General
Relative clauses may be attributive (1a,b), modify an adverbial (1c,d), be appositions to the whole clause (1e) or a part of the cleft construction (1f,), or a free relative (1g,h,). The cases in (1c,d) can alternatively be classified as adverbial clauses, and those in (1g,h) as nominal clauses.
(1) a. I know the man [that has written this book].
b. She has bought a new car, [which is standing at the corner].
c. They have started building a house [where he lives].
d. She remembered [when he was ill]
e. He loves his wife, [which not every man does].
f. It was John [who opened the door]
g. [What John hopes to find] is a unicorn.
h. She bought [what was needed].
In the prototypical case the relative clause refers back to a phrase or a clause in the same sentence. This is called the head of the relative, or the antecedent of the relative. Thus, the man is the head in (1a), a new car is the head in (1b), and the clause he loves his wife is the head in (1e). In all the Germanic languages the relative clause follows its head, usually it occurs adjacent to the head, as in the examples in (1), but it may also occur extraposed, as in (2); in this example the head of the relative is in semibold face:
(2) I met a man yesterday [that was from New York].
A attributively used relative clause is modifying its head restrictively (3a,b) or appositionally (non-restrictively, see 3c,d)):
(3) a. The books [he owns] are mostly novels.
b. People [who live in this country] usually speak English.
c. These books, [which happen to be mine], are novels.
d. My daughter,[who is 17], wants a new computer.
The relative clause may be introduced by a relative pronoun (a wh-pronoun, see (1b-h, 3b-d, 4a), a relative subjunction (1a, 2a, 4b), or it may lack an introductory word (3a, 4c); there is great variation within the Germanic languages with respect to how different types of relative clauses are introduced:
(4) a. My car, [which is a Volvo], has been stolen.
b. The car [that I bought yesterday] has been stolen
c. The car [I bough yesterday] has been stolen
Swedish
The Swedish relative clause either has the subjunction som corresponding to English relative that as its first element, or a wh-phrase vilken, vilket, vilka ‘which, när ‘when’, var ‘where’, vad ‘what’) or a noun phrase hosting a wh-word (vilka böcker ‘which books, vars böcker ‘whose books’), or a combination of a wh-word and a preposition: varmed ‘with which’. The relative clause is usually embedded in a noun phrase (the head of the relative clause). An overview is given in (1). Notice that Swedish relatives never have an element both in 1st position and in the Finite position, contrary to what was found for Swedish embedded wh-questions.
(1)
| M i d d l e p a r t | F i n a l p a r t | |||||||
| Head | 1st pos. | Finite | Subject | Sent.advl | Verb | Object | Advl | |
| den flicka
the girl |
som
that |
inte
not |
har kammat
has combed |
sitt hår
her hair |
än
yet |
|||
| den bok
the book |
(som)
that |
Anna
Anna |
har skrivit
has written |
|||||
| Erik | som
that |
hon
she |
träffade
met |
på Kreta
on Crete |
||||
| hotet
threat.the |
vilket
which |
knappast
hardly |
överraskade
surprised |
någon
anybody |
||||
| bordet
table.the |
på vilket
on which |
jag
I |
la
put |
min mössa
my cap |
||||
| flickan
girl.the |
vars bok
whose book |
jag
I |
inte
not |
hade läst
had read |
||||
| Han sjöng
he sang |
vilket
which |
Anna
Anna |
inte
not |
gillade
liked |
||||
The Swedish relative clause is usually introduced by som, which is used both in restrictive (2a,b) and in non-restrictive (2c,d) relative clauses:
(2) a. Var la du boken [som jag hade köpt]?
where put you book.the that I had bought
b. Den man [som står där borta] är min bror.
the man that stands there over is my broder
The man standing over there is my brother
c. Här är boken [som jag för övrigt inte har läst än].
here is book.the that I by.the-way not have read yet
d. Erik, [som står där borta], är min bror.
Eric that stands there over is my brother
Eric, who is standing over there, is my brother.
A restrictive relative clause where the object is relativized may lack a subjunction; in this case the relative clause is introduced by the subject:
(3) Var la du boken [jag hade köpt]?
where put you book.the I had bought
A Swedish relative clause may also be introduced by a relative pronoun (3.3.1.6): vilken sg., common gend., vilket sg., neuter, vilka pl. Except when referring to a whole clause, in which case the neuter sg is selected, illustrated in (4a), the use of the relative pronoun is only found in formal written Swedish:
(4) a. Lisa hade fått en ny klänning, [vilket retade Anna].
