Breakdown of Barnet leker på ett smutsigt golv.
ett
a, an (neuter)
barnet
the child
leka
to play (as children do)
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
golvet
the floor
smutsig
dirty
Questions & Answers about Barnet leker på ett smutsigt golv.
Why does the adjective smutsigt end in a -t?
This is because it describes golv (floor), which is an ett word (ett golv). When an adjective comes before an ett word in the indefinite form (meaning "a floor" instead of "the floor"), we add a -t to the end of it. The base word for "dirty" is smutsig, so it becomes smutsigt.
I learned that spelar means "plays". Why is leker used here instead?
Swedish has two different words for "to play". You use spelar for games with rules, sports, or musical instruments (like playing chess or the piano). You use leker for children's imaginative, unstructured play, which fits perfectly for a child playing on the floor!
If ett is the word for "a/an", why does barnet mean "the child"?
Swedish doesn't use a separate word before the noun for "the". Instead, the article attaches to the end of the word. Since "a child" is ett barn, we attach that -et to the end to get barnet, which means "the child".
How do you pronounce smutsigt? Do I say the "g"?
Usually, no! As a general rule in Swedish, when an adjective ends in -ig and you add a -t to match an ett word, the "g" becomes silent. You will hear smutsigt pronounced more like "smut-sitt".
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