Breakdown of Vi äter kockens mat på restaurangen.
vi
we
maten
the food
äta
to eat
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
restaurangen
the restaurant
kocken
the chef
Questions & Answers about Vi äter kockens mat på restaurangen.
How is the word kockens (the chef's) formed?
It is made by taking the noun kock (chef), adding the definite ending -en to make kocken (the chef), and finally adding the genitive -s to show possession. So kockens means "the chef's". Notice that unlike English, Swedish never uses an apostrophe before the possessive -s.
Why is it mat (food) and not the definite form maten (the food) after kockens?
In Swedish, when a noun is owned by someone (using a genitive -s like kockens or a possessive pronoun like min), the noun that follows must always be in the indefinite form. Because the owner is already specified, Swedish considers adding "the" to the food unnecessary, so we just say kockens mat.
Why do we use the preposition på to mean "at" the restaurant?
Prepositions rarely translate perfectly word-for-word between English and Swedish. While på often means "on", it is also the standard preposition used in Swedish for public places, businesses, and establishments where you go to do an activity (such as a restaurant, cafe, or cinema).
How do we know restaurang is an en-word based on this sentence?
You can tell because it ends in -en in its definite form (restaurangen, meaning "the restaurant"). If it were an ett-word, it would end in -et instead.
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