Breakdown of Vad biodlaren gör är att skydda bisamhället.
vara
to be
vad
what
göra
to do, to make
att
to
skydda
to protect
biodlaren
the beekeeper
bisamhället
the bee colony
Questions & Answers about Vad biodlaren gör är att skydda bisamhället.
In English, we usually drop "to" in sentences like "What he does is protect". Do I have to include att here?
Yes. While English often drops "to" in these action-focus pseudo-cleft sentences, Swedish strongly prefers keeping the infinitive marker att before the action verb. You should say ...är att skydda... rather than just ...är skydda....
How does the V2 (verb-second) rule apply to this sentence?
The entire first clause Vad biodlaren gör acts as a single block that forms the subject of the main sentence. Because that whole noun clause takes up position one, the main verb är correctly sits in position two.
The word for bee colony is bisamhället. Does it literally mean "the bee society"?
Exactly! It is built from bi (bee) and samhälle (society or community). Swedish often uses samhälle for highly organized groups of animals or insects, not just human societies. Notice that it takes the definite -t ending because samhälle is an ett word.
Why is the word for beekeeper biodlaren? What does odlare mean?
It comes from bi (bee) and odlare (grower, cultivator, or farmer). While in English you "keep" bees, in Swedish you "cultivate" them (att odla bin). The -n at the end makes it definite, meaning "the beekeeper".
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