Breakdown of Stipendiaten tilldelades prissumman, men motiveringen var hemlig.
vara
to be
men
but
hemlig
secret
tilldela
to award
prissumman
the prize money
motiveringen
the justification
stipendiaten
the scholarship holder
Questions & Answers about Stipendiaten tilldelades prissumman, men motiveringen var hemlig.
Why is the passive form tilldelades used when "the scholarship holder" is a person receiving something rather than the thing being given away?
This is a recipient passive. The active version of this sentence would be "Someone awarded the scholarship holder the prize sum" (Någon tilldelade stipendiaten prissumman). In Swedish, just like in English, you can take the recipient (the indirect object) and promote it to be the subject of a passive sentence by using the passive -s ending on the verb.
If this is a passive sentence, why does it still have an object (prissumman)?
The verb tilldela (to award) is ditransitive, meaning it takes two objects: a recipient (who gets it) and a theme (what is given). When we make the recipient (stipendiaten) the subject of our passive sentence, the direct object (prissumman) simply remains exactly where it was.
Could I use the passive construction blev tilldelad instead of tilldelades here?
Yes, absolutely! Stipendiaten blev tilldelad prissumman is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. The -s passive (tilldelades) tends to sound slightly more formal or written, which perfectly matches the official tone of awarding a scholarship.
Motiveringen looks exactly like "the motivation", but the translation says "the justification". Is there a difference?
Yes, a slight one. While it can mean personal motivation, in the context of awards, grades, or official decisions, en motivering specifically refers to the formal statement explaining why a decision was made. Here, it refers to the jury or committee's official "justification" or "explanatory statement" for choosing this specific winner.
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