Breakdown of Kompressionen måste vara djup för att hjärtat ska pumpa.
vara
to be
måste
to have to, must
ska
will
för
for, to
djup
deep
att
that
hjärtat
the heart
pumpa
to pump
kompressionen
the compression
Questions & Answers about Kompressionen måste vara djup för att hjärtat ska pumpa.
Why is it för att hjärtat ska pumpa instead of just using an infinitive?
When expressing purpose ('in order to' or 'so that'), you use för att + infinitive if the subject is the same in both clauses. However, in this sentence, the main subject is kompressionen (the compression) and the second subject is hjärtat (the heart). Because the subjects are different, för att must introduce a full subordinate clause, requiring a subject and a finite verb like ska.
Could we say för att hjärtat pumpar without using ska?
You can, but adding ska (or skulle in past tense contexts) is much more natural and common in Swedish for this type of clause. It strongly emphasizes the intended outcome or purpose, similar to saying 'so that the heart will pump' in English.
Why is the adjective djup used instead of djupt?
Adjectives in Swedish must agree with the noun they describe. The word kompression is an en-word, so djup remains in its base form to match kompressionen. If it were describing an ett-word, it would be djupt.
How does the word hjärtat get its definite ending?
Hjärta is an ett-word that ends in a vowel. To make it definite ('the heart'), you simply add a -t to the end, making it hjärtat.
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