Questions & Answers about Mannen ser dem i parken.
Wait, is dem pronounced the way it is spelled?
In spoken Swedish, both the object pronoun dem (them) and the subject pronoun de (they) are almost always pronounced as dom. So you will actually hear someone say: Mannen ser dom i parken.
Why do we use dem here instead of de?
De is the subject pronoun (they), while dem is the object pronoun (them). Because the people in the park are the ones being seen, they are the object of the sentence, so we use dem.
Why does the word parken have an -en at the end?
That is the definite ending. In Swedish, instead of putting a separate word like the English word the before the noun, you add a suffix to the end. So en park (a park) becomes parken (the park).
Can I start the sentence with i parken to emphasize where he sees them?
Yes, but remember the Swedish V2 rule, which says the verb must be the second piece of information in a statement. If you start with the location I parken, the verb ser must come right after it, followed by the subject: I parken ser mannen dem.