Questions & Answers about Pizzan smakar bra.
In Swedish, the definite article (the) is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix instead of using a separate word.
- en pizza = a pizza (indefinite)
- pizzan = the pizza (definite singular)
So pizzan smakar bra literally means “pizza-the tastes good”, which corresponds to “The pizza tastes good” in English. The -n at the end is the definite ending for many en-words (common gender nouns) that end in a vowel.
In standard Swedish, both of these are wrong:
- ✗ Den pizza smakar bra – you are missing the definite ending on pizza.
- ✗ Den pizzan smakar bra – this is called double definiteness without a reason (you only need one definite marker).
The correct options are:
- Pizzan smakar bra. – The pizza tastes good.
- Den där pizzan smakar bra. – That pizza tastes good. (Here den där
- pizzan is correct, because the pointing word där is added.)
You add den/det/de in front of the noun only when there is also an adjective or a demonstrative:
- Den goda pizzan smakar bra. – The good pizza tastes good.
- Den här pizzan smakar bra. – This pizza tastes good.
smakar means “tastes”, so Pizzan smakar bra focuses on the taste.
You can say Pizzan är bra, but it usually sounds more general: the pizza is good (maybe taste, maybe size, maybe quality). For food, Swedes normally talk about taste using smaka:
- Soppan smakar konstigt. – The soup tastes strange.
- Kaffet smakar bittert. – The coffee tastes bitter.
If you want to sound very natural about food, using smakar is a good habit:
- Pizzan smakar bra/gott.
- Kakan är god. / Kakan smakar gott.
The base (infinitive) form is smaka = to taste.
smakar is the present tense:
- jag smakar – I taste
- du smakar – you taste
- han/hon smakar – he/she tastes
- vi smakar – we taste
- de smakar – they taste
Swedish verbs do not change form for person or number, so it is always smakar for the present.
Other common forms:
- att smaka – to taste
- smakade – tasted (past)
- har smakat – has/have tasted (present perfect)
Both can be used with food, but they are not identical:
- bra = good in a general sense
- god/gott = tasty, delicious; specifically about flavor (and sometimes smell)
So:
- Pizzan smakar bra. – The pizza tastes good (neutral positive).
- Pizzan smakar gott. – The pizza tastes delicious/tasty.
In everyday speech, Swedes often say:
- Det var gott! – That was tasty!
- Maten var jättegod. – The food was very tasty.
You will hear smakar bra and smakar gott both used; gott focuses more clearly on flavor, but bra is perfectly natural too.
bra is a bit special: it has one single form and can function both as an adjective-like and adverb-like word.
In Pizzan smakar bra, bra describes how the pizza tastes, similar to an adverb in English (tastes good). But in Swedish, bra does not change for gender, number, or definiteness:
- En bra pizza. – A good pizza.
- Två bra pizzor. – Two good pizzas.
- Den bra pizzan. – The good pizza.
Compare that with god (which does change):
- En god pizza / Två goda pizzor / Den goda pizzan
So: grammarians may label it differently depending on context, but practically you can remember: bra never changes its form.
Pizza is a common gender noun, an en-word:
- en pizza – a pizza
- pizzan – the pizza (add -n)
- pizzor – pizzas
- pizzorna – the pizzas
Being an en-word determines:
- Which article to use: en, not ett.
- Which definite ending: -n (because the word ends in a vowel).
- How adjectives agree:
- en god pizza
- den goda pizzan
- två goda pizzor
You need the plural forms of the noun and (optionally) the verb meaning may stay the same:
- Pizzor smakar bra. – Pizzas taste good. (indefinite plural)
- Pizzorna smakar bra. – The pizzas taste good. (definite plural)
Forms:
- Singular: en pizza, pizzan
- Plural: pizzor, pizzorna
The verb smakar stays the same, because Swedish verbs do not change between singular and plural.
The basic order here is Subject – Verb – (other stuff):
- Pizzan (subject) smakar (verb) bra (predicative).
If you add more elements after the verb, the normal order is:
- Pizzan smakar alltid bra i dag. – The pizza tastes always good today.
If you start the sentence with something else (like a time expression), Swedish still wants the verb in second position (V2 rule):
- I dag smakar pizzan bra. – Today the pizza tastes good.
- 1st slot: I dag
- 2nd slot: smakar (verb)
- 3rd slot: pizzan (subject)
So you can move elements to the front, but the finite verb must stay in second position.
A fairly standard pronunciation (Swedish from central Sweden) is:
- Pizzan smakar bra → [ˈpɪtːsan ˈsmɑːkar brɑː]
Some notes:
- pizza → [ˈpɪtːsa]
- The zz in spelling is pronounced like a long t plus s, not like English dz.
- pizzan → [ˈpɪtːsan] (the -n is pronounced as a normal n).
- smakar → [ˈsmɑːkar]
- Long a sound in the first syllable.
- bra → [brɑː]
- Long a again; r is usually slightly rolled or tapped.
Stress is on the first syllable of pizzan and smakar, and on bra as a whole word.
You can say it, but it is not very idiomatic. For smells, Swedes more often use:
- luktar gott – smells good (neutral, everyday)
- doftar gott – smells good (more pleasant/“nice smell”)
So more natural sentences would be:
- Pizzan luktar gott. – The pizza smells good.
- Pizzan doftar gott. – The pizza has a nice smell.
Luktar bra is understood but sounds a bit unusual; bra is more common with performance/quality issues (Det här fungerar bra – This works well) than with smell. For taste and smell together, gott is the safest choice.
Yes, a very common, natural alternative is:
- Pizzan är god. – The pizza is tasty / The pizza is good.
Both of these are idiomatic:
- Pizzan smakar gott.
- Pizzan är god.
They are very close in meaning. Smakar gott explicitly mentions the act of tasting; är god is a bit more general but still strongly associated with taste when talking about food.