Breakdown of Sedan han läste den heliga skriften har han faktiskt behållit tron.
han
he
läsa
to read
ha
to have
den
the (with en-words)
faktiskt
actually (as a matter of fact, in fact)
behålla
to keep
sedan
since (from a point in time)
helig
holy
tron
the faith (belief, religious)
skriften
the scripture
Questions & Answers about Sedan han läste den heliga skriften har han faktiskt behållit tron.
Why do we use the present perfect (har behållit) in the main clause instead of the past tense?
The conjunction sedan (since) describes a timeframe starting in the past and continuing up to now. Because the state of keeping the faith is still ongoing, Swedish requires the present perfect (har behållit), just like English does with 'has kept'. The specific event that started it all (han läste) is kept in the simple past.
Why is the word order har han faktiskt behållit rather than han har faktiskt behållit?
The entire subordinate clause (Sedan han läste den heliga skriften) occupies the first position in the sentence. The Swedish V2 rule requires the finite verb (har) to come exactly in the second position, pushing the subject (han) and the sentence adverb (faktiskt) immediately after it.
Why do we say den heliga skriften instead of just heliga skriften?
This is a classic refresher on Swedish 'double definiteness'. When a noun is in its definite form (skriften) and is modified by an adjective (heliga), you must also add the freestanding definite article before the adjective (den for en-words, det for ett-words).
What is the base form of tron, and how is it made definite here?
The base noun is en tro (a faith or belief). Because the root word already ends in a stressed vowel, you simply add an -n to make it definite (tron), rather than adding the usual -en ending.
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