Breakdown of Den bottenlösa lådan var full av ägarlösa prylar när jag rotat klart.
jag
I
vara
to be
när
when
den
the (with en-words)
lådan
the box
av
of, by / from (cause)
klar
ready / finished (doing something)
full
full; drunk
ägarlös
ownerless
bottenlös
bottomless
prylen
the item (gadget, thing)
rota
to rummage
Questions & Answers about Den bottenlösa lådan var full av ägarlösa prylar när jag rotat klart.
Why is it när jag rotat klart instead of när jag hade rotat klart?
In Swedish subordinate clauses (clauses starting with words like när, att, or som), the auxiliary verb har or hade is often dropped. This is very common in written Swedish and formal speech. You could include hade here, but dropping it is perfectly correct.
How does the phrase rotat klart work? Can I use klart with other verbs to mean 'finished'?
Yes! Adding klart immediately after a verb is a very common and natural way to say you have finished an action. For example, you can say jag har ätit klart (I have finished eating) or när vi har jobbat klart (when we have finished working).
Why do the adjectives bottenlös (bottomless) and ägarlös (ownerless) end in -a here?
They take the -a ending for two different reasons. Den bottenlösa lådan uses the -a because it is in the definite form (matching den and the definite noun lådan). Ägarlösa prylar takes the -a because the noun prylar is plural.
If I wanted to say the box was 'full of everything', should I use allt or allting?
You could use either! Since 'everything' acts as a standalone noun here (the object of the preposition av), you can use the exclusively nominal form allting (full av allting). The shorter dual-purpose form allt also works perfectly in this context.
Is it always full av, or could I say full med?
Both full av and full med are correct and extremely common when talking about physical objects filling a space. You could absolutely say full med ägarlösa prylar here with no change in meaning.
Learn Den bottenlösa lådan var full av ägarlösa prylar när jag rotat klart 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