Breakdown of Om jag visste att han blivit åksjuk? Han hade precis spytt!
jag
I
han
he
ha
to have
veta
to know (facts, information)
bli
to become
precis
just
att
that
om
if, whether
åksjuk
carsick
spy
to vomit
Questions & Answers about Om jag visste att han blivit åksjuk? Han hade precis spytt!
Why does the first sentence start with Om when it translates to 'Did I'?
This is an echo response. When someone asks a yes/no question like 'Visste du att...' (Did you know that...), you can react strongly by repeating their premise as an 'if' clause. Starting with Om literally means 'If I knew...?' but functions as an emphatic 'Are you really asking if I knew...?'.
Where is the word for 'had' in att han blivit åksjuk? Shouldn't it be hade blivit?
It is perfectly fine to say hade blivit, but Swedish allows you to drop the auxiliary verb ha or hade when it appears in a subordinate clause (like this one starting with att). This is a very common feature in Swedish known as dropping the 'ha', or 'ha-bortfall'.
Does åksjuk apply to all types of motion sickness?
Mostly, yes. It combines åka (to travel/ride) and sjuk (sick), and is heavily used for being carsick, bus-sick, or train-sick. However, if someone gets sick on a boat, you would usually use sjösjuk (seasick), and on a plane, flygsjuk (airsick).
Is spytt a slang word for throwing up?
The verb spy (supine: spytt) is very common and colloquial, much like 'puke' or 'throw up' in English. A slightly more formal or medical alternative would be kräkas (to vomit), but spy is perfectly natural here given the emotional, emphatic tone of the speaker.
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