Breakdown of Advokaten pratar med svaranden. Denne vill överklaga domen.
prata
to speak
vilja
to want to
med
with
advokaten
the lawyer
svaranden
the defendant
överklaga
to appeal
domen
the verdict
denne
the latter (m)
Questions & Answers about Advokaten pratar med svaranden. Denne vill överklaga domen.
How does denne mean "the latter" in this sentence?
When used independently, the formal pronouns denne and denna often translate to "the latter". They point specifically to the most recently mentioned noun. Here, denne tells us that the defendant (svaranden) wants to appeal, rather than the lawyer (advokaten).
Why is it denne instead of denna?
Denne is the masculine form. In traditional legal or formal Swedish, denne was historically used as a generic pronoun for a person of unknown gender (like a defendant). Today, it is still common in legal texts, though if the defendant is known to be female, denna is often used instead.
Is svaranden plural here?
No, it is the definite singular form. The word for "defendant" is en svarande, which is a noun built from the present participle of the verb svara (to answer). To make these -ande words definite in the singular, you just add -n, giving us svaranden.
Could I just use han or hon instead of denne?
You could, but it risks being ambiguous. If you wrote Han vill överklaga domen, the reader might wonder if "he" refers to the lawyer or the defendant. Using denne removes the confusion by locking the reference to the last person mentioned.
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