Breakdown of Er det et tiltrækkende stjernetegn for en mand?
være
to be
manden
the man
det
it (neuter)
en
a / an (common)
et
a / an (neuter)
for
for (preposition)
stjernetegnet
the star sign
tiltrækkende
attractive (appealing, alluring)
Questions & Answers about Er det et tiltrækkende stjernetegn for en mand?
Why doesn't tiltrækkende get a -t at the end, since it describes the neuter noun et stjernetegn?
The word tiltrækkende ends in an unstressed -e. In Danish, adjectives that end in an unstressed -e are invariable. This means they never change their endings, regardless of whether the noun they describe is neuter, plural, or definite. So, it stays tiltrækkende instead of taking the usual -t required for an et-word.
Is tiltrækkende related to a verb, and does that explain its ending?
Yes, it comes from the verb at tiltrække (to attract). It is a present participle, formed by adding -nde to the verb. Present participles are often used as adjectives in Danish, acting similarly to English adjectives ending in '-ing' (like 'appealing'). Because all Danish present participles end in an unstressed -e, they all follow this zero-inflection rule.
If I used the synonym attraktiv instead, how would the grammar of this sentence change?
If you swap in attraktiv, you have to use standard adjective agreement because it doesn't end in an unstressed -e. Since stjernetegn is a neuter noun, you would add a -t, making the sentence: Er det et attraktivt stjernetegn for en mand? This is a great way to see the difference between standard and invariable adjectives in action.
I sometimes mix up the gender of long compound words like stjernetegn. Is there a trick to remembering it here?
Yes! Compound nouns always take the gender of their final noun. The word stjernetegn is made of en stjerne (a star) and et tegn (a sign). Because the final part is et tegn, the entire compound word is neuter (et stjernetegn). The gender of the first part never matters.
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