Breakdown of Du inbillar dig bara att han är arg.
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
han
he
arg
angry
bara
only, just
att
that
inbilla sig
to imagine
Questions & Answers about Du inbillar dig bara att han är arg.
What does the reflexive pronoun dig add to the verb inbillar in this sentence?
The verb inbilla sig (to imagine or make oneself believe) is always reflexive. While English simply uses 'imagine', Swedish treats this specific kind of false imagining as an involuntary shift or a trick you play on yourself. It fits this lesson's theme of internal mental states.
Is there a difference between inbillar dig and föreställer dig?
Yes, a big one! Föreställa sig means to neutrally picture or visualize something in your mind. Inbilla sig has a negative nuance, meaning to imagine something that isn't true or to delude yourself. Here, it emphasizes that his anger is entirely in your head.
Why does the adverb bara come after dig instead of right after the verb inbillar?
In a main clause, reflexive pronouns like dig stick very closely to their verb. Because of this tight grammatical bond, sentence adverbs like bara (only/just) are pushed to the position immediately after the reflexive pronoun, rather than splitting the verb from its pronoun.
How would the word order change if this whole sentence became a subclause?
If you introduced this sentence with Jag vet att... (I know that...), the adverb bara would move before the verb because of the standard subclause word order rule. It would become: Jag vet att du bara inbillar dig att han är arg. Notice how bara steps in front of the verb-pronoun pair.
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