Word
Det vore bra om nödutgången i korridoren var öppen.
Meaning
It would be good if the emergency exit in the corridor was open.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Det vore bra om nödutgången i korridoren var öppen.
vara
to be
det
it (neuter)
bra
good / well
i
in
Questions & Answers about Det vore bra om nödutgången i korridoren var öppen.
Why does the sentence use vore instead of skulle vara?
Vore is a special hypothetical form (the subjunctive) of the verb vara that means "would be" or "were". You can perfectly well say Det skulle vara bra here instead, but vore is very common, concise, and sounds highly natural in Swedish conditional sentences.
Why is the past tense verb var used when talking about a present or future wish?
Just like in English ("if the exit was open"), Swedish uses the past tense after om (if) to express a hypothetical or unreal condition. Using var here signals that the emergency exit is currently closed, but we are imagining a scenario where it is open.
Why are both nödutgången and korridoren in their definite forms here?
When a noun is modified by a specific prepositional phrase showing its location (like i korridoren), Swedish typically puts the main noun in the definite form (nödutgången). Pointing out the exact location makes the emergency exit specific and known to the listener.
How do we know to use öppen rather than öppet at the end of the sentence?