Breakdown of Livvakten har västen bredvid sig och håller blicken framför sig.
och
and
ha
to have
sig
oneself / himself / herself / themselves
hålla
to hold / to hold on to
framför
in front of / over (in preference to)
bredvid
next to
livvakten
the bodyguard
västen
the vest
blicken
the gaze
Questions & Answers about Livvakten har västen bredvid sig och håller blicken framför sig.
Why do we use sig instead of honom in bredvid sig and framför sig?
In Swedish, when a pronoun in a spatial prepositional phrase refers back to the subject of the same clause (here, livvakten), you must use the reflexive pronoun sig. If you said bredvid honom, it would mean the vest is next to a completely different man, not the bodyguard himself.
If the bodyguard were a woman, would the sentence still use sig?
Yes. The reflexive pronoun sig works for all third-person subjects, regardless of gender or number. It automatically adapts to mean himself, herself, itself, or themselves depending on who the subject is.
The English translation says 'his gaze', but the Swedish says blicken (the gaze). Why isn't it sin blick?
In Swedish, it is very common to use the definite form (like blicken) instead of a possessive pronoun for body parts, clothing, or personal attributes when it is obvious who they belong to. You could grammatically say sin blick, but blicken is often preferred and sounds very natural.
How does the word livvakten break down?
It is a compound of liv (life) and vakt (guard). The -en at the end makes it definite (livvakten = the bodyguard). Note that an English 'lifeguard' at a beach or pool is a different word in Swedish (badvakt).
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