Breakdown of Vi bad honom ändra sitt upplägg.
vi
we
honom
him
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
ändra
to change (alter, modify)
be
to ask for, to request
upplägget
the setup
Questions & Answers about Vi bad honom ändra sitt upplägg.
How does the noun upplägg connect to this lesson's topic on particle verbs?
It is created from the particle verb lägga upp (to set up or arrange). To turn it into a noun, the particle upp is shifted to the front and attached directly to the verb stem lägg. This gives us the neuter noun ett upplägg, meaning a setup, plan, or arrangement.
Why does the sentence use sitt instead of hans, given that the main subject is vi?
This is a tricky rule regarding logical subjects! Even though vi (we) is the grammatical subject of the main sentence, honom (him) is the one actually performing the action of changing (ändra). Because he is the 'logical subject' of that specific action, the reflexive possessive sitt is used to show that he is changing his own setup, not some other guy's setup.
Why is there no att before the infinitive verb ändra?
The verb be (to ask or request) can take an object followed directly by a bare infinitive, much like how we say 'make him change' in English rather than 'make him to change'. While vi bad honom att ändra is also grammatically correct and sometimes heard, dropping the att is extremely common and natural in this construction.
Could we use frågade instead of bad since both translate to 'asked'?
No, because they are used for entirely different types of asking. You use fråga when you are asking a question to get information. You use be (past tense bad) when you are requesting that someone do something or asking for a favor. Since we are asking him to perform an action, bad is the only correct choice here.
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