Breakdown of Varje smaklök känns helt förlamad.
kännas
to feel (to have a certain feel, to seem)
varje
every, each
helt
completely
förlamad
paralyzed
smaklöken
the taste bud
Questions & Answers about Varje smaklök känns helt förlamad.
Why do we use helt here instead of a common word like väldigt or mycket?
Because förlamad (paralyzed) is a non-gradable adjective. You either are paralyzed or you are not, so you cannot logically be 'very' paralyzed. Instead, Swedish uses absolute modifiers like helt (completely) or totalt (totally) to show that the condition applies 100 percent.
Why does the verb känns have an -s at the end? Could I just use känner?
The -s makes this a passive-like verb describing a state of being. Känns means that something 'feels' or 'seems' a certain way to the speaker. If you used the active verb känner, it would mean the taste bud itself is reaching out to touch something or experiencing emotions!
Doesn't lök usually mean onion? What is it doing in smaklök?
Yes, it does! A smaklök literally translates to a 'taste onion'. In Swedish anatomical terms, small bulbous structures are often called lökar, very similar to how English uses the word 'bulb' for both plants and body parts.
Why is smaklök in the singular indefinite form when a person has many taste buds?
The pronoun varje (every) must always be followed by a noun in the singular indefinite form. Even though it refers to all of them collectively, the grammar treats them one by one, exactly like how we say 'every taste bud' in English instead of 'every taste buds'.
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