Breakdown of Kocken höll på att slinta med kniven och skada sig.
och
and
kocken
the chef
kniven
the knife
med
with
hålla på att
to almost do (averted action)
slinta
to slip (with a tool)
skada sig
to injure oneself
Questions & Answers about Kocken höll på att slinta med kniven och skada sig.
Doesn't 'hålla på att' usually mean 'to be doing' something? Why does it mean 'almost' here?
You are right that in the present tense, håller på att usually creates a continuous meaning, like 'is doing'. But in the past tense (höll på att), it very frequently describes an averted action—something that was right on the verge of happening, but ultimately did not. In English, we translate this as 'almost' or 'was about to'.
Why use slinta for 'slip'? Couldn't we use halka?
In Swedish, halka is used when you lose your footing on a slippery surface, like ice or a wet floor. Slinta, on the other hand, is used when a tool, hand, or object slips out of its grip or intended path. Since the chef slipped with a knife, slinta is the correct verb to use here.
Why is there no att before skada?
It is left out because skada is linked directly to slinta by the word och (and). They are both infinitives governed by the same höll på att. When you have multiple infinitives in a row sharing the same setup, you only need to put att before the first one.
As a quick refresher, why do we use sig instead of honom at the end?
Because the chef almost injured himself. Whenever the object of the action is the same person as the subject of the sentence (in this case, Kocken), Swedish uses the reflexive pronoun sig for the third person. If the sentence said skada honom, it would mean the chef almost injured a completely different man.
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