Breakdown of Jag vet inte varifrån bilen kommer.
jag
I
bilen
the car
inte
not
veta
to know (facts, information)
komma
to come
varifrån
from where
Questions & Answers about Jag vet inte varifrån bilen kommer.
Can I split varifrån and put the preposition at the end of the sentence, like we do in English?
Yes! In spoken and everyday Swedish, it is actually much more common to split it. You would say Jag vet inte var bilen kommer ifrån (or just från). Using varifrån as a single word at the start of the clause is perfectly correct but sounds a bit more formal and is more typical for written Swedish.
Why is the word order varifrån bilen kommer and not varifrån kommer bilen?
Because this is an indirect question, which acts as a subordinate clause. In a subordinate clause, the subject (bilen) must come before the verb (kommer). If you were asking a direct standalone question, the verb would come before the subject: Varifrån kommer bilen?
If I wanted to say 'I don't know where the car does not come from', where would the second inte go?
It would go before the verb, making it: Jag vet inte varifrån bilen inte kommer. Because an indirect question is a subordinate clause, it follows the BIFF rule, meaning sentence adverbs like inte must be placed before the conjugated verb.
Could I just say från var instead of varifrån?
You should avoid från var. Unlike English 'from where', Swedish strongly prefers combining these into the single adverb varifrån (or splitting them into var ... ifrån as mentioned above). Saying från var bilen kommer sounds very unnatural to a native speaker.
Learn Jag vet inte varifrån bilen kommer 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