Breakdown of Vi såg trollet, men han såg det inte.
han
he
det
it (neuter)
vi
we
inte
not
se
to see
men
but
trollet
the troll
Questions & Answers about Vi såg trollet, men han såg det inte.
Why is it det instead of den in the second half of the sentence?
The pronoun refers back to trollet (the troll). Since ett troll is an ett-word, you must use the matching pronoun det (it) to replace it. If the noun had been an en-word like en hund (a dog), you would use den.
Why is the word order såg det inte instead of såg inte det?
In Swedish main clauses, short and unstressed object pronouns (like det, den, or oss) jump ahead of sentence adverbs like inte. If you were repeating the full noun instead of using a pronoun, inte would come first: han såg inte trollet. This rule is known as the pronoun shift.
Does the word men affect the word order of the second half of the sentence?
No. Men (but) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it simply links two normal main clauses together without changing their rules. That is why the second clause starts with the standard subject-verb order (han såg).
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