Breakdown of Då fyren har slocknat, stannar de flesta sjöfarare i hamnen.
i
in
ha
to have
stanna
to stay
hamnen
the harbor
Questions & Answers about Då fyren har slocknat, stannar de flesta sjöfarare i hamnen.
Is då used the exact same way as eftersom here?
Yes! In this sentence, då is used as a subordinating conjunction meaning "since" or "because". It works grammatically exactly like eftersom, though då can sound slightly more formal or literary. You can tell it's a conjunction here (and not the adverb "then") because it introduces a subordinate clause that provides the reason for the main clause.
Why does the main clause start with the verb stannar?
This is the classic V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Då fyren har slocknat) counts as the first "block" of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, stannar must come immediately after the comma, pushing the subject (de flesta sjöfarare) to the other side of the verb.
Why is the noun sjöfarare in the indefinite form after de flesta?
The phrase de flesta translates to "most" and it is a special case: it is always followed by a noun in the indefinite plural. As a bonus reminder, sjöfarare (seafarer) is an en-word ending in -are, which means its plural form is identical to its singular form.
Why use slocknat instead of släckt for the lighthouse going out?