Breakdown of Krokodilen påstås leva i avloppet under staden.
i
in
staden
the city
leva
to live (be alive)
under
under
avloppet
the sewer
krokodilen
the crocodile
påstås
to be claimed
Questions & Answers about Krokodilen påstås leva i avloppet under staden.
Why is there no att before leva?
Verbs of reporting or thinking in the passive voice, like påstås (is claimed), sägs (is said), and anses (is considered), take a bare infinitive (an infinitive without att). This structure is similar to the English 'is claimed to live', but Swedish drops the equivalent of 'to'.
Could you rephrase this sentence using an att-clause instead?
Yes! A very common alternative is using the dummy pronoun det (it) as the subject: Det påstås att krokodilen lever i avloppet under staden (It is claimed that the crocodile lives...). Notice that the infinitive leva changes to the present tense lever in the att-clause.
Why is the verb leva used here instead of bo?
While both translate to 'live', bo is used for residing or dwelling at a specific address or in a home (usually for humans). Leva means 'to be alive' or 'to exist' and is the natural choice when talking about animals living in their natural or biological habitats.
How does the word avloppet get the meaning 'sewer' or 'drain'?
It is a compound of the prefix av- (off, away) and lopp (a run, course, or flow, which comes from the verb löpa, meaning to run). So ett avlopp is literally a place where water runs off or drains away.
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