all change-of-state verbs that end in -na conjugated the same way as kallnar?
Yes! These verbs ending in -na are always Group 1 verbs. This means they are completely regular, taking -r in the present tense (kallnar) and -de in the past tense (kallnade).
Why does the sentence use the present tense väntar instead of a future tense?
Swedish uses the present tense (väntar) after om to talk about a future condition. This is a good refresher because it matches English perfectly ("if you wait", rather than "if you will wait").