Breakdown of Bokens författare är en kvinna.
vara
to be
en
a, an (common)
boken
the book
kvinnan
the woman
författaren
the author
Questions & Answers about Bokens författare är en kvinna.
How is bokens formed here?
It comes from bok (book). First, we make it definite by adding -en to get boken (the book). Then, we add an -s to show possession, making it bokens (the book's). Unlike English, Swedish never uses an apostrophe before the possessive -s.
Why is it just författare and not författaren (the author) after bokens?
This is a very important rule in Swedish: whenever you use a genitive (a possessive word ending in -s like bokens), the noun that belongs to it must be in the indefinite form. Even though we mean the author, Swedish requires the indefinite författare instead of the definite författaren.
Does the word författare change if there are multiple authors?
No, it actually stays exactly the same! Nouns ending in -are, which often describe professions or people, usually have the same form in the singular and the plural. So en författare means one author, and två författare means two authors.
Why doesn't Swedish use a word for of, like The author of the book?
While you can naturally translate this sentence to English using of, Swedish rarely uses a direct translation of of for possession. Adding the -s ending to the owner, as in bokens författare, is the standard and most natural way to express this relationship.
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