Lisa had got a new dress, which annoyed Anna
b. Han hade köpt en bil i Tyskland, [vilken ännu inte hade levererats].
he had boutht a car in Germany which.sg.common yet not had been-delivered
c. Beslutet, [vilket irriterade honom], var fattat med knapp majoritet].
Decision.the which.sg.neutr annoyed him was taken with a-bare majority
d. Detta är organisationer [vilka Sverige har understött].
This is organizations which.pl Sweden has supported
In cases like (4a), vilket may be replaced by något som ‘something that’:
(5) Lisa hade fått en ny klänning, [något som retade Anna].
Lisa had got a new dress, something that annoyed Anna
When the relative is a genitive, the indeclinable vars is the usual choice, but the genetive forms vilkas (with a plural antecedent) may also be used in formal written Swedish. The singular forms vilkens and vilkets are usually avoided
(6) a. Här är boken [vars (?vilkens) författare jag känner].
here is book.the whose author I know
b. Besluten, [vars/vilkas konsekvenser vi ännu inte kan ana], ...
decisions whose consequences we yet not can imagine
Although Swedish generally allows preposition stranding, this is possible in relative clauses only with a relative pronoun, not with som. Hence the contrast in (7):
(7) a. en bil [för vilken vi har betalat 300.000 kronor]
a car for which we have paid 300.000 crowns
b. en bil [vilken vi har betalat 300.000 kronor för] (preposition stranding)
a car which we have paid 300.000 crowns for
c. *en bil [för som vi har betalat 300.000 kronor]
a car for that we have paid 300.000 crowns
d. en bil [som vi har betalat 300.000 kronor för] (preposition stranding)
a car that we have paid 300.000 crowns for
In some cases var+preposition is an alternative to preposition + relative pronoun as in (8a):
(8) a. en bil [varmed vi måste klara oss i höst]
a car where.with we must manage us in fall
a car which we must get on by this fall
b. en bil [med vilken vi måste klara oss i höst]
a car with which we must manage us in fall
The Swedish noun phrase has double definiteness (2.2.3.4. and 3.3.1.2), thus even when it is introduced by a free determiner, there must be a definite ending on the noun, as shown in (9):
(9) Den stora bilen står bakom huset. (*Den stora bil står framför huset)
the big car.the stands behind house.the
When the noun phrase is the head of a restrictive relative clause the definite ending may be absent (10a); as (10b) illustrates, double definiteness is possible in this context as well:
(10) a. Den stora bil [som står bakom huset] äger jag.
the big car that stands behind house.the own I
b. Den stora bilen [som står bakom huset] äger jag.
the big car.the that stands behind house.the own I
I own the big car that is behind the house.
The relative clause used as a part of the cleft construction has the same property as a restrictive relative clause; it must be introduced by som or vars; relative pronouns like vilken etc. are never used in clefts.
(11) a. Det var Marie [som ringde].
it was Marie that called
b. Det var honom [(som) jag menade].
it was him that I meant
c. Det var han [vars bil jag hade lånat].
it was he whose car I had borrowed
Free relatives, i.e. relative clauses not used attributively, are introduced by the indeclinable vad ‘what’ followed by som; when used as an object or after a preposition, som is usually absent:
(12) a. Jag gör [vad jag kan].
I do what I can
b. Jag tänker på [vad du har berättat för mig].
I think of what you have told to me
I am thinking of what you have told me.
c. Jag gör [vad som fordras av mig].
I do what that is-required of me
In cases like (12a,b), vad may be replaced by det (som) ‘that which’:
(13) a. Jag gör [det (som) jag kan].
I do that which I can
b. Jag tänker på [det som du har berättat för mig].
I think of that which you have told to me
1.10.3. Adverbial subordinate clauses
General
Adverbial subordinate clauses typically function as content adverbials, indicating among other things time, condition, comparison, consequence, cause, intention, concession. The meaning is usually signalled by the initial element (the subjunction):
(1) a. [When I met him], Bill worked as a mechanic.
b. [If you can do that], that’s fine.
c. He is older [than she is].
d. We can often go swimming, [since we live near the sea].
e. The car crashed [because the driver was careless].
f. They advertised the concert [so that everyone should know about it].
g. [Although he wasn’t good] he still got a cake.
