Word
Du borde ha justerat sitsen hitåt, inte ditåt.
Meaning
You should have adjusted the seat this way, not that way.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Du borde ha justerat sitsen hitåt, inte ditåt.
du
you (singular)
inte
not
ha
to have
böra
should, ought to
Questions & Answers about Du borde ha justerat sitsen hitåt, inte ditåt.
Why use hitåt and ditåt in this sentence instead of just hit and dit?
The words hit and dit imply moving to a specific, exact destination. Adding the suffix -åt changes them into general directions or trajectories, meaning "this way" and "that way". When adjusting a seat, you usually move it in a general direction rather than to one precise endpoint, making hitåt and ditåt the most natural choices here.
Why can't I add -åt to static location words to make häråt and däråt?
The suffix -åt expresses movement along a trajectory. Because of this, it is only attached to spatial adverbs that already imply motion, like hit, dit, in, and upp. The words här and där are static, meaning they describe already being in a location rather than moving towards it, so they never take the -åt suffix.
How is the past obligation "should have adjusted" constructed in borde ha justerat?
It translates directly word-for-word just like in English. You use borde, which is the past tense form of the modal verb böra (ought to/should). This is followed by the infinitive ha (have) and the supine form of the main verb, justerat (adjusted).
Why is the word for "the seat" here rather than ?