Word
Vad det stora bisamhället gjorde var att svärma.
Meaning
What the large bee colony did was swarm.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vad det stora bisamhället gjorde var att svärma.
vara
to be
stor
big
vad
what
göra
to do, to make
Questions & Answers about Vad det stora bisamhället gjorde var att svärma.
How does the structure "Vad... gjorde var att..." change the feel of this sentence compared to just saying it normally?
A standard sentence would be Det stora bisamhället svärmade (The large bee colony swarmed). By using a pseudo-cleft structure starting with Vad (What) and delaying the main action until after var (was), you build suspense and put heavy emphasis on the action itself: att svärma. This is perfect for highlighting exactly what happened.
Why is "att" used before "svärma" when the English translation just says "was swarm"?
In English, we often drop the word "to" in this type of sentence. In Swedish, when you use a pseudo-cleft structure to focus on an action, the action must be in the infinitive form and requires the infinitive marker att. You cannot skip it; it must be var att svärma.
Why is it "det stora bisamhället" instead of "den stora"?
The base noun is ett samhälle (a society or community). Because it is an ett-word, the preceding article in the double definite structure must be det. The word then takes the definite suffix -t at the end, while the adjective takes the standard -a ending to form det stora bisamhället.
Is "bisamhället" related to the word for society?