Breakdown of Du verkar missbedöma hur illa de missköter projektet.
du
you (singular)
de
they
hur
how
projektet
the project
verka
to seem, to appear
illa
badly
missköta
to mismanage
missbedöma
to misjudge
Questions & Answers about Du verkar missbedöma hur illa de missköter projektet.
The verbs missbedöma and missköter both use the prefix miss-. Does it work exactly like the English prefix 'mis-'?
Yes, it works very similarly. In Swedish, the prefix miss- is added to verbs and nouns to indicate that something is done wrongly, poorly, or has a negative outcome. Here, bedöma (to judge or assess) becomes missbedöma (to misjudge), and sköta (to manage or care for) becomes missköta (to mismanage or neglect).
Where does the stress fall when pronouncing words with the miss- prefix like missbedöma?
In Swedish, the prefix miss- generally takes the primary stress. You should pronounce them as MISS-bedöma and MISS-köter, rather than stressing the root verb. This is a common trap for English speakers who naturally want to stress the second part of the word, like in the English 'mis-JUDGE'.
Why does the sentence use illa for 'badly' instead of dåligt?
While dåligt is a very common word for 'badly', illa is often preferred when describing how an action is performed in a severely negative, harmful, or improper way. It pairs very naturally with verbs that already describe a failure or negative action, such as missköter.
In the clause hur illa de missköter projektet, what would happen to the word order if we wanted to say they 'do not' mismanage it?
Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by the question phrase hur illa, it must follow the BIFF rule. This means the sentence adverb inte (not) has to be placed before the finite verb. It would become hur illa de inte missköter projektet.
Learn Du verkar missbedöma hur illa de missköter projektet 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