Breakdown of Är illusionen i sig problemet?
vara
to be
i
in
problemet
the problem
sig
oneself / himself / herself / themselves
illusionen
the illusion
Questions & Answers about Är illusionen i sig problemet?
Why do we use sig in the phrase i sig here, even though illusionen isn't a person doing an action?
In Swedish, the reflexive pronoun sig isn't just for people. It is used as a generic 'itself' for abstract concepts or inanimate objects. Here, i sig acts as an emphatic phrase attached directly to illusionen, meaning 'in itself' or 'per se'.
Could I move i sig to the end of the sentence: Är illusionen problemet i sig?
You should always keep i sig directly after the noun it emphasizes. While putting it at the end might be understood, keeping it right after illusionen makes it crystal clear that 'the illusion' is the thing being evaluated 'in itself', rather than 'the problem'.
Would the phrase change to i sitt if we emphasized an ett-word (like problemet) instead of illusionen?
Can i sig also mean 'by itself' in the sense of 'alone' or 'unassisted'?
No, i sig strictly means 'in itself' (inherently). If you wanted to say something was standing 'by itself' in a literal or physical sense (alone), you would use för sig själv.
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