Breakdown of Klostret har antagligen varit en helig plats sedan branden.
vara
to be
en
a, an (common)
ha
to have
branden
the fire
Questions & Answers about Klostret har antagligen varit en helig plats sedan branden.
Why do we use the present perfect har varit here instead of the simple past?
Because the preposition sedan (since) introduces a state that started in the past (at the time of the fire) and continues into the present. When sedan points back to the start of an ongoing state, Swedish requires the present perfect (har varit) in the main clause, very similar to how "has been" is used in English.
Why does the word antagligen go in the middle of the verbs har and varit?
Antagligen (probably) is a sentence adverb. In a standard main clause, sentence adverbs must be placed immediately after the first, conjugated verb (the finite verb). Here, that is the helper verb har, so antagligen steps in before the main verb varit.
Why is the definite form klostret instead of "klosteret"?
The word ett kloster (a monastery) is an ett-word that ends in -er. In Swedish, most ett-words ending in -er, -el, or -en drop the final -e- in the stem before adding the definite suffix -et. This makes it flow better. Other common examples include ett fönster becoming fönstret (the window) and ett exempel becoming exemplet (the example).