Learn Swedish: Jag vet inte vem som målar samhällskritiken nattetid. - I do not know who paints the social criticism at night.

Jag vet inte vem som målar samhällskritiken nattetid.

I do not know who paints the social criticism at night.

Breakdown of Jag vet inte vem som målar samhällskritiken nattetid.

to know (facts, information)

Questions & Answers about Jag vet inte vem som målar samhällskritiken nattetid.

Why is som required after vem in this sentence? Can I leave it out?

You cannot leave it out. This is an indirect question where vem (who) is the subject of the embedded clause (the one doing the painting). In Swedish, when a question word like vem, vad, or vilken acts as the subject of a dependent clause, you must insert the relative particle som directly after it.

How is samhällskritiken constructed, and why is there an 's' in the middle?

It is a compound word made of samhälle (society) and kritiken (the criticism). The -s- is a linking consonant used to smoothly glue the two nouns together. Notice that while English uses an adjective ('social criticism'), Swedish creates a direct compound meaning 'society criticism'.

Can I say på natten instead of nattetid?

Yes, på natten works perfectly and means 'at night' or 'in the night'. nattetid is a specific adverbial form meaning 'during nighttime hours'. You will often see this useful suffix in other time-of-day adverbs like dagtid (daytime) and kvällstid (evening time).

If I wanted to say 'who does not paint the social criticism', where would inte go?