# Swedish: conditional sentences.



## TezaStone

Hello! I'm having a bit of trouble understanding conditional sentences in Swedish because it seems there are just to many different ways to say the same thing. I have doubts about a few specific situations:

1) How would I translate the following sentence, please consider all possibilities!!:

If I I worked out more I'd be stronger now.

Is it possible to translate it in the following ways without any difference in meaning?:

Hade jag tränat mer, hade jag varit starkare nu.
Om jag tränade mer, så skulle jag vara starkare nu.
Om jag skulle träna mer, så skulle jag vara starkare nu.

2) In the sentence above I'm talking about something that's still possible (If I worked out more I'd be stronger...I can start working out any time I want). But what if I'm refering to a past conditional I have absolutely no control over anymore? I'm asking because I can't seem to differentiate between this situation and the one above in Swedish. Like:

If I had worked out more, then I would have won the competition.
If you hadn't been so stubborn, she would have helped you.
If the captain had paid more attention, he could have avoided the accident.

3) I've noticed sometimes people use subject-verb inversion in the present conditional too rather than using OM. I'm not sure I know how to do it, can someone help me below?

Pluggar du mer, så lär du dig snabbare. (Is this correct? What I wanted to say was: om du pluggar mer, så lär du dig snabbare)

I know this is a long post and that it's very specific, I'd appreciate it if you guys could really focus on my specific doubts. Because I'm studying Swedish in my own and haven't found ANYTHING AT ALL on Swedish conditional sentences ANYWHERE! So I depend on your explanations 100%. Tack så mycket!!!


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## Swites

TezaStone said:


> Hello! I'm having a bit of trouble understanding conditional sentences in Swedish because it seems there are just to many different ways to say the same thing. I have doubts about a few specific situations:
> 
> 1) How would I translate the following sentence, please consider all possibilities!!:
> 
> If I I worked out more I'd be stronger now.
> *There's a problem with this sentence. It should read: If I had worked out more, I'd be stronger now, or: If I worked out more, I would become stronger.*
> 
> Is it possible to translate it in the following ways without any difference in meaning?:
> 
> Hade jag tränat mer, hade jag varit starkare nu.*
> This sentence is in the past already.
> * Om jag tränade mer, så skulle jag vara starkare nu.
> *This has the same problem as the english sentence.*
> Om jag skulle träna mer, så skulle jag vara starkare nu.
> *This doesn't really make sense. Either it's "Om jag skulle träna mer, så skulle jag bli starkare." or " Om jag hade tränat mer, så skulle jag vara starkare nu.". You're mixing the tenses.*


 *I had to split my answer in two parts, I'll get back to you on the second part.*


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## Swites

TezaStone said:


> If I had worked out more, then I would have won the competition.
> *Om jag hade tränat mer, så skulle jag ha vunnit tävlingen.*
> If you hadn't been so stubborn, she would have helped you.
> *Om du inte hade varit så envis, så skulle hon ha hjälpt dig.*
> If the captain had paid more attention, he could have avoided the accident.
> *Om kaptenen hade varit mer uppmärksam, så skulle han ha undvikit olyckan.*
> 3) I've noticed sometimes people use subject-verb inversion in the present conditional too rather than using OM. I'm not sure I know how to do it, can someone help me below?
> 
> Pluggar du mer, så lär du dig snabbare. (Is this correct? What I wanted to say was: om du pluggar mer, så lär du dig snabbare)
> *This is correct.*
> I know this is a long post and that it's very specific, I'd appreciate it if you guys could really focus on my specific doubts. Because I'm studying Swedish in my own and haven't found ANYTHING AT ALL on Swedish conditional sentences ANYWHERE! So I depend on your explanations 100%. Tack så mycket!!!