Adverbial subordinate clauses may also function as sentence adverbials:
(2) He is a lawyer, [as you know].
Swedish
Swedish adverbial subordinate clauses are like relatives in being introduced
either by a wh-word or a subjunction; when the subjunction is att
‘that’ it may be preceded by a preposition or an adverb:
| The matrix | 1st pos. | M i d d l e p a r t | F i n a l p a r t | ||||
| Finite | Subject | Sent.advl | Verb | Object | Advl | ||
| (Han sjöng)
he sang |
medan
while |
Anna
Anna |
spelade
played |
piano
the piano |
|||
| (Jag sov)
I slept |
eftersom
because |
Maria | faktiskt
actually |
gillar
likes |
att diska
to wash up |
||
| (De grälade)
they quarreled |
när
when |
de
they |
gick
went |
hem
home |
|||
| Han log
he smiled |
trots
despite (although) |
att
that |
han
he |
inte
not |
var
was |
glad
happy |
|
| Han log
he smiled |
för
for (because) |
att
that |
hon
she |
var
was |
hemma
at home |
igen
again |
|
Classified according to structure and meaning, there are nine types of adverbial subordinate clauses:
(1) Temporal: Johan sjöng [medan jag spelade piano].
Johan sang while I played the piano
(2) Comparative: Johan sjöng [som Caruso brukade sjunga].
Johan sang like Caruso used to sing
(3) Proportional [Ju mer han får] desto mer vill han ha.
the more he gets the more wants he have
The more he gets the more he wants.
(4) Causal Johan tog bilen [eftersom det regnade].
Johan took car.the since it rained
(5) Consequtive Han ställde sin cykel i köket [så att hon kunde se den].
he put his bike in kitchen.the so that she could see it.
(6) Final Han målade sin cykel röd [för att den skulle synas lätt].
he painted his bike red in-order that it should be-seen easily
(7) Consequtive [Fastän han inte älskade henne] kunde han inte vara utan henne.
although he not loved her could he not be without her
Although he didn’t love her he could not be without her.
(8) Conditional [Om du kommer] så går jag.
if you come then go I
(9) Generalized [Vad han än gör] så följer hon med honom.
what he ever does then follows she with him
Whatever he does she will follow him.
The conditional clause may also occur sentence initially without any introductory word, having the same form as a yes/no-question (11).
(11) [Städar du badrummet] så ska du få en kyss.
clean you bathroom.the then shall you get a kiss
If you clean up the bathroom you will get a kiss
Embedded adverbial clauses are usually found sentence initial (4, 8, 9, 10) or sentence final (2, 3, 5, 6, 7); it is also possible to find them in the middle field, as in (12):
(12) a. Han hade, [medan hon badade], kokat en god kopp kaffe.
he had while she took-a-bath, made a good cup of coffee
b. Vill du kanske, [eftersom det just har börjat regna], låna ett paraply?
want you maybe, since it just has begun to rain borrow an umbrella
Do you maybe want to buy an umbrella, since it has just begun to rain?
General
Non-finite clauses are clauses with a non-finite verb, i.e. a participle or an infinitive. Usually, but not always, such clauses are constructed without a visible subject:
(1) a. [Leaving the house] she saw his car in the backyard. Present participle
b. [This having been settled], I felt quite satisfied with the results.
(2) a. [Covered with mud] she crawled back. Past participle
b. [The job finished], we went to the pub.
(3) a. I promise [to give you another chance]. Infinitive
b. The best thing would be [for you to tell everybody].
Whereas infinitive clauses usually function as nominal that-clauses, i.e. they are subjects (4a), objects (4b) or modifiers of a noun (4c), participial clauses usually have adveribal functions (4d,e):
(4) a. [To tell the truth] would be the best thing to do.
b. I asked him [to tell the truth].
c. The plan [to invade Australia] was never executed.
d. [Whisteling] she entered the house.
e. [Flattered] he entered the scene.
The missing subject of a non-finite clause is usually interpreted as
coreferent with the subject (1a, 2a, 3a, 4d,e) or the (ind.) object of
the matrix clause (4b); or else it has an arbitrary reading, as in (4a,c).
