Breakdown of En sådan pakt är bara ett spel för kameran.
vara
to be
ett
a, an (neuter)
en
a, an (common)
spelet
the game
för
for, to
kameran
the camera
bara
only, just
sådan
such, such a (sådant, sådana)
pakten
the pact
Questions & Answers about En sådan pakt är bara ett spel för kameran.
Why does the article come before sådan here (En sådan pakt)?
In Swedish, the indefinite article always comes before sådan (or its forms sådant/sådana). While English says "Such a pact" (Such + a), Swedish reverses this order: En sådan pakt (A + such).
Could I use the shorter word sån instead of sådan in this sentence?
Absolutely. In everyday speech and casual writing, you will almost always hear en sån pakt. Sådan is the standard written form. Because pakt is an en-word, the correct short form is sån.
The current lesson is about exclamations. Is this sentence considered an exclamation?
Grammatically, this sentence is a normal statement. However, starting a phrase with En sådan... often carries a very emphatic or exasperated tone. If you dropped the rest of the sentence, En sådan pakt! ("Such a pact!" or "What a pact!") becomes a perfect exclamatory phrase exactly like the ones in this lesson.
Is ett spel för kameran the standard Swedish idiom for doing something "just for show"?
While ett spel för kameran works perfectly and makes literal sense here, a much more common and traditional Swedish idiom for doing something purely for appearances is ett spel för galleriet (literally "a play for the gallery").
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