Breakdown of Mitt kontor ligger i en stor stad.
stor
big
i
in
en
a
staden
the city
kontoret
the office
ligga
to lie
mitt
my
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Questions & Answers about Mitt kontor ligger i en stor stad.
Why is the possessive pronoun mitt used in the sentence instead of min?
Mitt kontor translates to "my office". The pronoun mitt is used because kontor is a neuter noun (an ett word) in Swedish. For neuter nouns, the proper possessive form is mitt, whereas min is reserved for common gender (or en words).
What does the verb ligger mean in this context?
In this sentence, ligger literally means "lies", but its common usage here indicates location. It effectively means "is located", expressing where something can be found.
How does the phrase "i en stor stad" function grammatically?
The phrase "i en stor stad" means "in a big city". The preposition i translates to "in". The noun stad is of common gender (an en word), which is why it is preceded by en. The adjective stor is in the appropriate form for a common gender, singular, indefinite noun.
Why is the adjective stor not modified with an ending, as some Swedish adjectives are?
In Swedish, adjectives in the indefinite singular form adjust based on the gender of the noun. For common gender nouns (the en words), the adjective remains in its base form—as seen with stor stad. If the noun were neuter (an ett word), the adjective would typically take a -t ending (for example, ett stort hus for "a big house").
Can you explain the gender difference between kontor and stad in this sentence?
Certainly. Kontor is a neuter noun (an ett word), which is why we use mitt to say "my office". On the other hand, stad is a common gender noun (an en word), so it takes the indefinite article en and pairs with the adjective in its base form (stor) to become "a big city". This difference in gender affects both the possessive pronoun and the article used with the noun.