Word
Fjärilen flyger iväg efter att den har vecklat ut sina vingar.
Meaning
The butterfly flies away after it has unfolded its wings.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Fjärilen flyger iväg efter att den har vecklat ut sina vingar.
den
it (common)
ha
to have
sin
his/her/its/their own (en-word)
flyga
to fly
Questions & Answers about Fjärilen flyger iväg efter att den har vecklat ut sina vingar.
Why do we use the present perfect (har vecklat) here when the first half of the sentence is in the present tense (flyger)?
This is the strict tense sequencing required by efter att. To show that the unfolding is completely finished before the butterfly flies away, Swedish pairs the present tense in the main clause (flyger) with the present perfect in the subordinate clause (har vecklat). If the main clause were past tense (flög), the efter att clause would shift to past perfect (hade vecklat).
Is the att absolutely necessary here, or could I just say efter den har vecklat ut?
In standard, written Swedish, att is mandatory here. Efter is a preposition meant to be placed before nouns (like efter regnet - after the rain). When you follow "after" with a complete clause containing a subject and a verb (den har vecklat ut), you must use the conjunction efter att. You will, however, hear native speakers drop the att in casual speech.
Why does the sentence use sina vingar instead of dess vingar for "its wings"?