Questions & Answers about Hunden sover bakom huset.
What does hunden mean, and why does it end with -en?
Hunden means the dog. In Swedish, instead of placing a separate word for “the,” a suffix is attached to the noun to indicate definiteness. Since hund is a common gender noun, the definite form is created by adding -en, making it hunden.
Why is the verb sova changed to sover in this sentence?
Sova means to sleep, and sover is its present tense, third-person singular form. Swedish verbs often take a modified ending in the present tense when referring to he, she, or it, which is why we see sover used with the subject hunden.
What role does the preposition bakom play in this sentence?
Bakom is a preposition meaning behind. It introduces the place where the action occurs, telling us that the dog is sleeping behind a specific house, whose definite form is shown as huset.
How is the definite form of hus constructed to form huset?
In Swedish, neuter nouns take the suffix -et to form their definite version. The word hus (meaning house) is a neuter noun, so adding -et changes it to huset, indicating a specific house.
How does the word order in this Swedish sentence compare to English?