Breakdown of Det internationella samarbetet kommer att bli bra, vare sig nationen är rik eller fattig.
vara
to be
bra
good / well
eller
or
det
the (with ett-words)
bli
to become
rik
rich
fattig
poor
komma att
will (future auxiliary)
vare sig
whether
nationen
the nation
internationell
international
samarbetet
the cooperation
Questions & Answers about Det internationella samarbetet kommer att bli bra, vare sig nationen är rik eller fattig.
How does vare sig ... eller work here, and could I just use om for "whether"?
Vare sig ... eller is a fixed pair used to express that something is true regardless of two alternatives (whether A or B). You cannot use om here. In Swedish, om only means "whether" in indirect questions, such as Jag vet inte om han kommer (I don't know whether/if he is coming).
Why use bli instead of vara for "will be"?
While both can translate to "will be", Swedish often prefers bli (literally "to become") when talking about a future outcome, result, or something that is going to develop. Kommer att bli bra emphasizes how the cooperation will turn out.
Why is it Det internationella samarbetet instead of just Internationella samarbetet?
This is the classic Swedish "double definite" rule. When you have an adjective describing a definite noun, you need the standalone definite article (Det), the adjective gets an -a ending (internationella), and the noun still keeps its definite ending (samarbetet).
Since the noun is definite (nationen), shouldn't the adjectives rik and fattig also have a definite -a ending?
No, because they are placed after the verb är to describe the subject (this is called a predicative adjective). Adjectives only take the definite -a ending when they come directly in front of a definite noun. Here, they just need to match the gender and number of en nation, so they remain in their basic forms: rik and fattig.
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