Breakdown of Hur trötta och svettiga de än var i julas, fortsatte de att forma vackra droppar.
vara
to be
de
they
och
and
trött
tired
hur
how
att
to
vacker
beautiful
julas
Christmas (used in 'i julas')
fortsätta
to continue
i
last (in past time expressions)
än
ever (concessive particle)
forma
to shape
svettig
sweaty
droppen
the drop
Questions & Answers about Hur trötta och svettiga de än var i julas, fortsatte de att forma vackra droppar.
How does the combination of hur and än create the meaning "no matter how"?
In Swedish, placing hur (how) before an adjective or adverb, and then adding än later in the same clause, creates a concessive clause. It translates literally to something like "how tired and sweaty they even were," but the natural English equivalent is "no matter how tired and sweaty they were."
Why do the adjectives trötta and svettiga take the plural -a ending here?
They are describing the plural subject de (they). Even though the hur ... än structure moves the adjectives to the very front of the clause, far away from the subject, they still have to agree in number and gender with the pronoun they modify.
What does the -s at the end of i julas signify?
Adding the -s suffix to a holiday or season following the preposition i refers to the most recently passed one. Therefore, i julas specifically means "last Christmas" or "this past Christmas." If you were talking about the upcoming Christmas, you would simply say i jul.
Why is the main clause ordered fortsatte de instead of de fortsatte?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire introductory "no matter how" clause (Hur trötta och svettiga de än var i julas) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, fortsatte must come immediately after the comma, pushing the subject de to the other side of the verb.
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