Breakdown of Temperaturen är hög i förhållande till vad som är normalt.
vara
to be
vad
what
hög
high / loudly
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Temperaturen är hög i förhållande till vad som är normalt.
How does i förhållande till differ from just saying jämfört med (compared to) in this context?
While they are often interchangeable, i förhållande till translates to 'in relation to' or 'in proportion to'. It highlights the relative scale or balance between the current temperature and the average. Jämfört med is a broader, more general way to say 'compared to'.
Could we swap in the other compound preposition from this lesson, med hänsyn till?
No, that would not make sense here. Med hänsyn till means 'with respect to' or 'taking into consideration' (for example, making a decision out of consideration for the weather). I förhållande till specifically compares proportions, states, or metrics, which is exactly what we need here.
Why do we use vad som instead of just vad here?
This is a strict rule in Swedish: when a question word like vad (what) or vem (who) acts as the subject of a subclause, you must follow it with som. Without som, the phrase vad är normalt would look like a direct question ('What is normal?') awkwardly shoved into the middle of the sentence.
Since temperaturen is an en-word, why does the sentence end with the neuter adjective normalt?