Breakdown of Nattugglan känner sig ofta isolerad, medan morgonmänniskan har ett helt motsatt liv.
ett
a, an (neuter)
ofta
often
ha
to have
känna sig
to feel (emotions, sensations)
livet
the life
medan
while
helt
completely
morgonmänniskan
the morning person
nattugglan
the night owl
isolerad
isolated
motsatt
opposite (contrary, reverse)
Questions & Answers about Nattugglan känner sig ofta isolerad, medan morgonmänniskan har ett helt motsatt liv.
Is medan used here to mean 'at the same time' or something else?
In this sentence, medan is used contrastively to mean 'whereas', highlighting the difference between the night owl and the morning person. Although it can also mean 'while' for simultaneous actions, this contrastive usage is very common when comparing two opposite situations.
Since medan is a subordinating conjunction, what would happen to the word order if I added an adverb like inte (not)?
Because medan starts a subordinate clause, Swedish word order rules dictate that sentence adverbs like inte or ofta must be placed before the verb. If you wanted to negate the second half, it would become: ...medan morgonmänniskan inte har ett helt motsatt liv.
Why do we need the word sig after känner?
The verb att känna by itself usually means 'to know' a person or place, or 'to touch' something physically. To express how you feel inside, such as feeling isolated, you must use the reflexive verb att känna sig. Since nattugglan refers to a third person, the matching reflexive pronoun is sig.
Why does helt end in a -t? Does it match the ett-word liv?
It is easy to think that, but helt (completely) is actually functioning as an adverb here because it describes the adjective motsatt (opposite). In Swedish, you generally create an adverb from an adjective by adding a -t, turning hel (whole/complete) into the adverb helt.
Are nattugglan and morgonmänniskan idioms that translate directly from English?
Yes! Swedish uses the exact same literal concepts for sleeping habits. En nattuggla is a night owl, and en morgonmänniska is a morning person. In this sentence, they are in their definite forms: nattugglan (the night owl) and morgonmänniskan (the morning person).
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