Swedish
The infinitival clause is a clause whose verb element is an infinitive. Structurally speaking, infinitive clauses do not differ substantially from other verb phrases, except that the infinitive clause in some functions may or must be introduced by the infinitive marker att, spelled like the subjunktion att ‘that’ but pronounced differently /ç/. In Swedish an infinitival clause may never contain a subject. Between the infinitive marker and the verb various types of adverbials may be found, as well as a negated object.
(1)
| Middle part | F i n a l p a r t | ||||
| Matrix | Inf. marker | Sent.advl | Verb | Object | Advl |
| Han bad mig
he asked me |
att
to |
inte
not |
läsa
read |
den här boken
this book |
än
yet |
| Han lovade
he promised |
att
to |
aldrig
never |
arbeta
work |
på helgerna
on week-ends |
|
| Det är bra
it is good |
att | snart
soon |
få
get |
möjlighet
possibility |
att träffa honom
to meet him |
| Han fruktar
he is afraid of |
att
to |
faktiskt inte
actually |
lösa
solve |
sin uppgift
his task |
|
| Han försökte
he tried |
att
to |
ingenting
nothing |
avslöja
reveal |
||
1.11.1.1. The use of the infinitival marker
Syntactically there are many similarities between infinitival clauses introduced by att and embedded clauses introduced by att. Similar to the situation with the subjunction att, syntactical and lexical circumstancies determine when the infinitival marker att is obligatory, optional, or impossible.
A. The infinitival marker is obligatory when the infinitival clause is
• governed by a preposition :
(2) längta efter att träffa honom, besviken över att inte ha fått jobbet
long for to meet him dissapointed over to not have got job.the
• modifying a noun:
(3) beslutet att ge upp, viljan att segra
decision.the to give up desire.the to win
• postposed as subject or object:
(4) Det var intressant att lyssna på honon.
it was interesting to listen to him
• an adverbial without a preposition, expressing purpose:
(5) Vi skickade honom att köpa tidningen.
we sent him to buy newspaper.the
• object of certain verbs:
(6) Han hatar att förlora. Han är tvungen att komma.
he hates to lose he is forced to come
The infinitival marker is also obligatory when the infinitival verb is preceded by an adverbial:
(7) Han tvingade henne (att) läsa brevet but Han tvingade henne att inte läsa brevet
he forced her to read letter.the he forced her to not read letter.the
B. The infinitival marker is optional when the infintival clause is
• sentence initial:
(8) (att) studera latin har jag alltid drömt om
to study latin have I always dreamt of
• object of certain verbs (compare e above):
(9) barnen försökte (att) gömma bollen
children.the tried to hide ball.the
C. The infinitival marker is obligatorily absent when the infinitival clause is
• a small clause in the object-with-infinitive or subject-with-infinitive constructions
(10) Han såg henne komma. Hon ansågs vara vacker.
he saw her come she was-considered be beautiful
• object of certain verbs:
(11) Den behöver bli bättre.
it needs be better
1.11.1.2. The functions of the infinitival clause
The infinitival clause can be used in most noun phrase functions: as subject (12a), object (12b), subject predicative (12c), object predicative (12d), object of a preposition (12e), and attribute (12f):
(12) a. [Att spela golf] är dyrt.
to play golf is expensive
b. Han gillar [att spela golf].
he likes to play golf
c. Syftet med resan var [att spela golf].
purpose.the with journey.the was to play golf
d. Det kallar jag [att spela golf].
that call I to play golf
e. Han var rädd för [att spela golf].
he was afraid of to play golf
f. Försöket [att spela golf] var misslyckat.
attempt.the to play golf was unsuccessful
In addition, an infinitive clause occurs in the Accusative-with-infintive construction (13a) and the Nominative-with-infinitive construction (13b), in tough-constructions (13c), as a sentence initial infinitival object with the dummy verb göra ‘do’ as main verb in the matrix clause (13d), as a comparative clause (13e), and as an infinitival relative clause (13f). Swedish differs from some other Germanic languages in not having Wh-infinitives (13g)
(13) a. Vi såg honom åka igår. Hon påstår sig vara trött. Jag anser henne vara dum.
we saw him leave y’day she says her.REFL be tired I consider her be stupid
b. Han sågs åka igår. Hon påstås vara trött. Hon verkar vara dum.
he was-seen leave y’day she is-said be tired she seems be stupid
c. Han är lätt att lura.
he is easy to cheat
d. Låna pengar av mina barn vill jag inte göra.
borrow money of my children will I not do
I do not want to borrow money from my children
. e. Det är bättre att dö än att ge upp.
it is better to die than to give up
f. Jag behöver en öl att släcka törsten med.
