Breakdown of Varför ingrep aldrig polisen?
aldrig
never
varför
why
polisen
the police officer
ingripa
to intervene
Questions & Answers about Varför ingrep aldrig polisen?
Why does the subject polisen come after the adverb aldrig? Doesn't the subject normally follow the verb in a question?
This happens because of a rule about "subject weight." In inverted clauses—like this question where the verb ingrep comes before the subject—a full noun like polisen is considered "heavy." Heavy subjects often shift to after the sentence adverb (like aldrig or inte). While Varför ingrep polisen aldrig? is grammatically acceptable, putting the heavy subject at the end sounds much more natural in Swedish.
How would the word order change if the subject was the pronoun de (they) instead of polisen?
If you replace the noun with a light, unstressed pronoun like de, it must come before the sentence adverb. The sentence would become: Varför ingrep de aldrig? (Why did they never intervene?).
What is the infinitive form of the verb ingrep?
The infinitive is ingripa (to intervene). It is a strong verb that conjugates just like gripa (to grab/catch): ingripa (infinitive), ingriper (present), ingrep (past), and ingripit (supine).
Why is polisen singular here when English usually treats "the police" as a plural noun?
In Swedish, polisen refers to the police force as an institution and is a singular definite noun. If you were talking about multiple individual police officers on the scene, you would use the plural form poliserna (the police officers), making the sentence: Varför ingrep aldrig poliserna?
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