Hyresvärden ska ersätta hyresgästen.

Because Swedish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

• en hyresvärd = a landlord

• hyresvärden = the landlord

• en hyresgäst = a tenant
• hyresgästen = the tenant

Both hyresvärd and hyresgäst are en-words (common gender nouns), so their singular definite form ends in -en.

The dictionary forms are:

• hyresvärd = landlord
• hyresgäst = tenant

In the sentence, they appear in the definite singular forms:

• hyresvärden = the landlord
• hyresgästen = the tenant

So if you looked them up in a dictionary, you would usually search for hyresvärd and hyresgäst, not the -en forms.

Yes. Swedish makes a lot of compound nouns, and these are good examples.

• hyres- relates to hyra = rent
• värd = host
• gäst = guest

So, very literally:

• hyresvärd = rent-host
• hyresgäst = rent-guest

You should not translate them word-for-word in normal English, though. Their actual meanings are simply landlord and tenant.

Ska is a modal verb. It can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• will
• shall
• is going to
• is supposed to
• must

In a sentence like this, especially in formal, legal, or official language, ska often has a sense of obligation or what is required to happen.

So the tone can be something like:

• must compensate
• shall compensate
• is to compensate

Context decides the best English translation.

Because after a modal verb like ska, Swedish uses the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• ska ersätta = shall/will compensate

Compare:

• Hyresvärden ersätter hyresgästen. = The landlord compensates the tenant.
• Hyresvärden ska ersätta hyresgästen. = The landlord shall/will/must compensate the tenant.

This is similar to English:

• must compensate
• not must compensates

After modal verbs such as ska, kan, vill, måste, and får, Swedish normally uses the infinitive without att.

So you say:

• ska ersätta
• kan ersätta
• vill ersätta

not:

• ska att ersätta

This is like English using the bare infinitive after modal verbs:

• must go
• can help
• will pay

In a normal Swedish statement, word order tells you.

Here the structure is:

• Hyresvärden = subject
• ska = finite verb
• ersätta = infinitive
• hyresgästen = object

So the landlord is the one doing the compensating, and the tenant is the one receiving it.

This is one reason Swedish word order is important. In this sentence, the first noun phrase is understood as the subject.

No. Ersätta can mean more than one thing, depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• compensate
• reimburse
• replace
• substitute for

So the verb is broader than just one English word.

In this sentence, the intended meaning is compensate the tenant. But in another context, ersätta could mean replace:

• Hon ersatte chefen. = She replaced the manager.

So this is a word where context matters a lot.

Because Swedish often expresses the by adding an ending to the noun instead of using a separate word.

So:

• hyresvärden already means the landlord
• hyresgästen already means the tenant

A separate word like den is often used when there is an adjective:

• den nya hyresgästen = the new tenant

But without an adjective, just hyresgästen is enough.

Not in ordinary Swedish.

If you want the indefinite meaning, you would normally say:

• En hyresvärd ska ersätta en hyresgäst.

Without en or -en, the nouns sound incomplete in a normal sentence. Bare singular nouns are generally not used the way they can sometimes be in English.

So in standard Swedish prose, you would usually need either:

• en hyresvärd / en hyresgäst = a landlord / a tenant
• hyresvärden / hyresgästen = the landlord / the tenant

A rough pronunciation guide would be:

HY-res-vair-den ska air-SET-a HY-res-yes-ten

A few important points:

• y in hyres- is not like English y. It is a rounded vowel, somewhat like French u or German ü.
• g in gäst sounds like y here, because g becomes soft before e, i, y, ä, and ö.
• In ersätta, the stress is on the second part: er-SÄT-ta.

So the hardest sounds for an English speaker are usually the Swedish y and the vowel ä.