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Till skillnad från larven äter fjärilen bara nektar under det här sista stadiet.

Till skillnad från larven äter fjärilen bara nektar under det här sista stadiet.
Unlike the caterpillar, the butterfly only eats nectar during this final stage.
From Lesson 486:After (efter att)·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Till skillnad från larven äter fjärilen bara nektar under det här sista stadiet.

Till skillnad från translates to "unlike". Could I just use the adjective olik here?
No, olik means "different" or "unlike" when describing nouns directly (e.g., "they are unlike each other"). When starting a phrase with "Unlike [noun], [something happens]...", Swedish uses the set phrase till skillnad från, which literally means "to difference from".
How could we express this timeline using the conjunction efter att (after)?
You could rephrase it as: Efter att larven har blivit en fjäril, äter den bara nektar. (After the caterpillar has become a butterfly, it only eats nectar.) Notice that the entire efter att clause takes up the first position in the sentence, so the main clause must immediately follow with the verb (äter den) to satisfy the V2 rule.
Why is the verb äter placed before the subject fjärilen in the original sentence?
This is the classic V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the adverbial phrase Till skillnad från larven. Since that entire phrase occupies the first position, the verb äter must come second, pushing the subject fjärilen to the third position.
Why does the word for "stage" look like stadiet here? What is the base word?
The base word is ett stadium (a stage or phase). Neuter nouns ending in -ium drop the -um before adding the definite suffix -et, becoming stadiet. It takes the definite form here because it follows det här sista (this final), which triggers the Swedish double definite rule.
Does under really mean "during"?
Yes! While under means "underneath" when describing physical space, it is the standard preposition used to mean "during" when talking about a period of time.

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