Questions & Answers about Det är hunden.
Why do we use det here when hund is an en-word? Shouldn't it be den?
When you are identifying something by saying 'That is...' or 'It is...', Swedish always uses the neuter pronoun det. It doesn't matter if the actual noun that follows is an en-word like hunden or even a plural word!
Where is the word for 'the' in this sentence?
In Swedish, the word 'the' is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it. The base word for dog is hund (which is an en-word). To say 'the dog', you add -en to the end, making it hunden.
Could Det är hunden also mean 'It is the dog'?
Yes! The pronoun det can translate to both 'that' and 'it' in English. Depending on the context, this sentence could be pointing out a specific dog ('That is the dog') or answering a question like 'Who is making that noise?' ('It is the dog').
If we were talking about multiple dogs, would the verb är change to match?
No, the verb är stays exactly the same. In Swedish, verbs never change their form based on who or what is doing the action. The word är covers 'am', 'is', and 'are' all by itself.
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