Breakdown of Så länge du bär ut soporna får du titta på teven.
du
you (singular)
titta på
to look at
få
to be allowed to, may
bära ut
to carry out
teven
the TV
så länge
as long as
soporna
the garbage
Questions & Answers about Så länge du bär ut soporna får du titta på teven.
The lesson is about så länge som, but som is missing here. Is it always optional?
Yes! Just like how "that" can often be dropped in English, the som in så länge som is frequently omitted in everyday Swedish, especially when it introduces a condition. Both Så länge du bär ut soporna and Så länge som du bär ut soporna are perfectly correct.
Why does the second half of the sentence invert the word order to får du instead of du får?
This is the classic V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire subordinate clause (Så länge du bär ut soporna) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. Therefore, the main verb (får) must come right after it in the second position, followed by the subject (du).
Får usually means "get", so how do we know it means "may" or "are allowed to" in this context?
When få is followed by a noun, it means "to get" or "receive". But when it acts as an auxiliary verb followed by another verb in the infinitive (like titta here), it usually means "may", "to be allowed to", or sometimes "must". The context of doing a chore to earn screen time tells us it means "are allowed to".
Is bär ut the standard way to say "take out" the trash?
Yes, it is very common. Bära on its own means "to carry", and the particle verb bära ut literally means "to carry out". When talking about garbage (soporna), you will frequently hear native speakers use bära ut (carry out), ta ut (take out), or slänga (throw away).
Why is the word for TV spelled teven here?
In Swedish, the abbreviation tv is treated as a regular noun and is very often spelled out phonetically as en teve. In this sentence, it has the definite ending -n attached to it, making it teven (the TV).
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