Breakdown of Kanske vi bygger upp tilliten med omsorgen.
vi
we
kanske
maybe / perhaps
med
with
bygga upp
to build up
omsorgen
the care
tilliten
the trust (reliance)
Questions & Answers about Kanske vi bygger upp tilliten med omsorgen.
Why is the word order Kanske vi bygger instead of Kanske bygger vi? I thought starting a sentence with an adverb triggered the V2 rule!
You are right that starting a sentence with an adverb usually forces the verb into the second position (V2). However, kanske is a major exception. Because it originally evolved from the phrase kan ske (can happen), it often functions almost like a conjunction when placed at the beginning of a sentence. This allows the subject to come before the verb, creating V3 word order (Kanske vi bygger). Using V2 here (Kanske bygger vi) is also perfectly correct, but V3 is extremely common and natural with this specific word.
Can I place kanske somewhere else in this sentence?
Yes! If you start the sentence with the subject Vi, then kanske behaves like a standard sentence adverb and takes the mid-sentence position, right after the main verb: Vi bygger kanske upp tilliten med omsorgen.
Is bygger upp a phrasal verb, and does the particle upp always go right after the verb?
Yes, bygga upp is a phrasal verb meaning to build up. When the object of the sentence is a full noun like tilliten, the particle upp usually stays right next to the verb. If the object were a simple pronoun like den (it), the pronoun would traditionally slip between the verb and the particle: Vi bygger den upp (though keeping the phrasal verb together as Vi bygger upp den is also widely accepted in modern everyday Swedish).
Why do abstract nouns like tillit (trust) and omsorg (care) take the definite form here?
While the English translation happens to use 'the' in this specific example, it is a great reminder that Swedish strongly prefers the definite form for abstract concepts when they refer to a specific, established context (like the specific trust within a given relationship). Furthermore, even when speaking completely generally about concepts like life, death, or trust, Swedish will often use the definite form (tilliten) where English would just use the bare uncountable noun ('trust').
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