Breakdown of Förutsatt att pipan är ren, blir formen perfekt hur fort du än blåser.
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
hur
how
ren
clean
bli
to become
blåsa
to blow
fort
fast (adverb)
formen
the shape
perfekt
perfect
förutsatt att
provided that
än
ever (concessive particle)
pipan
the pipe
Questions & Answers about Förutsatt att pipan är ren, blir formen perfekt hur fort du än blåser.
How does the hur ... än construction work in this sentence?
In Swedish, combining hur with än creates a concessive clause meaning 'no matter how'. In this sentence, hur fort (how fast) is followed by the subject and än, creating hur fort du än blåser (no matter how fast you blow). The structure is always hur + adjective or adverb + subject + än + verb.
What kind of phrase is förutsatt att?
Förutsatt is the past participle of the verb förutsätta (to assume or presuppose). The fixed phrase förutsatt att acts as a subordinating conjunction meaning 'provided that' or 'assuming that', which is very common at the B2 level.
Why does the main clause say blir formen instead of formen blir?
This is a good refresher on the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire first clause (Förutsatt att pipan är ren) counts as the first position in the sentence. Because the verb must come second, blir immediately follows the comma, placing it before its subject formen.
Could you use snabbt instead of fort for 'fast' here?
Yes, you could say hur snabbt du än blåser. Both fort and snabbt mean 'fast' or 'quickly' and are usually interchangeable when describing an action. The only difference is that fort is strictly an adverb, whereas snabb can also be used as an adjective.
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