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Questions & Answers about Huset är kallt.
Why does kallt end in a -t here?
Adjectives in Swedish change to match the noun they describe. Because the subject of the sentence, huset (the house), comes from an ett-word (ett hus), the base adjective kall needs a -t added to the end.
How can I tell that huset is an ett-word just by looking at this sentence?
Look at the ending of the noun. The word for "the house" is huset. The -et tacked onto the end of the noun means "the" for ett-words. If it were an en-word, it would usually end in -en instead.
If I want to say "It is cold" outside, do I still use kallt?
Yes! When you talk about the weather or a general situation, Swedish uses det ("it") as the subject. Since det counts as an ett-word, the adjective always takes the -t ending. So, "It is cold" is simply Det är kallt.
If I wanted to say "a cold house" instead of "the house is cold", does the adjective still get a -t?
Yes, it does. Whether the adjective comes right before the noun (ett kallt hus) or after the verb like it does here (huset är kallt), it must always match the ett-word by keeping that -t ending.