Breakdown of Bilen är blå och tröjan är vit.
vara
to be
och
and
bilen
the car
tröjan
the sweater
vit
white
blå
blue
Questions & Answers about Bilen är blå och tröjan är vit.
Why do the words for car and sweater end in "-en" and "-n"?
In Swedish, the word for "the" is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word. For "en-words" like en bil (a car), you add -en to make bilen (the car). Because en tröja (a sweater) already ends in a vowel, you only need to add -n to make tröjan (the sweater).
Why do we use the basic forms blå and vit here instead of blått and vitt?
Adjectives have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because both bil and tröja are en-words, the adjectives stay in their basic dictionary form: blå and vit. If we were describing an ett-word, like ett hus (a house), we would have to add a "t" to the adjectives to make them blått and vitt.
If I wanted to ask "Which car?" or "Which sweater?", how would I choose between vilken, vilket, and vilka?
Why doesn't blå end in a consonant like vit does?
Swedish adjectives come in different shapes. Words like vit (white) and stor (big) end in consonants, while others like blå (blue) or grå (gray) naturally end in a vowel in their basic form. Both are perfectly normal base forms for en-words.
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