Breakdown of Vi kan inte vara spontana eftersom vi får ett bord först nästa vecka.
vara
to be
ett
a, an (neuter)
vi
we
bordet
the table
inte
not
kunna
to be able to, can
nästa
next
veckan
the week
eftersom
since, because
få
to get, receive
först
not until
spontan
spontaneous
Questions & Answers about Vi kan inte vara spontana eftersom vi får ett bord först nästa vecka.
Why does the Swedish sentence use the affirmative först when the English translation uses the negative "not until"?
When talking about time, först indicates that something happens later than expected. While English uses a negative construction ("will not get a table until"), Swedish frames this affirmatively as getting the table "only at" or "first at" that time. You don't need a negative word like inte here in Swedish.
Could we use inte förrän instead of först to mean "not until" here?
Yes, but you would have to change the sentence structure to make it negative. Först is used in affirmative clauses. If you use förrän, the clause must be negative: vi får inte ett bord förrän nästa vecka. Both mean the same thing, but this lesson focuses on the very common affirmative först.
Why is spontana plural here when there is no plural noun immediately next to it?
Adjectives must agree with the noun or pronoun they describe, even when they act as a description after a verb like vara (to be). Since it describes the plural subject vi (we), the adjective spontan must take the plural ending -a.
Why is the present tense verb får used for an event happening next week?
In Swedish, it is very common to use the simple present tense to talk about the future, as long as there is a clear future time marker in the sentence. Here, nästa vecka (next week) makes it clear that får (get) refers to the future, so you don't need a future helper verb like kommer att.
Learn Vi kan inte vara spontana eftersom vi får ett bord först nästa vecka and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free