Breakdown of Om du hade övat igår, skulle origamin vara enkel nu.
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
nu
now
ha
to have
igår
yesterday
enkel
simple
om
if, whether
skulle
would
öva
to practice
origamin
the origami
Questions & Answers about Om du hade övat igår, skulle origamin vara enkel nu.
Why do we use hade övat in the first half but skulle vara in the second?
This is a mixed unreal conditional. It links a hypothetical past event (om du hade övat, meaning "if you had practiced") with a hypothetical present result (skulle... vara, meaning "would be"). If the result were also in the past, you would use skulle ha varit ("would have been").
Why does the verb skulle come before the subject origamin in the main clause?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire "if" clause (Om du hade övat igår) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position overall, the main clause must start with the verb (skulle), followed by the subject (origamin).
Why does the sentence use origamin with an -n at the end?
Why is the adjective enkel used instead of enkelt?
The adjective has to agree with the noun it describes. Since origamin is an en-word, the adjective takes the basic en-word form, enkel. If it were describing an ett-word, it would be enkelt.
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