Breakdown of Varken kunden eller säkerhetsvakten agerade hysteriskt i köpcentret sedan.
i
in
sedan
then
eller
or
kunden
the customer
varken
neither
agera
to act
köpcentret
the shopping center
hysteriskt
hysterically
säkerhetsvakten
the security guard
Questions & Answers about Varken kunden eller säkerhetsvakten agerade hysteriskt i köpcentret sedan.
Notice the order of the last three phrases: hysteriskt, i köpcentret, sedan. Is this order mandatory?
Yes, this follows the standard Manner-Place-Time rule in Swedish. When you have multiple adverbs in the end-field of a sentence, they generally line up by how the action was done (hysteriskt / hysterically), where it happened (i köpcentret / in the shopping center), and when it happened (sedan / afterwards).
Why isn't there an inte (not) in this sentence to show that they didn't act hysterically?
The phrase varken ... eller (neither ... nor) is inherently negative. Unlike some other negative phrasing in Swedish, you do not add an extra inte to the verb. Adding one would create an incorrect double negative.
If I wanted to emphasize sedan by moving it to the front, how would the word order change?
Moving sedan to the front triggers the V2 rule, meaning the verb (agerade) must come exactly second. The entire coordinated subject must stay together and move after the verb: Sedan agerade varken kunden eller säkerhetsvakten hysteriskt i köpcentret.
Could I use efteråt instead of sedan for "afterwards" here?
Yes, efteråt works perfectly here and is a very clear translation for "afterwards". Sedan is a bit broader and can mean "then", "later", or "afterwards", but in this Time slot at the very end of the sentence, they are practically interchangeable.
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