Breakdown of Är godhet verkligen universellt, eller beror det på kulturen?
vara
to be
eller
or
verkligen
really
det beror på
it depends on
kulturen
the culture
godheten
the goodness
universell
universal
Questions & Answers about Är godhet verkligen universellt, eller beror det på kulturen?
Why is universellt in the neuter form when godhet is an en-word?
This is an example of categorizing neuter agreement. Even though godhet is a common-gender noun (an en-word), we use the neuter adjective universellt because we are talking about goodness as a general, abstract concept or phenomenon. It is like saying 'the concept of goodness is a universal thing.'
Why does the sentence use the pronoun det to refer back to godhet instead of den?
This matches the categorizing neuter used in the first half of the sentence. Because godhet is being treated as a broad, abstract phenomenon rather than a specific, concrete instance of kindness, the pronoun used to refer back to it defaults to the neuter det.
Is the preposition på required after beror?
Yes! The verb bero must be paired with på to mean 'depend on' or 'be due to.' Bero på is a highly common phrasal verb, and leaving out på would make the sentence sound incomplete.
After the conjunction eller, why is the word order beror det rather than det beror?
Eller is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it connects two equal main clauses. Since the entire sentence is a question, both main clauses follow standard question word order where the verb comes before the subject. Therefore, we say beror det.
Learn Är godhet verkligen universellt, eller beror det på kulturen 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