Breakdown of Bortsett från fisken var måltiden helt vegetarisk.
vara
to be
fisken
the fish
helt
completely
vegetarisk
vegetarian
bortsett från
apart from
måltiden
the meal
Questions & Answers about Bortsett från fisken var måltiden helt vegetarisk.
Does bortsett från mean exactly the same thing as med undantag av in this context?
Yes, they are highly interchangeable here. Bortsett från translates closer to "apart from" or "disregarding," while med undantag av is literally "with the exception of." Both work perfectly to exclude the fish from the rest of the vegetarian meal.
Why is the verb var placed right after fisken instead of after the subject måltiden?
This is the classic Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire prepositional phrase Bortsett från fisken counts as the first block of information in the sentence. Because the verb must come second, var steps in right after it, pushing the subject måltiden to the third spot.
Why is the word for "completely" written as helt and not hel?
Helt is functioning as an adverb here, modifying the adjective vegetarisk. To turn the adjective hel (whole) into the adverb "completely" or "entirely," you add a -t.
If I wanted to follow bortsett från with an entire clause instead of just the noun fisken, how would that work?
If you want to use a full clause (with a subject and a verb) after bortsett från, you must insert att (that). For example: Bortsett från att vi åt fisk... (Apart from the fact that we ate fish...). Because fisken is just a noun phrase, you don't need att in this sentence.
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