Question 1

The verb klarnat looks like the adjective klar. How do these relate?

Accepted Answer

Klarna is an inchoative verb, which means it describes a change of state. In Swedish, you can often add -na to an adjective to create a verb that means "to become [adjective]". So from klar (clear), we get klarna (to become clear). Here, it is in the supine form klarnat because it follows har.

Question 2

Why is the word order kan vi instead of vi kan after därför?

Accepted Answer

This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. Därför (therefore) is an adverb that starts the second clause. Because it takes the first position, the verb kan must come immediately after it in the second position, pushing the subject vi to the third position.

Question 3

The dictionary form of "sky" is himmel. Why is the definite form himlen instead of "himmelen"?

Accepted Answer

Swedish nouns ending in an unstressed -el, -er, or -en drop that vowel when a suffix is added, simply because it is easier to say. So himmel loses its second "e" before adding the definite -en ending, giving us himlen.

Himlen har klarnat, därför kan vi gå ut.

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