Breakdown of Mörkläggningen ska ha börjat direkt efter olyckan.
ha
to have
börja
to start
efter
after
olyckan
the accident
Questions & Answers about Mörkläggningen ska ha börjat direkt efter olyckan.
Why is ska ha börjat translated as "reportedly began" instead of "will have begun"?
While ska often indicates the future tense, it is also used to express hearsay or unverified reports, meaning "is said to" or "reportedly." When paired with ha and a supinum verb like börjat, it specifically refers to a reported event in the past ("is said to have begun"). This is very common in Swedish news reporting.
How does the word mörkläggningen translate to "the cover-up"?
This noun is formed from mörk (dark) and läggning (placing or laying). A mörkläggning literally means "making something dark." It was originally used for physical blackouts (like covering windows during an air raid) and is now the standard metaphorical term for a cover-up or keeping information in the dark.
Could I use lär ha börjat instead of ska ha börjat to mean the same thing?
They are very close in meaning and both express uncertainty about a past event, but there is a subtle difference. Ska ha börjat specifically implies hearsay ("people say it began" or "it is reported to have begun"). Lär ha börjat leans slightly more toward probability or the speaker's own deduction ("it likely began" or "it is supposed to have begun"). For a news-style sentence about an accident, ska is the most natural fit.
If I wanted to emphasize when it happened by starting with Direkt efter olyckan, how would the word order change?