Breakdown of Forskaren sa att de skulle publicera resultatet veckan därpå.
de
they
veckan
the week
säga
to say
att
that
forskaren
the researcher
resultatet
the result
skulle
would
publicera
to publish
därpå
following
Questions & Answers about Forskaren sa att de skulle publicera resultatet veckan därpå.
Why use veckan därpå instead of nästa vecka?
This is the core of reported speech in the past tense. If the researcher originally said, "We will publish the results next week" (nästa vecka), we have to shift the time perspective when reporting it later. If we used nästa vecka now, it would mean the week after today. Veckan därpå means "the following week" relative to when the researcher actually spoke.
Why is the verb skulle publicera rather than ska publicera?
Because the main reporting verb sa (said) is in the past tense, the verbs in the reported speech usually take a step back in time. The original direct quote was likely "Vi ska publicera..." (We will publish...). In indirect past-tense speech, ska shifts to its past form, skulle (would).
How exactly does the word därpå work here?
Därpå is a compound of där (there) and på (on), literally meaning "thereupon" or "after that". It is the standard way to shift "next" into a past-tense narrative. You will frequently see it in set phrases like dagen därpå (the following day) and året därpå (the following year). Notice that the time word before it must be in the definite form (veckan, not en vecka).
Since forskaren is singular, who does de refer to here?
Most likely, de refers to the researcher's team or institution. While English frequently uses "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, Swedish typically uses hen for individuals. Because of this, a Swedish reader will naturally interpret de as a plural "they", understanding that the researcher was originally speaking on behalf of a group ("We will publish...").
Learn Forskaren sa att de skulle publicera resultatet veckan därpå 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