Breakdown of Du borde inte stänga dig inne hela dagen.
du
you (singular)
inte
not
dagen
the day
hel
whole
böra
should, ought to
stänga sig inne
to shut oneself in
Questions & Answers about Du borde inte stänga dig inne hela dagen.
Why does dig come right in the middle of stänga and inne?
In Swedish, stänga inne acts as a particle verb. When a particle verb is reflexive, you must sandwich the reflexive pronoun (here, dig) between the verb and the particle. You cannot say stänga inne dig.
Why is the particle inne used here instead of in?
While in implies movement into a place, inne describes the static state of being inside. The expression stänga sig inne emphasizes the result of the action—keeping yourself shut indoors—rather than the physical movement of going inside.
I sometimes get confused by where to put inte. Why is it before stänga in this sentence?
Because this main clause uses an auxiliary verb (borde). The standard word order is to place the negation inte right after the first conjugated verb (borde) and before the main infinitive verb (stänga).
Why does "all day" translate to hela dagen with the noun in the definite form?
When you use hela to mean "the whole" or "all of a" singular thing, the noun that follows must always take its definite form. Therefore, "all day" is hela dagen, not hela dag.
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