Secondary predication

Level 6

A depictive describes a participant’s state during an action: Jag äter äpplet rått (I eat the apple raw). It does not say that the state begins or ends at exactly the same time as the action.

How It Works

Depictive constructions provide a secondary predication that describes a temporary state of a noun phrase (the subject or object) concurrent with the event of the main clause. This is syntactically distinct from an attributive adjective inside a noun phrase (e.g., "den röda bollen" - the red ball), and from a resultative construction, which describes a state caused by the action.

Key Characteristics:

  • Temporality: The state described holds during or overlaps with the main action; it may also hold before or afterwards. In "Barnen lekte ute nakna" (The children played outside naked), they were naked while they were playing.
  • Agreement: The depictive adjective must follow the rules of adjective agreement, matching the gender (en/ett) and number (singular/plural) of the noun it modifies.
  • Syntactic Function: In the basic examples, it is a secondary predicate referring to the subject or object. It is not an adverb modifying the verb. For example, "Hon sjöng glad" (She was happy as she sang) describes her state, whereas "Hon sjöng glatt" (She sang happily) describes the manner of her singing.

Distinction from Resultatives:
The most crucial distinction is with resultative constructions. The structure can be identical, making context essential.

  • Depictive: "Han lämnade rummet arg." (He left the room angry.) He was angry while leaving; leaving is not presented as causing the anger.
  • Resultative: "Han slog dörren öppen." (He knocked the door open.) The action of knocking caused the door to become open. The state is a result.

Other Forms:
While adjectives are most common, past participles are also frequently used as depictives (e.g., "Han kom hem utmattad" - He came home exhausted).

The adjective is normally indefinite even with a definite participant: tomaterna färska. Attributive adjectives can also describe temporary states, as in de trötta barnen; permanence does not distinguish the two constructions. A noun phrase often needs som, as in Som student bodde hon här, which gives her role during the period.

Examples (5)

  1. Jag dricker kaffet svart.

    I drink the coffee black.

    Word by Word: I drink the-coffee black.

    Svart describes kaffet while it is being drunk. Kaffe is neuter, but svart has the same written singular form with either gender: en svart kopp, ett svart bord. The plural is svarta.

  2. Han åt äpplet rått.

    He ate the apple raw.

    Word by Word: He ate the-apple raw.

    Another object-oriented depictive. 'Rått' describes the object 'äpplet' (the apple). Because 'äpple' is an ett-word, the adjective takes a -t ending.

  3. Hon kom hem ledsen.

    She came home sad.

    Word by Word: She came home sad.

    This is a subject-oriented depictive. 'Ledsen' (sad) describes the state of the subject 'hon' (she) at the time she came home.

  4. Vi köpte tomaterna färska.

    We bought the tomatoes fresh.

    Word by Word: We bought the-tomatoes fresh.

    An object-oriented depictive with a plural object. 'Färska' (fresh) agrees with the plural object 'tomaterna' (the tomatoes).

  5. Barnen sprang omkring nakna i trädgården.

    The children ran around naked in the garden.

    Word by Word: The-children ran around naked in the-garden.

    A subject-oriented depictive with a plural subject. 'Nakna' (naked) agrees with the plural subject 'barnen' (the children).

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the adjective in its en-form with an ett-object.

    Jag åt äpplet rå.
    Jag åt äpplet rått.

    Äpple is neuter, so rå becomes rått. This adjective describes the apple’s state during eating.

  • Using a manner adverb when the intended meaning is the person’s tired state.

    Han kom hem tröttsamt.
    Han kom hem trött.

    Trött describes han as tired on arriving. Tröttsamt evaluates something as tiresome; it does not mean that he was tired. A tiresome manner can be meaningful in context, so the difference is not logical impossibility.

How It Connects

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

Secondary predicationLevel 6

Learn This First

To use depictive constructions (secondary predication), you need to understand how adjectives agree with the subjects they describe and where to place these additional descriptions within a standard Swedish sentence structure.