Questions & Answers about Sikten var dålig då dimman kom in.
I thought då meant 'then' or 'when'. How do I know it means 'because' here?
While då is commonly an adverb meaning 'then' or 'when', it also functions as a subordinating conjunction meaning 'since' or 'because'. You can usually tell by the context; here, the fog rolling in is clearly the cause of the bad visibility. When used this way, it works just like eftersom.
Can I use eftersom instead of då in this sentence?
Yes, you can. Eftersom dimman kom in works perfectly and is very common. Using då for causality is slightly more formal and is more frequent in written Swedish, literature, or news reports than in casual everyday speech.
Since då introduces a subordinate clause here, does it affect the word order?
Yes! If you needed to use a sentence adverb like inte (not) or kanske (maybe) in the second half of the sentence, it would have to go before the verb kom (following the 'BIFF-rule' you learned earlier). For example: Sikten var bra då dimman inte kom in.
In the phrase kom in, which word gets the spoken stress?
Because komma in acts as a particle verb here (meaning 'to roll in' or 'to move in'), the spoken stress lands heavily on the particle in, rather than the verb kom. This stress pattern is essential in spoken Swedish for distinguishing particle verbs from regular verbs.