Breakdown of Både arbetsgivarna och arbetarna förkastade förslaget, vilket var oväntat.
vara
to be
och
and
vilket
which (ett) / what a (ett-word, exclamatory)
både
both
förslaget
the suggestion
oväntad
unexpected
arbetaren
the worker
arbetsgivaren
the employer
förkasta
to reject (ideas, proposals)
Questions & Answers about Både arbetsgivarna och arbetarna förkastade förslaget, vilket var oväntat.
Why is the plural definite form arbetarna instead of arbetarena?
This sentence features two Group 5 nouns ending in -are: en arbetsgivare (an employer) and en arbetare (a worker). When making these nouns definite in the plural, they drop the final -e before adding the -na ending. So instead of the clunky-sounding arbetarena, the -e- is dropped (a process called syncopation) to create arbetarna. The exact same rule applies to arbetsgivarna.
Could I use som instead of vilket to mean "which" here?
In this sentence, vilket refers back to the entire preceding clause (the fact that both sides rejected the proposal), not just to the noun förslaget. While som is the most common word for "which" or "that", it is usually used to refer to a specific noun. When referring to a whole situation or event, vilket is the correct choice.
Why does the adjective oväntat end in a -t?
It has to agree grammatically with the relative pronoun vilket. Because vilket refers to a whole clause (the rejection of the proposal) rather than an en-word, it acts as a neuter concept. Therefore, the adjective oväntad (unexpected) must take the neuter -t ending to become oväntat.
What is the difference between förkasta and vägra?
Förkasta means "to reject" or "to discard," and it is usually applied to ideas, offers, or proposals (like förslaget here). Vägra means "to refuse" and is typically followed by an action, such as refusing to do something. Since the workers and employers are rejecting a proposed idea rather than refusing to perform an action, förkastade is the right word.
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