Bilhandlaren har reservnyckeln.

to have

Breakdown of Bilhandlaren har reservnyckeln.

• bilhandlaren: the car dealer
• reservnyckeln: the spare key

Questions & Answers about Bilhandlaren har reservnyckeln.

Why are bilhandlaren and reservnyckeln written as single words?

Swedish forms compounds very freely, much more than English does.

• bilhandlare = bil
  • handlare = car dealer
• reservnyckel = reserv
  • nyckel = spare key

In English, we often write these as two words, but in Swedish they are normally written as one word.

A useful rule:

• if English has a noun + noun combination, Swedish often makes it one compound word.

What does the ending -en in bilhandlaren mean?

It marks the noun as definite singular: the car dealer.

So:

• bilhandlare = a car dealer / car dealer
• bilhandlaren = the car dealer

Unlike English, Swedish often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

Why is it reservnyckeln and not something like a separate word for the key?

For the same reason: Swedish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

• reservnyckel = a spare key / spare key
• reservnyckeln = the spare key

So in this sentence, both nouns are definite:

• bilhandlaren = the car dealer
• reservnyckeln = the spare key