Breakdown of Han drar ner rullgardinen i sovrummet på morgonen, medan hon letar efter öronpropparna.
han
he
hon
she
i
in
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
morgonen
the morning
sovrummet
the bedroom
medan
while
leta efter
to look for (physical items, everyday)
dra
to pull
ner
down (motion)
öronproppen
the earplug
rullgardinen
the roller blind
Questions & Answers about Han drar ner rullgardinen i sovrummet på morgonen, medan hon letar efter öronpropparna.
Does medan mean "while" (time) or "whereas" (contrast) in this sentence?
It actually does both! The primary focus of your current lesson is using medan to show contrast ("whereas"), comparing what he does versus what she does. However, because both actions are happening at the same time, the time aspect ("while") is also naturally present.
Since medan starts a subordinate clause, why doesn't the word order look different from a normal sentence?
The word order here (hon letar) looks identical to a main clause because there is no sentence adverb like inte (not) or alltid (always). If you added one, it would have to go before the verb in a subordinate clause due to the BIFF rule: ...medan hon inte letar efter...
Why does it say på morgonen for "in the morning" instead of using i?
Time expressions in Swedish have strict preposition rules. "In the morning" is always på morgonen (using the definite form of the noun). Be careful not to say i morgon, which means "tomorrow"!
In drar ner rullgardinen, can I separate the verb and particle like saying "he pulls the blind down"?
No, Swedish keeps the verb and its particle tightly together when the object is a noun. You must say drar ner rullgardinen. You cannot split them like you often do in English.
How is the word öronpropparna formed?
It is a compound word made of öron (ears) and propparna (the plugs). Notice that Swedish often uses the plural form of the first noun (like öron instead of the singular öra) when building compound words related to body parts that come in pairs.
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