Breakdown of Polisen väntade tyst med knytnävarna på bordet.
bordet
the table
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
polisen
the police officer
vänta
to wait / to expect (a baby)
med
with
tyst
quiet
knytnäven
the clenched fist
Questions & Answers about Polisen väntade tyst med knytnävarna på bordet.
Why does the Swedish sentence use knytnävarna (the clenched fists) instead of a possessive word like hans or sina?
In Swedish, when a body part or piece of clothing is used in a descriptive phrase like this one (med + noun + location), you almost always use the definite form of the noun rather than a possessive pronoun. It is automatically understood from the context that the fists belong to the subject.
How do we know polisen means "the police officer" here rather than "the police" in general?
The word polis can refer collectively to the police force, but it is also the standard noun for an individual police officer (en polis). Because having clenched fists on a table is a physical action performed by an individual, context tells us that polisen here means the specific police officer.
Is tyst acting as an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?
How is the compound word knytnävarna built?
It combines the verb root from att knyta (to tie or clench) and the noun en näve (a fist or handful) to make en knytnäve (a clenched fist). The suffix -arna is the regular definite plural ending for nouns in this group, turning it into "the clenched fists".
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