Advanced Conjunctions in Swedish

In Brief

Use trots att (“although”) and om ... inte (“unless” or “if ... not”) to introduce subordinate clauses, where inte normally comes before the finite verb. Use the paired expressions antingen ... eller (“either ... or”) and varken ... eller (“neither ... nor”) to connect alternatives of the same grammatical kind. Keep the two alternatives parallel, and do not normally add inte to a varken ... eller construction.

Overview

At B1, conjunctions let you do more than simply add information with och (“and”) or give a reason with eftersom (“because”). You can acknowledge an obstacle with trots att, state a negative condition with om ... inte, or present balanced alternatives with antingen ... eller and varken ... eller. These forms make descriptions, decisions, arguments, and everyday plans more precise.

Two different kinds of structure are involved. Trots att and om introduce a subordinate clause (a clause that depends on another clause). Swedish subordinate clauses follow the familiar BIFF pattern: a sentence adverb such as inte normally comes before the finite verb—the verb that shows tense. By contrast, antingen ... eller and varken ... eller are paired coordinating expressions: they can link words, phrases, or complete clauses of equal status.

The English translations are useful, but they are not perfect instructions. English “unless” is often best expressed as om ... inte, with the two Swedish words separated by the subject. English also permits some loose “either/or” structures that sound unbalanced in careful Swedish. Learning the Swedish pattern rather than translating one word at a time will give more reliable results.

How It Works

Trots att: an obstacle that does not change the result

Trots att means “although,” “even though,” or “despite the fact that.” It introduces a fact that might have led you to expect a different result:

trots att + subject + sentence adverb + finite verb + ...

• Trots att hon inte mådde bra arbetade hon hela dagen.
  “Although she did not feel well, she worked all day.”

Here, hon inte mådde bra is subordinate. Notice inte mådde, not main-clause order mådde inte.

The subordinate clause may come first or last:

• Trots att bussen var sen kom vi i tid.
• Vi kom i tid trots att bussen var sen.

The meaning is essentially the same, although putting the trots att clause first highlights the contrast. Swedish punctuation is generally lighter than English punctuation: a comma after an initial short subordinate clause is often omitted. A comma can still be used when it improves clarity, especially with a long clause.

Do not confuse trots att + clause with trots + noun phrase:

Structure	Swedish	English
trots att + clause	trots att det regnade	although it was raining
trots + noun phrase	trots regnet	despite the rain

A noun phrase is a noun together with any words belonging to it, as in det kraftiga regnet (“the heavy rain”). Since regnet is not a clause, it does not take att.

Om ... inte: the usual way to express “unless”

Swedish often expresses “unless” as om ... inte, literally “if ... not”:

om + subject + inte + finite verb + ...

• Om du inte bokar snart blir biljetterna dyrare.
  “Unless you book soon, the tickets will become more expensive.”

Because the whole om clause is subordinate, inte comes before the finite verb: om du inte bokar. English places “unless” at the beginning as a single word; Swedish normally splits the meaning between om and inte.

Be careful with scope—what the negative word applies to. Usually inte negates the condition:

• Om hon inte ringer går vi utan henne.
  “Unless she calls, we will go without her.”

Sometimes another negative word is more exact:

• Om ingen ringer stänger vi klockan fem.
  “Unless anyone calls / If nobody calls, we close at five.”
• Om du aldrig har åkt skidor kan vi börja lugnt.
  “If you have never skied, we can start gently.”

The more compact conjunction såvida inte also means “unless,” but it is more typical of careful, formal, or written language. In ordinary conversation, om ... inte is usually the safest choice.

Antingen ... eller: one alternative or the other

Antingen ... eller corresponds to “either ... or.” Put antingen directly before the first alternative and eller directly before the second whenever possible:

• Vi kan åka antingen på fredag eller på lördag.
• Hon vill antingen studera vidare eller börja arbeta.

The connected elements should be parallel, meaning that they have the same grammatical shape. Pair a noun with a noun, a prepositional phrase with a prepositional phrase, or a clause with a clause.

What is linked	Pattern	Example
nouns	antingen A eller B	antingen te eller kaffe
adjectives	antingen A eller B	antingen röd eller blå
verb phrases	antingen A eller B	antingen stanna hemma eller följa med
clauses	antingen clause, eller (så) clause	Antingen åker vi nu, eller så väntar vi.

