Breakdown of Gud vare tack för den här underbara dagen.
vara
to be
dagen
the day
för
for, to
den här
this (en)
tack
thanks, thank you
underbar
wonderful
Gud
God
Questions & Answers about Gud vare tack för den här underbara dagen.
Why is the verb form vare used instead of är here?
Vare is the optative form (also called the present subjunctive) of the verb vara (to be). It is an old-fashioned form used to express a wish, hope, or blessing, much like the word be in the English translation Thanks be to God. In modern Swedish, you will only see the optative mood in fixed expressions like this one.
Doesn't the phrase tack vare mean thanks to? Is that related?
Yes, good catch! The everyday preposition tack vare (meaning thanks to) comes from this exact historical grammar, originally meaning thanks be to. In this sentence, the words appear as Gud vare tack, which more literally translates as to God be thanks.
In the phrase Gud vare tack, which word is the grammatical subject?
The grammatical subject is actually tack (thanks). Older Swedish syntax allowed for an implied indirect object without a preposition, so Gud acts as to God. This flexible word order is a relic of Old Swedish that survives almost exclusively in these fixed religious or poetic exclamations.
Just to refresh, why is it dagen and not just dag after den här underbara?
This is the Swedish double definite rule in action. When using demonstrative pronouns like den här (this) or den där (that), Swedish requires both the independent definite article (den) before the adjective and the definite suffix attached to the noun itself (-en).
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