Questions & Answers about Stäng fönstret!
Why is the verb stäng instead of stänga or stänger?
This sentence is a command, which means it uses the imperative form. In Swedish, you make a command by using the verb's stem. For the infinitive verb att stänga (to close), you just drop the final -a to get the command form: stäng.
Why does the sentence start directly with the verb?
Just like in English, Swedish commands usually start right with the verb. You don't need to include a subject like "you" (du) because it is already implied when you give the instruction to stäng (close) something.
How do we know fönstret means "the window" and not just "a window"?
In Swedish, the word for "the" is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word. The base word is ett fönster (a window). Because it is an ett word, we add an -et ending to make it definite, meaning "the window".
If the base word is fönster, shouldn't adding -et make it fönsteret?
You might expect that, but to make it easier to say, Swedish drops the extra -e-. When an ett word ends in -er like fönster, adding the definite -et ending shrinks the word down to fönstret.
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