Questions & Answers about Varför är studenten ledsen?
Why is the verb är placed before the subject studenten?
In Swedish, questions that start with a question word like varför (why) follow the V2 rule. This means the verb must be in the second position. So, it is always Question word + Verb + Subject, making it Varför är studenten.
How do we know studenten means the student and not just a student?
Swedish puts the definite article at the end of the noun as a suffix. Since student is an en-word, we add -en to the end to make it studenten (the student).
If there were multiple sad students, would the word ledsen change?
Yes! Adjectives in Swedish change to match the noun they describe. For a singular en-word like studenten, we use ledsen. If it were an ett-word, it would be ledset, and for plural (multiple students), it would become ledsna.
How is the word ledsen usually pronounced?
Even though it is spelled with a d, that letter is silent in everyday speech. You will almost always hear native speakers pronounce it as lessen.