"Skulle du bli ledsen om hon inte kommer?"

Translation: Would you be sad if she does not come?

[espekia]

Aren't the tenses mixed up here? I think it should be "Would you be sad if she didn't come", or "Will you be sad if she doesn't come". Mixing the two sounds unnatural.

[Jeanbean425734]

espekia, you are correct. It has to be "Would you....if she didn't..." and "Will you...if she doesn't..." in English. Hopefully, the correct English sentences are accepted along with the incorrect ones.

[pipthevaliant]

True that! Why not change the default translation then? Mods?

[Jeffrey424760]

espekia is right why don't they fix it???

[HenkSpaan2]

I'm not a native english speaker but i guess both can be combined with present tense. Will implies a fixed future consequence, would implies a hypothetical or possible future consequence.

[BarryTice]

I've just started my "Swedish for Immigrants" class, and the first grammar lesson I got discussed this kind of construction in the category of "Bisats". Words like att, eftersom, därför att, om, and när indicate a subordinate clause, and in the subordinate clause an "inte" splits the subject and the verb.

I had always been confused by this because I hadn't ever distilled the rule down to that simple a statement. It would be nice if Duolingo had a "Bisats" unit in the Swedish course with some introductory text and examples that used these trigger words (and, from what I understand, about ten others) to give a lesson specifically on subordinate clauses and word order.

[Jeanbean425734]

I agree it would be nice.

[LinusLassu]

Should be "would you. .. if she didn't" not "... if she doesn't". Or am I mistaking?

[WildSage]

Why is the inte before kommer?

[Arnauti]

'om hon inte kommer' is a subclause, so the rule is that the subject goes first, and inte must go before the verb.

[Ian760943]

Please also accept "would you be sad if she did not come?" as a correct answer. This is the second conditional, so it should be: would + infinitive, if + past simple.

[devalanteriel]

We do accept that as well.

[Theatrefox]

why can't ledsen be translated as "upset"?

[Jeanbean425734]

I think "upset" would be better translated as "upprörd."

[MarkNaylor4]

Is there a subjunctive version of this in swedish too? I.e. a way of saying "would you be sad if she didn't come?" ? I think in a previous question's comments we found vore rather than var in the more clear cut subjunctive example.

[devalanteriel]

Sure, you could use vara in place of bli for that purpose. It's not as common or idiomatic, though.

[MarkNaylor4]

Thanks! The speed of your responses is astonishing! Just on another point, can you confirm that there's no equivalent in swedish of what happens in English with the subjunctive mood in this sentence, with respect to latter half of the sentence where we see the use of "didn't" rather than plain present tense "doesn't". Is it always 'inte kommer'" in Swedish ? In English (British English) the use of "didn't" rather than"doesn't" is much preferred in this context.

[devalanteriel]

It's a little advanced, and honestly probably impossible to get a 100 % correct answer to. Personally, I'd be perfectly comfortable using either ... inte kommer or ... inte kom, depending mostly on what connotations I wish to convey. There's certainly nothing wrong with either of them. But using kom does make it sound more subjunctive, for lack of a better phrase.

[lynus74]

I had 'would you be sad should she not come' marked incorrect. This is t the coorrect grammar in English. Any idea why it's wrong here?

[devalanteriel]

It's probably just missing and should be added. Though clearly correct, it's not exactly an immediately obvious translation to most non-natives, I imagine. :)

[CarloGamag1]

In the previous sentence " If grandmother came home, grandfather would be happy", would (skulle) was the first word in the second part based alledgedly on the V2 rule.In this sentence skulle is first because the sentence is question or because "if she ..." even if it comes after is considered the first element ?

[devalanteriel]

It's indeed because it's a question.

[CarloGamag1]

Thanks! Is the rule in Swedish, like the one in English, that in questions the verb is always before the subject?

[devalanteriel]

Broadly speaking, yes. And if you have a question word, you put that first.

[CarloGamag1]

Thanks!

[Stephen874691]

Because of the future tense and that it's a preposition can't this be "shall you become sad if she does not come"

[devalanteriel]

It's not in the future tense, though.

[Stephen874691]

Surely "bli" roughly translates to becomes. That is in the future it's a proposal for what shall become true in the future if she does not come

[devalanteriel]

Sure, but skulle is the main verb and it's not in the future tense. Compare English:

• will you be
• would you be

[erpheus]

Is it just me or does the voice say something closer to "skulle du bli ledsen om MAN inte kommer"?

[devalanteriel]

I hear hon, but I'll admit it's not a very clear pronunciation.