Breakdown of Idrottaren springer oavsett hur terrängen ser ut.
hur
how
springa
to run
se ut
to look, to appear
idrottaren
the athlete
oavsett
regardless of
terrängen
the terrain
Questions & Answers about Idrottaren springer oavsett hur terrängen ser ut.
Why is oavsett followed by a question phrase (hur terrängen ser ut)?
In Swedish, oavsett (regardless of) frequently acts as a conjunction that introduces an indirect question. When you want to express "regardless of how/what/who", you simply place the question word directly after oavsett. Here, it smoothly connects the main clause to the interrogative clause hur terrängen ser ut (how the terrain looks).
What happens to the word order in the clause hur terrängen ser ut?
Because it is an indirect question, it functions as a subordinate clause. This means it requires subordinate word order, where the subject (terrängen) strictly precedes the verb (ser ut). If there were a sentence adverb here, such as inte (not) or alltid (always), it would be placed right before the verb.
Why do we need the word ut at the end of the sentence?
The words ser ut form an inseparable phrasal verb meaning "to look" or "to appear" in a physical sense. If you omitted ut and just wrote ser, the sentence would literally mean "regardless of how the terrain sees" (as if the ground had eyes to look at the athlete), which does not make sense.
Why does the definite noun idrottaren only take an -n at the end instead of -en?
The base indefinite noun is en idrottare (an athlete). For Swedish "en" words that already end in the suffix -are (which usually denote professions or people performing an action), you form the definite singular by just adding -n. This avoids creating a clumsy double vowel sound like "idrottare-en".
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