Breakdown of Oljan minskar friktionen där det finns ett kugghjul under.
ett
a, an (neuter)
det finns
there is, there are
där
where (relative)
under
under
oljan
the oil
minska
to reduce
kugghjulet
the cogwheel
friktionen
the friction
Questions & Answers about Oljan minskar friktionen där det finns ett kugghjul under.
How does the formal subject det work in this relative clause?
Just like main clauses, a Swedish subordinate clause starting with där needs a grammatical subject. When stating that something simply exists, we use the formal subject det together with finns, pushing the actual subject (ett kugghjul) later in the phrase.
Why does the sentence end with the preposition under rather than putting it before a noun?
In Swedish, spatial prepositions like under can stand alone at the end of a clause to function as a locative adverb (meaning underneath or below it). Because the overarching location is already handled by the relative adverb där, the preposition under doesn't need its own object here.
Can minskar be used both for actively reducing something and for something that is shrinking on its own?
Yes. The verb minska is versatile. Here it is used transitively, meaning to reduce (oljan is actively reducing friktionen). It can also be used intransitively without an object to simply mean to decrease or to shrink.
If I wanted to add inte to say where there is no cogwheel underneath, where would it go?
It would go right after the formal subject det and before the verb finns to form där det inte finns ett kugghjul under. This follows the standard word order rule for subordinate clauses, where sentence adverbs like inte must come before the finite verb.
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