Breakdown of Han gick längs vägen mot torpet, under vars golv kistan låg.
han
he
gå
to go, to walk
golvet
the floor
vägen
the road
under
under
ligga
to lie (be in a horizontal position) / to be located, be situated
mot
towards, against
vars
whose
kistan
the chest
längs
along
torpet
the croft
Questions & Answers about Han gick längs vägen mot torpet, under vars golv kistan låg.
Why does the preposition under come before vars?
In this formal structure, the preposition is placed directly before the relative pronoun vars, similar to how you would say "under whose" in formal English. In everyday spoken Swedish, you would usually rephrase the sentence entirely to avoid this construction.
Why is golv in the indefinite form when it refers to a specific floor?
The word vars acts as a possessive pronoun meaning "whose". In Swedish, a noun that directly follows a possessive word must always be in the indefinite form, even if the meaning is specific.
Why is the word order kistan låg instead of låg kistan after the phrase under vars golv?
Because under vars golv starts a subordinate relative clause. Subordinate clauses do not use the V2 (verb-second) rule that you see in main clauses. Instead, they follow the standard subordinate order where the subject (kistan) comes before the verb (låg).
Is there a difference between using längs vägen and längs med vägen?
Both mean "along the road" and are often used interchangeably. Using längs med is very common in everyday speech, while längs on its own can sound slightly more formal or literary, which fits the overall tone of this sentence.
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