Breakdown of Flera sökande förvägrades forskningsbidraget.
flera
several
sökanden
the applicant
förvägra
to deny (withhold)
forskningsbidraget
the research grant
Questions & Answers about Flera sökande förvägrades forskningsbidraget.
How does the grammar work when flera sökande (the recipient) becomes the subject of förvägrades?
Förvägra (to deny) is a ditransitive verb, meaning it takes two objects: a recipient (who is denied) and a direct object (what is denied). In the active voice, you would say someone denied the applicants the grant. In this sentence, the recipient (flera sökande) has been promoted to the subject of the passive verb (förvägrades), while the direct object (forskningsbidraget) stays right where it is. This perfectly mirrors how English handles a sentence like "Several applicants were denied the grant."
Why doesn't the word sökande have a plural ending after flera?
Sökande is actually the present participle of the verb söka (to seek or apply), acting here as a noun for "applicant." When Swedish nouns are formed from present participles ending in -ande or -ende and refer to people, they do not change form in the plural. Therefore, en sökande (one applicant) stays exactly the same as flera sökande (several applicants).
What is the difference between förvägra and the more common verb neka?
While both can translate to "deny," förvägra strongly implies actively withholding something that a person asked for or might feel entitled to. It is highly common in formal, administrative, or legal contexts (like withholding grants, rights, or permissions) and works very naturally in this double-object structure. Nekades could also be used here, but förvägrades sounds slightly more formal and emphasizes the act of withholding the funds.
Why is there an -s- in the middle of forskningsbidraget?
This is a linking -s- used to join the two parts of the compound word: forskning (research) and bidraget (the grant). As a reliable rule of thumb, if the first word in a Swedish compound ends in the suffix -ning (like forskning, läsning, or övning), an -s- is almost always required before attaching the second word.
Learn Flera sökande förvägrades forskningsbidraget and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free