Breakdown of De fina leksakerna är Eriks.
vara
to be
fin
nice
de
the (plural, before adjective)
Erik
Erik
leksaken
the toy
Questions & Answers about De fina leksakerna är Eriks.
Why does the sentence use both De and the -erna ending on leksakerna?
This is a rule called "double definiteness," which happens whenever you use an adjective with a definite noun (a noun meaning "the [something]"). Because we added the adjective fina (nice), Swedish requires the free plural article de in front, plus the adjective, plus the noun with its built-in definite ending. Literally, it translates to "The nice toys-the."
Is the word De pronounced the way it looks?
No, in everyday spoken Swedish, De is almost always pronounced like dom. You must write de for the plural "the" here, but you will hear native speakers say dom when reading this sentence out loud.
Why is the adjective fina instead of just fin?
Adjectives take an -a ending when they describe plural nouns, and also when they describe definite nouns. Since leksakerna (the toys) is both plural and definite, the adjective must take the -a form to become fina.
Why doesn't Eriks have an apostrophe for "Erik's"?
Unlike English, Swedish doesn't use apostrophes to show ownership. To say something belongs to someone, you simply add an -s directly to the end of the name or noun. So "Erik's" is just written as Eriks.
How do we build the word leksakerna?
The basic word for "a toy" is en leksak. To make it plural, it takes an -er ending, becoming leksaker (toys). Finally, to make a plural word mean "the toys", you add the definite plural ending -na, resulting in leksakerna.
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