trots

Despite/in Spite of

Level 4

Use 'trots' followed by a noun to express 'despite' or 'in spite of' something. For example, 'trots regnet' means 'despite the rain'.

How It Works

'Trots' is a preposition in Swedish that translates to 'despite' or 'in spite of'. In the prepositional pattern taught here it takes a noun phrase, including a pronoun: trots regnet, trots detta. Before a full finite clause, use the combination trots att.

Key Usage:

  • It introduces a condition that would normally be expected to prevent the action of the main clause, but doesn't.

Sentence Structure:
The phrase with 'trots' can appear at the beginning or end of a sentence.

1. At the beginning: When a sentence starts with 'Trots + Noun Phrase', the main clause must follow the verb-second (V2) rule, meaning the verb comes directly after the initial phrase.
• Trots det dåliga vädret gick vi ut. (Despite the bad weather, we went out.)

2. At the end: The word order in the main clause is standard.
• Vi gick ut trots det dåliga vädret. (We went out despite the bad weather.)

Important Distinction: 'trots' vs. 'trots att'
It is crucial not to confuse the preposition trots with the conjunction trots att ('despite the fact that').

  • trots is followed by a noun: trots regnet (despite the rain)
  • trots att is followed by a clause (subject + verb): trots att det regnade (despite the fact that it was raining)

Examples (5)

  1. Trots regnet gick vi på en promenad.

    Despite the rain, we went for a walk.

    Word by Word: Despite the rain went we on a walk.

  2. Han klarade provet trots sin nervositet.

    He passed the test despite his nervousness.

  3. De fortsatte att arbeta trots den sena timmen.

    They continued to work despite the late hour.

  4. Jag älskar honom trots alla hans fel.

    I love him despite all his flaws.

  5. Vi hade en trevlig picknick trots det kalla vädret.

    We had a nice picnic despite the cold weather.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'trots' before a full clause instead of 'trots att'.

    Trots han var sjuk, gick han till jobbet.
    Trots att han var sjuk, gick han till jobbet.

    'Trots' is a preposition and must be followed by a noun or noun phrase (e.g., 'trots sjukdomen' - despite the illness). To connect a full clause (subject + verb), you must use the conjunction 'trots att'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

trotsLevel 4Despite/in Spite of

Learn This First

To use 'trots' (despite) correctly, a learner needs to understand how to form noun phrases (including gender and definiteness) because 'trots' functions as a preposition that precedes a noun or pronoun. It is also helpful to understand basic contrastive logic in Swedish using 'men'.

Words in This Pattern

trots