Breakdown of Han satte sig in i reglerna före mötet.
han
he
mötet
the meeting
regeln
the rule
före
before (preposition, + noun or time)
sätta sig in i
to familiarize oneself with
Questions & Answers about Han satte sig in i reglerna före mötet.
How does satte sig in i mean 'familiarized himself with'?
The phrase sätta sig in i is a common Swedish phrasal verb that literally translates to 'put oneself into'. Idiomatically, it means to learn about, read up on, or familiarize oneself with a new topic, system, or set of rules.
Which word is stressed in the phrase satte sig in i?
Because this is a phrasal verb, the stress falls on the particle in, rather than on the verb satte. In spoken Swedish, it sounds like 'Han satte sig IN i reglerna'. The preposition i remains unstressed.
Could I use innan instead of före in this sentence?
Yes, you can. Traditionally, före is a preposition used before nouns (like mötet), while innan is a conjunction used before a full clause (e.g., innan mötet började). However, in modern everyday Swedish, innan is widely accepted as a preposition too, making innan mötet perfectly natural.
Why is the plural definite form reglerna instead of regelerna?
The singular word for 'rule' is en regel. Swedish nouns ending in an unstressed -el, -en, or -er usually drop their final -e- when a plural ending is added to make them easier to say. So, regel + -er becomes regler. Adding the definite plural ending -na then gives us reglerna.
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