Breakdown of Polisen meddelade att de skulle avsluta presskonferensen där den kvällen.
de
they
där
there
kvällen
the evening
polisen
the police officer
den
the (with en-words)
att
that
skulle
would
meddela
to announce
presskonferensen
the press conference
avsluta
to end
Questions & Answers about Polisen meddelade att de skulle avsluta presskonferensen där den kvällen.
If the police were speaking directly, they probably said "i kväll" (tonight). Why does that change to den kvällen here?
Because the main reporting verb meddelade (announced) is in the past tense. When reporting speech in the past, time expressions must shift to match the narrator's perspective. The direct word i kväll (this evening/tonight) becomes den kvällen (that evening).
Does där (there) also come from a shifted perspective?
Yes! In direct speech, the police would have said här (here). Since the person reporting the statement is no longer in that physical location, här shifts to där (there) to match the narrator's new perspective.
Why is the verb skulle avsluta (would end) used instead of ska avsluta (will end)?
This is a tense shift caused by the past-tense reporting verb meddelade. If the police originally said vi ska avsluta (we will end), the indirect speech shifts the future tense ska to the past future skulle (would) to maintain the past-tense perspective.
Polisen is grammatically singular. Why does the sentence use the plural pronoun de (they) later on?
Polisen is a collective noun that can mean either a single police officer or the entire police force. When referring to the police as a group of people, it is very common and natural in Swedish to switch to the plural pronoun de (they), exactly as you do in English.
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