Breakdown of Det där kortspelet kräver att man tar många av sticken.
ta
to take
många
many
av
of, by / from (cause)
man
one, you (people in general)
att
that
det där
that (ett)
kräva
to require
kortspelet
the card game
sticket
the trick (in a card game)
Questions & Answers about Det där kortspelet kräver att man tar många av sticken.
Why do we use många av sticken here instead of just många stick?
Många stick simply means "many tricks" in general. However, this sentence uses a partitive construction: många av sticken ("many of the tricks"). When you are talking about a quantity drawn from a specific, defined group, you use an expression of quantity + av + the definite form of the noun.
How does the noun stick (trick) form its plural, and why is it sticken in this sentence?
The word for a card game "trick" is an ett-word: ett stick. Because it is a short ett-word ending in a consonant, it doesn't change in the indefinite plural (so, flera stick means "several tricks"). In our sentence, the partitive construction requires the definite plural ("the tricks"), which is formed by adding -en, giving us sticken.
As a quick refresher, why does kortspelet have to be in the definite form after det där?
Swedish uses "double definiteness" with pointing words like den/det här (this) and den/det där (that). This means you must use both the demonstrative word (det där) and the definite ending on the noun (kortspelet).
In English we might say "requires that one take" (using a special verb form). Why does Swedish just use the regular present tense tar?
Swedish rarely uses special verb forms like the subjunctive in modern everyday speech. When a verb like kräver (requires) introduces an att-clause, the verb inside that clause just takes the normal tense that fits the timeframe—in this case, the regular present tense tar.
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