In Swedish, verbs often pair with a small word (a particle) to create a new meaning, much like English phrasal verbs (for example, klippa av means "to cut off").
Prefixing the Particle
When you turn a phrasal verb into an adjective (a past participle), the particle must move to the front and attach to the verb as a prefix.
For example, klippa av becomes the adjective avklippt. Because these function exactly like normal adjectives, they must agree with the noun they describe. When modifying a definite noun, avklippt takes an -a ending (avklippta):
| The cut-off fringe lay on the floor. | Den avklippta luggen låg på golvet. |
| Do you want to throw away the cut-off hair? | Vill du kasta det avklippta håret? |
Common Salon Adjectives
This prefixing rule applies to all phrasal verbs turned into adjectives.
If a client wants their hair loose, släppa ut (to let down) becomes utsläppt:
| She likes to have her hair loose. | Hon gillar att ha håret utsläppt. |
For combed-back hair, kamma bak becomes bakkammad. Notice how participles ending in -ad take an -e ending (bakkammade) for definite nouns:
| The man with the combed-back hairstyle changed the parting. | Mannen med den bakkammade frisyren ändrade benan. |
When putting hair up in a braid, sätta upp (to put up) becomes uppsatt:
| The put-up braid was very beautiful. | Den uppsatta flätan var väldigt vacker. |
Agreement with Ett-words
Don't forget that if the noun is an ett-word, the adjective needs a neuter form. For example, raka bort (to shave off) becomes bortrakad, but changes to bortrakat to match håret:
| The hair on the neck is shaved off. | Håret i nacken är bortrakat. |
Finally, here is how you might talk about a color correction, using urtvättad (washed out, from tvätta ur) and omfärgad (redyed, from färga om):
| The washed-out color must be redyed. | Den urtvättade färgen måste bli omfärgad. |