I need a beer to put-out thirst.the with
g. *Han frågade vem att lita på.
he asked who to trust
As a subject, the infinitive clause is either clause initial or clause final:
(14) a. [Att få träffa henne igen] hade länge lockat honom.
to get see her again had long tempted him
He had for a long time been tempted to see her again.
b. Det hade länge lockat honom [att få träffa henne igen].
it had long tempted him to get see her again
c. *Länge hade [att få träffa henne igen] lockat honom.
long had to get see her again tempted him
Being the object of a preposition, the infinitival clause is used as prepositional object (15a), adverbial (15b,c), or attribute (15d):
(15) a. Han är trött på [att lyssna till deras prat].
he is tired on to listen to their talk
b. Jag drömmer om [att resa bort].
I dream about to go away
c. Han gick ut [för att köpa mat].
he went out for to buy food
d. Hans längtan efter [att lämna henne] var stark.
his desire after to leave her was strong
Swedish
The participial clause is a clause whose verb element is a participle, present or past. Structurally speaking, participial clauses are similar to the verb phrase and the adjective phrase. The participle phase may contain various kinds of adverbials, as well as object and predicatives.
The order between the element in a participial phrase is different depending on the use of the phrase as an attribute (1) or a predicative or adverbial (2); there is a similar difference in adjectival phrases, 2.3.1.:
(1) det [av oss inköpta] bordet (2) bordet var [inköpt av oss]
the by us bought table.the table.the was bought by us
The main difference between (1) and (2) is that nothing may occur between the participle and the head noun when the participial phrase is used attributively. This is shown in the scheme in (3). The scheme in (4) illustrates the word order within participial clauses used predicatively or adverbially.
(3) Attributively used participial clause
| (Article) | Object | Advbial | Participle | (Noun) |
| en
a |
hårt
hard |
arbetande
working |
professor
professor |
|
| den
the |
mig
me |
mycket
very |
motbjudande
disgusting |
tanken
thought.the |
| ett
a |
ofta ganska
often rather |
slutet
closed |
uppträdande
behavior |
(4) Predicatively (etc.) used participial clause
| Object | Advbial | Participle | Advbial | Object | Advbial |
| hårt
hard |
arbetande
working |
||||
| mig
me |
mycket
very |
motbjudande
disgusting |
|||
| mycket
very |
motbjudande
disgusting |
för mig
for me |
|||
| berövad
deprived |
friheten
freedom.the |
||||
| pressande
pressing |
ut
out |
saften
juice.the |
1.11.2.1. The Function of Participial Clauses
Swedish
Participial clauses are mainly used as adjectival phrases, having the following functions (compare with adjectival phrases in 2.3): bounded or free subject predicative (5a,b), bounded or free object predicative (6a,b), bounded or free adverbial (7a,b).
(5) a. Hon blev mycket förvånad.
she was very surprised
b. Han gick fram till henne, hela tiden visslande högt.
he went up to her whole time.the whisteling loudly
(6) a. Hon gjorde mig mycket förvånad.
she made me very surprised
b. Vi hörde honom, visslande en glad melodi.
we heard him wisteling a merry tune
(7) a. Han uppträdde mycket irriterat.
he behaved very irritated
b. Förslaget gick helt oväntat igenom.
suggestion.the went quite unexpected through
The suggestion was unexpectedly passed.
Participial clauses can also be used as attributes in a noun phrase
(8) en nymålad vägg
a freshy-painted wall
1.11.2.2. With-clauses
A kind of small clause which often is built around a participle is the with-clause, illustrated with the English example in (9):
(9) With his back bent he went out of the room.
In Swedish the preposition med is used in this type of small clauses:
(10) a. Med handen knuten vände han om.
with hand.the clenched turned he around
b. Med håret hängande i ögonen gick han emot henne.
with hair.the hanging in eyes.the went he up-to her
However, med-clauses do no presuppose a participle:
(11) Med handen i fickan vände han om.
with hand.the in pocket.the turned he around
The med-phrase functions as a free adverbial or a free predicative.