*I don't know if it was helpful. If it's anything you're unsure of don't hesitate to ask.*


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## TezaStone

Tjena tjena!! First of all: thanks for answering! I appreciate it a lot. But I have a couple of doubts, namely:

1) How would I translate the following sentence, please consider all  possibilities!!:

If I I worked out more I'd be stronger now.
*There's a problem with this sentence. It should read: If I had worked  out more, I'd be stronger now, or: If I worked out more, I would become  stronger.*

There's actually no problem with this original sentence, and this is where Swedes have a hard time understanding what I mean when I ask this question because your language differs here.

"If I worked out more" means "if I start working out"...it's not really a past tense, it refers to osmething you can still do, like:

If I studied more, I'd learn faster. (you can start studying any time you want)

as opposed to:

If I had studied more (last week, before the test, when I was younger), I would have learnt faster. (you are looking back on the past with wishful thinking, like, "I wish I had studied more, now I can't do anything about it")

Do you see the difference? This is exactly the difference I can't get people to see. 

Thanks again for your time!


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## Swites

TezaStone said:


> If I I worked out more I'd be stronger now.
> *There's a problem with this sentence. It should read: If I had worked  out more, I'd be stronger now, or: If I worked out more, I would become  stronger.*
> 
> There's actually no problem with this original sentence, and this is where Swedes have a hard time understanding what I mean when I ask this question because your language differs here.
> 
> "If I worked out more" means "if I start working out"...it's not really a past tense, it refers to osmething you can still do, like:...



I know what it means and I understand that part, but it's the way you continue the sentence: I'd be stronger now. You can't say: If I start working out, I'd be stronger now. I'm still saying your mixing the tenses. If you say: "If I worked out more" you're right, you can still choose to do it, but in that case you can't continue with that you would already be stronger.


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## TezaStone

Tjena!

Hey sorry if I came across as a little rude, I absolutely know all Swedes speak perfect English and I can do nothing but welcome you help! I apologize again if it sounded a little off!

What I meant by "if I worked out more" can mean "If I work out more" is only that in both situations you're refering to something you can still do, unlike "if I had worked out more" which refers strictly to a situation you have no influence on anymore.

I guess that's my real question: how can I differentiate between situations that are possible:

If you slept earlier you wouldn't be so tited all the time.
If she talked to me I would understand her.

And situations that are long gone and can't be changed:

If you had been nicer she wouldn't have gotten offended.
If you had paid the bill on time we wouldn't have problems now!

Thanks again!


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## Swites

Don't worry. Not all Swedes do speak perfect english, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct in this. If you'd drop the word now it'd make more sense:

If I worked out more, I'd be stronger. (hypothetical)

vs

If I had worked out more, I'd be stronger.

anyway, swedish, I'm no teacher so I'm not an expert at the grammar. I can only go by with what sounds right, but I'd say that it's something similar:

Om jag tränade mer så skulle jag vara starkare.
Om du gick och la dig tidigare så skulle du inte vara så trött hela tiden.

These are both hypothetical statements that work like the first example in english, but when you say:

Om jag hade tränat mer så skulle jag ha varit starkare.
Om du hade gått och lagt dig tidigare så skulle du inte ha varit så trött hela tiden.

you put it in past time, impossible to change. Did you say you had heard many different ways to say it in swedish? What were they? Remember that people can say it in many different ways and be totally understood, but it's not necessarily correct grammar.


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## TezaStone

Perfect, I think I understand how to put it in the past now, like in a situation you can't change anymore.

Going back to the first examples now:

Om jag tränade mer så skulle jag vara starkare.

I've heard people say it like this too, just wondering if it changes the meaning in any way or if they all refer to situations you still have control over:

Hade jag tränat mer, hade jag varit starkare.
Om jag skulle träna mer, så skulle jag vara starkare.

Is it fair to say those three sentences refer to situations you can still influence?

Tack!


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## Swites

I would say that the sentence "Hade jag tränat mer, hade jag varit starkare" is not a situation you can still influence. It's another way of saying:

Om jag hade tränat mer så skulle jag ha varit starkare.
(    Hade jag tränat mer,    hade jag      varit starkare.)


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