Swedish: An Essential Grammar, 2nd edition

Existential sentence
If we do not wish to introduce a subject containing new, heavy information
too soon, we can postpone the subject (i.e. move it rightwards in the
sentence), but must then fill the topic position in a statement with a formal
subject (place holder subject):
En polis sitter i köket.
→
Det
sitter
en polis i köket.
Subject
Formal
Real
subject
subject
A policeman is sitting in the
There’s a policeman sitting in the
kitchen.
kitchen.
Att sluta röka är svårt.
→
Det är svårt
att sluta röka.
Subject
FS
RS
Stopping smoking is difficult.
It’s difficult to stop smoking.
12.7.7
12.7.6
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1011
1
12111
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20111
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30111
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40
41111
Moving
elements
within the
main clause
197

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Type 1: When the real subject is an indefinite noun phrase (like en polis)
then it occupies the O/C position.
T
FV
S
CA
NFV
O/C
OA
X
2
Det
finns
–
–
–
ingen ketchup
hemma.
Det
sitter
–
ofta
–
en polis
i köket.
Sitter
det
ofta
–
en polis
i köket?
Translations: There’s no ketchup in the house. There’s often a policeman sitting in the
kitchen. Is there often a policeman sitting in the kitchen?
The verb in Swedish existential sentences is always intransitive, and usually
expresses:
Existence:
finnas
Non-existence:
fattas, saknas
Location:
vara, sitta, stå, ligga
Motion:
komma, gå 
In English the only corresponding constructions are: ‘there is/are -ing’.
Type 2: When the real subject is an infinitive phrase (like att sluta röka)
then it occupies the X
2
position (see 12.5, 12.6.1):
T
FV
S
CA
NFV
O/C
OA X
2
Det
är
–
–
–
troligt
–
att han vinner.
Det
har –
alltid varit en gåta för mig –
varför han fick 
nobelpriset.
Translations: It is probable that he will win. It’s always been a mystery to me why he
got the Nobel Prize.
Note that in this case det = ‘it’.
12
Word order
and sentence
structure
198

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Cleft sentence
In order to emphasize an element together with the action of the verb,
that element (W) may be extracted from the sentence and inserted into
the construction:
Det är/var (W) som . . .
The remainder of the original sentence is downgraded and relegated to
the som-clause added onto the end:
Cf. Anders skickade mig en bok förra veckan.
Anders sent me a book last week.
→
Det var en bok (W) som Anders skickade mig förra
veckan (inte en CD-skiva)
→
Det var Anders (W) som skickade mig en bok förra
veckan (inte Göran)
→
Det var förra veckan (W) som Anders skickade mig en
bok (inte den här veckan)
Translations: It was a book that Anders . . . It was Anders who . . . It was last
week that . . .
The cleft sentence is also very common in questions: