Questions & Answers about Att hon inte bryr sig om grannarna!
Why does this sentence start with Att when there is no main clause?
This is an independent exclamatory att-clause. By starting the sentence with Att and leaving out a main clause (such as 'I can't believe' or 'It is shocking'), you express strong astonishment, frustration, or indignation. It implies something like 'I can't believe she doesn't...' or 'To think that she doesn't...'.
Why is inte placed before the verb bryr instead of after it?
Because this sentence starts with Att, it is structurally a subordinate clause and must follow subordinate word order. Swedish uses the BIFF rule for this: in a subordinate clause, sentence adverbs like inte come before the finite verb. Therefore, we say ...att hon inte bryr sig... instead of ...att hon bryr inte sig....
Why is the word sig used here?
The Swedish translation for 'to care about' is the reflexive verb att bry sig om. Because the subject is hon (she), the reflexive pronoun must be sig. If the subject were 'I', the pronoun would change to match it: Att jag inte bryr mig om grannarna!
What would happen to the meaning and word order if we removed Att from the beginning?