Breakdown of Motståndarlaget hade visserligen rätt, men de var för långsamma.
vara
to be
de
they
långsam
slow
ha
to have
rätt
right
men
but
för
too
visserligen
admittedly
motståndarlaget
the opposing team
Questions & Answers about Motståndarlaget hade visserligen rätt, men de var för långsamma.
Why does the sentence use the plural de and långsamma to refer to motståndarlaget, which is a singular ett-word?
Even though laget (the team) is grammatically a singular ett-word, it refers to a group of people. In Swedish, it is very common to make pronouns and adjectives agree with the meaning rather than the strict grammar when dealing with collective nouns. Since a team is made up of multiple players, the sentence switches to the plural pronoun de and the plural adjective långsamma. Strict grammatical agreement (det var för långsamt) is also correct, but the plural often feels more natural in everyday speech.
How does the word visserligen work here, and is it always used with men?
Visserligen translates to "admittedly" or "it is true that". It is an adverb used to concede a point right before introducing a contrast or counter-argument. Because of this built-in contrast, it is very frequently paired with a conjunction like men (but) or fast (even though) later in the sentence to complete the thought.
How is the compound word motståndarlaget built from its root words?
It combines motståndare (opponent) and laget (the team). When creating a compound word with a noun that ends in -are, Swedish typically drops the final -e. This gives us the combining form motståndar-, which attaches directly to the front of laget.
Why does the Swedish sentence say hade rätt instead of var rätt for "was right"?
In Swedish, a person or group does not "be" right; they "have" right. The required set phrase for being correct is att ha rätt. If you were to write de var rätt, it would mean they were the correct or appropriate team to choose, rather than meaning their thoughts or statements were factually correct.
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