Breakdown of Jag vet inte varifrån de fick idén att mötesrummet inte heller var bokat.
jag
I
vara
to be
de
they
inte
not
veta
to know (facts, information)
idén
the idea
att
that
boka
to book
heller
either (in negative sentences, e.g. not either)
få
to get, receive
varifrån
from where
mötesrummet
the meeting room
Questions & Answers about Jag vet inte varifrån de fick idén att mötesrummet inte heller var bokat.
Why does inte heller come before the verb var in this sentence?
This part of the sentence is a subordinate clause starting with att (that). In Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like inte and heller must be placed before the first verb. This is often remembered by the BIFF rule (I Bisats kommer Inte Före Första verbet). So, inte heller is grouped together and goes right before var.
Is it always inte heller, or could the order be reversed to heller inte?
You should stick to inte heller. It is the standard, most natural-sounding order to mean "not either" or "neither". While you might occasionally hear native speakers say heller inte in casual speech or to add special emphasis, inte heller is the grammatically standard pairing that you should use.
Could I split varifrån and put the preposition somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes, in spoken or casual Swedish, it is very common to split it and say var de fick idén från (or ifrån). Keeping it together as varifrån at the beginning of the clause is slightly more formal and is very common in written Swedish.
Why does bokat end in a -t here?
The word bokat is the perfect participle of the verb boka (to book), and here it functions like an adjective describing the state of the room. Since it describes mötesrummet, which is an ett-word, it must take the neuter -t ending to agree with it.
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