Breakdown of Även om han var medvetslös, hade han lyckats skicka nödsignalen.
vara
to be
han
he
ha
to have
skicka
to send
Questions & Answers about Även om han var medvetslös, hade han lyckats skicka nödsignalen.
How would we apply a reduced clause (satsförkortning) to the first half of this sentence?
In English, you might reduce this to "Even though unconscious..." or "Being unconscious...". Swedish generally avoids using the present participle varande (being) for this. To reduce the clause in Swedish, you would typically use a prepositional phrase with a noun, such as Trots sin medvetslöshet (Despite his unconsciousness). You could also use the adjective as a free predicative: Medvetslös hade han... (Unconscious, he had...). However, keeping the full clause Även om han var medvetslös is usually the most natural choice here.
Why does the main clause start with hade han instead of han hade?
This is a classic example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Även om han var medvetslös) occupies the first position in the sentence. Because the finite verb must come second, hade directly follows the comma, pushing the subject han into the third position.
Why is there no infinitive marker att before skicka?
The verb lyckas (to succeed/manage) can take an infinitive directly without att. You will also often see and hear it as lyckats med att skicka, which means the exact same thing, but dropping med att is completely correct and very common.
Is lyckats in the passive voice because it ends in an "s"?