Breakdown of Tog han inte jokern? - Jo, han har två av dem!
han
he
inte
not
ha
to have
ta
to take
dem
them
två
two
av
of, by / from (cause)
jo
yes (in response to a negative)
jokern
the joker
Questions & Answers about Tog han inte jokern? - Jo, han har två av dem!
How does the phrase två av dem work, and why do we use av here?
This is a partitive construction, which means it singles out a specific quantity from a defined group. In Swedish, when you specify a number out of a definite pronoun or a definite noun, you use av (meaning 'of'). Here, två av dem translates exactly to 'two of them'.
Why does the second sentence start with jo instead of ja?
You use jo instead of ja when you are affirmatively answering a negative question or contradicting a negative statement. Because the first speaker asked a negative question (Tog han inte...? meaning 'Didn't he take...?'), using jo is the required way to say 'Yes, he actually did!'
The first sentence asks about jokern in the singular. Why does the reply use the plural pronoun dem?
Jokern means 'the joker', referring to the playing card. Even though the first person asks about it in the singular form, a standard deck of cards has multiple jokers. The second speaker replies with två av dem, meaning 'two of the jokers', shifting to the plural pronoun dem to reflect the actual number of cards held.
Why is inte placed after han rather than before it?
In a standard Swedish main clause, the subject comes before the sentence adverb (like inte). When you form a yes/no question by putting the verb first (Tog...), the subject (han) and the adverb (inte) keep their relative order. This results in the strict Verb-Subject-Adverb word order: Tog han inte...
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