Breakdown of De är gästvänliga, bara du inte kritiserar deras hem.
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
de
they
inte
not
hem
home
deras
their
bara
provided that, as long as
kritisera
to criticize
gästvänlig
hospitable
Questions & Answers about De är gästvänliga, bara du inte kritiserar deras hem.
Doesn't bara usually mean "only"? How does it function here?
Normally, bara is an adverb meaning "only" or "just". In this sentence, it acts as a subordinating conjunction (a word that links a dependent clause to a main clause). Here, it translates to "provided that" or "as long as", setting a strict condition for their hospitality.
Could I just use om instead of bara in this sentence?
You could use om (if), but it softens the meaning. Using bara emphasizes that this is the single, absolute condition that must be met. While om simply means "if", bara carries the stronger conditional nuance of "as long as" or "provided that".
Why is the word order du inte kritiserar instead of du kritiserar inte?
Because bara introduces a subordinate (dependent) clause. In Swedish main clauses, inte comes after the verb. However, in subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like inte must be placed before the conjugated verb. This is commonly known as the BIFF rule.
Why do we use deras hem here instead of the reflexive possessive sitt hem?
The reflexive possessives sin, sitt, and sina refer back to the subject of the exact same clause. The subject of this subordinate clause is du (you), not de (they). Because the home belongs to the people in the main clause, we must use the regular possessive deras.
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