When two complete main clauses are contrasted, Swedish commonly uses eller så before the second one. In eller så väntar vi, så occupies the first position, so the finite verb väntar comes before the subject vi. This is ordinary main-clause V2 word order: the finite verb appears in the second grammatical position.

Compare two placements:

• Vi åker antingen i dag eller i morgon. — the alternatives are two time expressions.
• Antingen åker vi i dag, eller så stannar vi hemma. — the alternatives are two complete outcomes.

Varken ... eller: neither alternative applies

Varken ... eller means “neither ... nor.” Like antingen ... eller, it can connect several kinds of matching elements:

• varken Anna eller Erik
• varken dyr eller svår
• varken hemma eller på jobbet
• Hon varken ringde eller skrev.

Varken already makes the construction negative. Standard Swedish therefore normally avoids an extra inte:

• Jag dricker varken kaffe eller te.
• not: Jag dricker inte varken kaffe eller te.

With a compound subject, place the whole pair before the verb: Varken han eller hon var där. Swedish verbs do not change between singular and plural in modern standard Swedish, so there is no English-style agreement problem to solve: Varken pojken eller flickorna kommer uses the same form kommer.

If the sentence already contains inte, Swedish often prefers inte ... heller or inte vare sig ... eller rather than combining inte directly with varken:

• Jag har inte sett vare sig filmen eller serien.
  “I have seen neither the film nor the series.”

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Trots att det regnade, gick vi ut.	Although it rained, we went out.	Initial concession; the comma is optional in modern Swedish.
Hon cyklade till jobbet trots att hon inte mådde bra.	She cycled to work even though she did not feel well.	Inte precedes mådde in the subordinate clause.
Trots att lägenheten är liten känns den rymlig.	Although the apartment is small, it feels spacious.	A fact contrasts with an unexpected result.
Vi genomförde mötet trots de tekniska problemen.	We held the meeting despite the technical problems.	Trots alone is followed by a noun phrase.
Om du inte betalar, kan du inte gå.	Unless you pay, you cannot leave.	The source pattern uses om + subject + inte + verb.
Om vi inte skyndar oss missar vi tåget.	Unless we hurry, we will miss the train.	A likely consequence of a negative condition.
Jag följer med såvida inte planerna ändras.	I will come along unless the plans change.	Såvida inte is a more formal alternative.
Du kan välja antingen soppa eller sallad.	You can choose either soup or salad.	Two nouns are linked.
Vi kan antingen ta bussen eller gå hela vägen.	We can either take the bus or walk the whole way.	Two parallel verb phrases are linked.
Antingen kommer du, eller du stannar.	Either you come, or you stay.	Understandable; eller så stannar du is more idiomatic for two full alternatives.
Antingen ringer du i dag, eller så skickar du ett mejl.	Either you call today, or you send an email.	Så triggers verb-before-subject order.
Varken han eller hon var där.	Neither he nor she was there.	The pair forms the subject.
Restaurangen är varken dyr eller turistig.	The restaurant is neither expensive nor touristy.	Two adjectives are linked.
Hon varken log eller svarade.	She neither smiled nor answered.	No extra inte is needed.
Vi hittade varken nycklarna eller mobilen.	We found neither the keys nor the phone.	Two noun phrases are linked.

Common Mistakes

Using main-clause order after trots att

• Wrong: Trots att hon mådde inte bra gick hon till jobbet.
• Right: Trots att hon inte mådde bra gick hon till jobbet.
• Why: Trots att introduces a subordinate clause. A sentence adverb such as inte normally stands before the finite verb there.

Treating “unless” as a single everyday Swedish word

• Wrong: Om inte du bokar snart blir det dyrt. (when the intended neutral meaning is “unless you book”)
• Right: Om du inte bokar snart blir det dyrt.
• Why: In the neutral pattern, the subject comes after om, followed by inte. Om inte du ... is possible, but it gives special contrastive emphasis to du: “if it is not you who books.”

Adding att after trots before a noun

• Wrong: Trots att regnet spelade vi fotboll.
• Right: Trots regnet spelade vi fotboll.
• Also right: Trots att det regnade spelade vi fotboll.
• Why: Use trots with a noun phrase, but trots att with a full clause containing a subject and verb.

