Word
Hon dricker hellre te än kaffe.
Meaning
She would rather drink tea than coffee.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Hon dricker hellre te än kaffe.
Why is there no word for "would" or "prefers" in this sentence?
In Swedish, you often express "would rather" or "prefer to" by using the present tense of the verb (here, dricker) followed by the adverb hellre (rather). So Hon dricker hellre literally means "She drinks rather". While Swedish does have a verb for "prefer" (föredrar), using an action verb plus hellre is a very natural and common way to say it.
What is the base form of the word hellre?
Hellre is the comparative form of the word gärna (gladly / happily). The three forms are gärna (gladly), hellre (rather / more gladly), and helst (most preferably / ideally). You use hellre anytime you are comparing two activities and want to state a preference.
Is än always used for "than" in comparisons?
Yes! Whenever you compare two things in Swedish and need to say "than" (such as "rather than", "bigger than", or "more than"), you use än.
Why don't te and kaffe have the word ett in front of them here?