Swedish has several ways to say that someone is in a bad mood. You can be a little irriterad because someone is chewing too loudly. Sur because the coffee has run out. Arg because the train has been cancelled. And förbannad when the train has been cancelled, the coffee has run out and someone is still chewing too loudly. The words are related, but they do not feel the same. They sit at different points on the mood scale, from a slight crease between the eyebrows to the

Feelings can be powerful things. They can rush in, whisper quietly, or settle over the whole day like a blanket. But in Swedish, they often come with something very small: a preposition. Man är kär i någon. (You are in love with someone.) Man är rädd för något. (You are afraid of something.) Man är trött på något. (You are tired of / fed up with something.) Small words, big feelings. Prepositions show where the feeling is directed. Is it warm? Irritated? Worried?