Breakdown of Såvitt han känner till finns det ingen ohyra bakom den där ugnen.
han
he
det finns
there is, there are
ingen
no, none (en-word)
den där
that (en)
ugnen
the oven
bakom
behind
känna till
to know of, to be aware of
såvitt
as far as
ohyran
the vermin
Questions & Answers about Såvitt han känner till finns det ingen ohyra bakom den där ugnen.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with finns det instead of det finns?
The sentence begins with a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction såvitt (as far as). In Swedish, an entire clause at the beginning of a sentence counts as the first piece of information. Because of the V2 rule (the verb must come second), the main clause verb finns has to come immediately after the comma, swapping places with the subject det.
Could I say såvitt han vet instead of såvitt han känner till?
Yes, såvitt han vet is perfectly fine and means the exact same thing (as far as he knows). The phrasal verb känner till translates more closely to 'is aware of' or 'knows about', which emphasizes his awareness of the specific situation behind the oven.
What type of noun is ohyra, and why does it use ingen instead of inget?
Ohyra (vermin or pests) is an en-word, which is why it takes the form ingen. It is a collective, uncountable noun—similar to 'vermin' or 'furniture' in English. You don't use it in the plural; it simply refers to pests in general as a concept.
Why is ugn in the definite form (ugnen) after den där?
In standard Swedish, when you use the demonstrative phrases den här (this) or den där (that), the noun that follows must be in its definite form. Therefore, it has to be den där ugnen (literally 'that there the oven'), not just den där ugn.
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