Questions & Answers about Han är barnet.
Why does barn have -et at the end here?
Would I add -et to make any noun mean "the"?
Not all of them! It depends on the noun's group. Since it is ett barn (a child), we add -et. If it were an "en-word" like en hund (a dog), you would add -en instead to make hunden (the dog). You have to memorize if a noun takes en or ett when you learn it.
Does the verb är change if I change han to a different pronoun?
No, Swedish verbs do not change based on who is doing the action! The verb är stands for "am", "is", or "are", and it stays exactly the same no matter who the subject is. It is always jag är (I am), han är (he is), and vi är (we are).
Since barn is an "ett-word", shouldn't we use det (it) instead of han (he)?
Grammatical gender (en-words and ett-words) only dictates the endings on the noun itself. When we use personal pronouns to refer to actual people, we use their natural gender. Because this specific child is a boy, we use han (he). If the child were a girl, we would use hon (she).
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