Questions & Answers about Systern och dottern kommer hem snart.
Why are the words for the sister and the daughter spelled systern and dottern instead of systeren and dotteren?
Both syster and dotter are en-words ending in an unstressed -er. When adding the definite ending to these types of words to mean the sister or the daughter, we just add an -n rather than the full -en to make pronunciation smoother. This is a common rule for stems ending in -el, -er, and -en.
Why does the sentence use hem instead of hemma for home?
Swedish uses different words for location and destination. You use hem when there is movement towards the home, like when going or coming. You use hemma when someone is already physically at their home. Since they are coming home in this sentence, it involves movement, so we use hem.
Does kommer mean come or are coming here?
It means both! Swedish does not have a separate continuous tense like English does with are coming. The single present tense verb kommer translates to come, comes, or are coming depending on what sounds best in English.
Do I pronounce the letters ch in och?