Breakdown of Å ena sidan berikar turismen samhället, å andra sidan kostar den mycket.
den
it (common)
mycket
much / very
kosta
to cost
samhället
the society
å ena sidan
on the one hand
å andra sidan
on the other hand
berika
to enrich
turismen
the tourism
Questions & Answers about Å ena sidan berikar turismen samhället, å andra sidan kostar den mycket.
Why do the verbs berikar and kostar come right after sidan in both halves of the sentence?
The phrases å ena sidan and å andra sidan act as adverbials taking up the first position in their respective clauses. Because Swedish is a V2 (verb-second) language, the verb must immediately follow them. This gives us å ena sidan berikar turismen instead of å ena sidan turismen berikar.
What does the word å mean in this expression, and can I use på instead?
Å is an old-fashioned preposition that means the same thing as på (on). While you might occasionally hear native speakers say på ena sidan, the standard fixed idiom is strictly å ena sidan ..., å andra sidan ... and it is best to memorize it with å.
Why is it ena instead of just en?
Ena is the definite form of the number one. Because the noun it describes, sidan, is in its definite form (the side), the preceding word must also take the definite form, making it ena.
In the second clause, why do we use den?
The pronoun den refers back to turismen (tourism). Because turism is an en-word, it must be replaced by den (it) rather than det.
Learn Å ena sidan berikar turismen samhället, å andra sidan kostar den mycket and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free