Breakdown of På morgonen är det svårt att väcka ett stort, tungt och trött lejon.
vara
to be
ett
a, an (neuter)
det
it (neuter)
och
and
stor
big
tung
heavy
trött
tired
att
to
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
morgonen
the morning
svår
difficult
väcka
to wake
lejonet
the lion
Questions & Answers about På morgonen är det svårt att väcka ett stort, tungt och trött lejon.
How does the End-Weight Principle (Tunga leders princip) show up in this sentence?
The object ett stort, tungt och trött lejon is a heavy noun phrase because it is weighed down by three adjectives. Swedish strongly prefers to place these long, descriptive chunks at the very end of the sentence so the listener does not have to wait to hear the core action (att väcka).
Why do we use det here instead of just starting with the action?
The logical subject of this sentence is actually the entire action: att väcka ett stort, tungt och trött lejon. However, putting that huge block before är svårt would make the sentence top-heavy. Instead, Swedish shifts the heavy clause to the end and inserts a dummy subject (det) in its place to anchor the verb.
Just to refresh, why is the word order är det rather than det är?
Because the sentence starts with the time phrase På morgonen, the V2 (verb-second) rule kicks in. The main verb är must take the second structural position, which forces the subject det to swap places with it.
Why do the adjectives stort, tungt, and trött all end in -t?
They are all modifying ett lejon (a lion). Since lejon is an ett-word (a neuter noun) and the phrase is indefinite singular, every adjective in the list must take the neuter -t ending to agree with it.
Learn På morgonen är det svårt att väcka ett stort, tungt och trött lejon 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