Breakdown of Det fanns en förfader i vars kyrkobok namnet saknades.
en
a, an (common)
i
in
namnet
the name
det finns
there is, there are
saknas
to be missing
vars
whose
förfadern
the ancestor
kyrkoboken
the parish register
Questions & Answers about Det fanns en förfader i vars kyrkobok namnet saknades.
How does the word order work with i vars kyrkobok?
In formal Swedish, just like in formal English, a preposition can be placed directly before the relative possessive pronoun vars (whose). Here, i vars kyrkobok literally translates to 'in whose parish register'. The preposition i belongs to the noun kyrkobok, and the whole phrase is moved to the front of the relative clause.
Why does saknades end in an -s here?
It is the past tense of att saknas, which is the s-passive form of att sakna (to lack or to miss). While it is structurally passive, att saknas often functions like a deponent verb meaning 'to be missing' or 'to be absent'. Therefore, namnet saknades translates naturally to 'the name was missing'.
What is the plural of en förfader?
The plural is förfäder (ancestors). The word is a compound of för- (fore) and fader (father). Just as the irregular noun fader changes its vowel to become fäder in the plural, förfader follows the exact same pattern.
Why doesn't the verb come right after the prepositional phrase, like i vars kyrkobok saknades namnet?
Because i vars kyrkobok introduces a relative subclause, and the standard V2 rule (verb in second position) does not apply inside subclauses. In a Swedish subclause, the subject (namnet) must come directly before the verb (saknades).
Learn Det fanns en förfader i vars kyrkobok namnet saknades and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free