Breakdown of Demonstrationen blev våldsam när en fyrtio personer började bråka.
en
a, an (common)
börja
to start
när
when
fyrtio
forty
bli
to become
bråka
to argue
personen
the person (an individual)
demonstrationen
the demonstration
våldsam
violent
Questions & Answers about Demonstrationen blev våldsam när en fyrtio personer började bråka.
Why does the sentence use the singular article en before the plural fyrtio personer?
Putting en before a number is a common Swedish way to express an approximate amount. In this sentence, en fyrtio personer means "about forty people" or "some forty people."
Would we use ett instead of en if the noun was an ett-word, like barn (children)?
No, you still use en. In this specific structure for estimating quantities, en is fixed. It functions more like an adverb (meaning "approximately") than a normal article, so it doesn't change to match the gender of the noun. You would still say en fyrtio barn.
Bråka translates to "fighting" here. Can it also mean arguing?
Yes, bråka is a very broad word. It can mean anything from verbal arguing and bickering to physical fighting or just generally causing trouble. Because the sentence mentions the demonstration became våldsam (violent), we can tell the bråka here involves physical fighting or rioting.
Why use blev instead of var?
Blev is the past tense of bli (to become/to get). It highlights a change in state. The demonstration wasn't violent at the beginning, but it turned violent when the group started fighting. Using var (was) would imply it was a violent event the whole time.
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