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Questions & Answers about Öppna boken!
Why is the imperative öppna exactly the same as the infinitive?
The rule for making commands (the imperative) is to use the verb's stem. For many verbs, you find the stem by dropping the -a at the end. However, öppna belongs to a common group of verbs where the stem itself already ends in -a. Because of this, the imperative Öppna! and the infinitive att öppna (to open) look identical.
Why does this sentence start with the verb?
When you give a command in Swedish, you put the verb first and drop the subject (the person you are talking to). This is exactly how the imperative mood works in English, too!
How does boken mean 'the book'?
Instead of using a separate word for 'the' like in English, Swedish attaches the article to the end of the noun. Because bok is an en-word (en bok = a book), we add -en to the end to get boken (the book).
Why does öppna have a double p?
In Swedish spelling, a double consonant usually means that the vowel right before it is pronounced with a short sound. The double p tells us to pronounce the ö as a short, quick vowel.