Breakdown of Det ordet tycker jag är svårast i hela meningen.
Questions & Answers about Det ordet tycker jag är svårast i hela meningen.
In Swedish, when you point out a specific, known noun with det, the noun must be in the definite form.
- ord = word (indefinite)
- ordet = the word (definite)
So:
- det ordet ≈ that word / that particular word
- det ord is ungrammatical.
The pattern is:
- det huset = that house
- den boken = that book
- de orden = those words
Demonstrative (den/det/de) + definite noun (-en / -et / -na).
Yes, Det där ordet tycker jag är svårast i hela meningen is also correct.
Difference:
- det ordet = that (specific) word, the context already makes it clear which one.
- det där ordet = that word over there / that particular word (often with a bit more pointing or distance, physically or mentally).
In many contexts, both can translate to that word in English, but det där is more emphatic or “pointing”.
Both are correct:
- Det ordet tycker jag är svårast i hela meningen.
- Jag tycker att det ordet är svårast i hela meningen.
The chosen sentence uses fronting: it puts Det ordet first as the topic (what we’re talking about). Swedish often moves an element to the beginning for emphasis or focus, as long as the finite verb is in second position (the V2 rule).
So:
- Det ordet (fronted topic)
- tycker (finite verb, 2nd position)
- jag (subject)
- är svårast i hela meningen (rest of the clause)
If you start with Jag, the word order then is:
- Jag tycker att det ordet är svårast i hela meningen.
This sounds slightly more neutral, less focused on det ordet.
No, you don’t need att in this sentence, but you can use it:
- Jag tycker det ordet är svårast.
- Jag tycker att det ordet är svårast.
Both are grammatical. In everyday speech, att is often dropped after verbs like tycka, tro, veta, etc., especially when the sentence is short and clear.
In the original fronted version (Det ordet tycker jag är svårast), you normally do not insert att between tycker jag and är.
In short:
- tycker = have an opinion / find something to be a certain way (subjective)
- tror = believe, think something is true (often about facts or the future)
- anser = consider, be of the opinion that (more formal)
In this sentence you are expressing a personal opinion about difficulty:
- Det ordet tycker jag är svårast…
→ I find that word the hardest / My opinion is that that word is the hardest.
Using tror here would sound odd, as if you were unsure about a fact rather than simply giving your subjective view.
svårast is the morphological superlative of svår:
- svår = difficult
- svårare = more difficult
- svårast = most difficult / hardest
You can form some superlatives with mest (most), but for common, short adjectives like svår, the built-in superlative (svårast) is the normal, idiomatic form.
mest svår is technically understandable but sounds unnatural and is almost never used. Use:
- Det ordet är svårast. = That word is the most difficult.
No, not in this position.
Here svårast is a predicative adjective (it comes after är and describes the subject det ordet). In this predicative superlative use, svårast does not change for gender or number:
- Det ordet är svårast.
- De orden är svårast.
When used before a noun in the definite form, the shape can change:
- den svåraste meningen = the most difficult sentence
- de svåraste orden = the most difficult words
But after är, the form svårast is fine for all genders and numbers in this kind of sentence.
Both are correct, but they don’t have exactly the same nuance:
- i meningen = in the sentence
- i hela meningen = in the whole / entire sentence
By adding hela, you stress that among all the words in that sentence, this one is the most difficult. Without hela, it’s a bit less emphatic.
So:
- Det ordet tycker jag är svårast i meningen.
→ That word I think is the most difficult in the sentence. - Det ordet tycker jag är svårast i hela meningen.
→ That word I think is the most difficult in the entire sentence (stronger emphasis).
meningen is the definite form of mening, which has two main meanings:
- sentence (in grammar)
- meaning / point / purpose
In this context, because we are talking about a word and its difficulty “in the whole …”, it clearly means sentence.
- en mening = a sentence
- meningen = the sentence
The other meaning (purpose) is used in contexts like:
- Vad är meningen med livet? = What is the meaning / purpose of life?
So here: i hela meningen = in the whole sentence.
Yes, you can say:
- Det ordet är svårast i hela meningen, tycker jag.
This is also correct. The nuance:
- Det ordet tycker jag är svårast…
→ The focus is a bit more integrated; “that word, I think, is the hardest…”. - Det ordet är svårast i hela meningen, tycker jag.
→ Sounds like you state a fact and then add tycker jag as a comment (“in my opinion”).
Both are natural; the difference is mostly stylistic.
No. In standard Swedish you normally cannot drop the subject pronoun like that.
You must say:
- Det ordet tycker jag är svårast.
Swedish does not allow subject dropping the way some languages (e.g. Spanish, Italian) do. Only in very limited, informal, or imperative contexts can the subject be left out (e.g. Kom! = Come!).
In careful speech, det is [deː] (similar to deh with a long e). However, in normal spoken Swedish it is often reduced:
- before a consonant and without stress, it’s often just [de] or even a very short [də].
- before a vowel, the t may be more audible.
In Det ordet tycker jag är svårast…, Det is usually pronounced like [de] with no clear t sound, and the main stress is more on ordet than on det.
So you might hear something close to:
- De ordet tycker ja är svårast i hela meningen.
(Still spelled Det in writing, of course.)
In neutral pronunciation, the main sentence stress will usually fall on:
- ordet (the specific word being talked about)
- svårast (the evaluation: most difficult)
- often also hela or meningen (to stress the scope: the whole sentence)
Roughly:
- Det ORdet tycker jag är SVÅRast i HEla MEningen.
This stress pattern supports the meaning: that specific word is the most difficult one in the whole sentence.