Breakdown of Cirkusen är visserligen rolig, men den är livsfarlig.
vara
to be
den
it (common)
rolig
fun
men
but
cirkusen
the circus
visserligen
admittedly
livsfarlig
highly dangerous
Questions & Answers about Cirkusen är visserligen rolig, men den är livsfarlig.
How exactly does the "visserligen ... men" structure work in this sentence?
Visserligen and men work together to mean "admittedly... but" or "sure... but." Visserligen concedes a point in the first half, and men introduces the contrast. Because visserligen acts as a sentence adverb, it sits right after the finite verb är.
Could I put "visserligen" at the start of the sentence instead?
Yes, you can absolutely say Visserligen är cirkusen rolig, men... Because Swedish uses the V2 rule (verb in second position), moving visserligen to the front means the verb är must come immediately after it, before the subject cirkusen.
Why does the second clause use straight word order ("den är") after "men"?
Men is a coordinating conjunction, which means it simply glues two complete main clauses together without counting as a sentence element itself. Therefore, the second clause starts fresh with its subject (den) followed directly by the verb (är).
What does the "s" in "livsfarlig" do?
It is a linking -s- used to glue liv (life) and farlig (dangerous) together into a compound word. While it literally translates to "life-threatening," Swedes use it frequently to mean "highly dangerous" or "lethal."
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