Placing antingen too far from the alternatives

• Awkward: Antingen vi kan träffas på kontoret eller på ett kafé.
• Right: Vi kan träffas antingen på kontoret eller på ett kafé.
• Why: The alternatives are locations, so antingen should stand directly before the first location. Its position shows exactly what is being contrasted.

Mixing unlike structures

• Awkward: Hon vill antingen studera vidare eller ett heltidsjobb.
• Right: Hon vill antingen studera vidare eller skaffa ett heltidsjobb.
• Why: The first alternative is a verb phrase, while the original second alternative is only a noun phrase. Make both alternatives parallel.

Using double negation with varken

• Wrong: Jag äter inte varken kött eller fisk.
• Right: Jag äter varken kött eller fisk.
• Why: Varken ... eller already means that both alternatives are excluded. An additional inte is normally unnecessary and nonstandard in this pattern.

Usage Notes

In conversation, fast often serves where English uses “although” or “but”: Jag gick ut fast det regnade. It is common and natural, but trots att makes the concessive relationship—the idea of “in spite of this fact”—especially clear and works well in both speech and writing. Även om can also mean “even though,” but it may express a hypothetical concession: Även om det regnar går vi ut can mean “Even if it rains, we will go out.” By contrast, trots att det regnar presents the rain as a fact.

Om ... inte is neutral and frequent. Såvida inte is concise but can sound more formal, guarded, or rule-like: Erbjudandet gäller till fredag, såvida inget annat anges (“The offer is valid until Friday unless otherwise stated”). Notice that inget can carry the negative meaning, so inte is not required in that example.

Commas are not inserted automatically before every Swedish conjunction. Short linked words and phrases normally have no comma: te eller kaffe. A comma may separate longer independent clauses, but before eller så it is a matter of structure and readability rather than an English rule copied into Swedish. Similarly, many writers omit the comma after a short initial subordinate clause.

In careful writing, make the reach of the paired conjunction obvious. Hon talade varken med chefen eller kunden clearly excludes both people. If a sentence becomes long enough that the reader has to search for the second half of the pair, rewrite it as two shorter clauses.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The distinction between factual concession and hypothetical concession becomes important in more advanced Swedish:

• Trots att han är sjuk arbetar han. — He is ill, yet he works.
• Även om han är sjuk arbetar han. — Depending on context, he may be ill, or the illness may be considered as a possibility; either way, he works.

Context sometimes reduces this contrast, and speakers may use även om for a known fact. Still, trots att is the clearest choice when you explicitly present the subordinate clause as a real circumstance that failed to prevent the result.

Paired expressions can also have focus, the part the speaker presents as the relevant contrast. Compare:

• Antingen köper Sara boken eller lånar hon den. — the actions are contrasted.
• Antingen köper Sara boken eller Johan tidningen. — this is harder to process because several elements change; separate clauses or repeat more structure to remove ambiguity.

For more than two negative alternatives, Swedish can extend the pattern with repeated eller: Han talar varken svenska, norska eller danska. In polished prose, this is common and does not require repeating varken. With more complicated lists, inte vare sig ... eller ... can be useful, particularly when another negative element is already present.

You may also see antingen ... eller också. Here också does not mean a simple additive “also”; the phrase reinforces the second alternative: Antingen tar vi tåget, eller också hyr vi en bil. The construction is especially useful when both alternatives are full clauses.

Practice Tips

1. Transform pairs of sentences. Start with Det regnade. Vi gick ut. Then combine them as Trots att det regnade gick vi ut. Add inte to check that you remember subordinate-clause order: Trots att det inte regnade ...
2. Mark the two alternatives. Underline what follows antingen and what follows eller. If the underlined parts do not have the same shape, rewrite them. Repeat with varken ... eller.
3. Translate meanings, not individual words. When you see English “unless,” first build a Swedish om clause, insert its subject, and then place inte before the finite verb. Read the completed clause aloud as one unit.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — review subordinate-clause word order and the position of sentence adverbs such as inte.
• Next step: Types of Subordinate Clauses — distinguish concessive, nominal, relative, and other subordinate structures.
• Next step: Conditional Sentences — develop om clauses into real and hypothetical conditions.