Word
De dyra tallrikarna var trasiga.
Meaning
The expensive plates were broken.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De dyra tallrikarna var trasiga.
vara
to be
dyr
expensive
de
the (plural, before adjective)
trasig
broken
Questions & Answers about De dyra tallrikarna var trasiga.
Why are there two words for 'the' in this sentence (De and the -na at the end of tallrikarna)?
This is a common rule in Swedish called double definiteness. When a definite noun (like tallrikarna, meaning 'the plates') has an adjective describing it (like dyra, meaning 'expensive'), you must also add a standalone article at the beginning. For plural nouns, that word is de. So literally, it translates to 'the expensive the-plates'.
Why do the adjectives dyra and trasiga both end in '-a'?
In Swedish, adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because tallrikarna is plural (more than one plate), the adjectives describing them must take their plural form. For most adjectives, this means adding an -a to the end of the base word (dyr becomes dyra, and trasig becomes trasiga).
How is the word De pronounced in this sentence?
Even though it is spelled De, it is almost always pronounced as dom in everyday spoken Swedish. You will usually hear native speakers say 'Dom dyra tallrikarna...'.
How does the word tallrik change to become tallrikarna?
The base word is en tallrik (a plate). To make it plural ('plates'), you add -ar to get tallrikar. To make it definite plural ('the plates'), you then add -na to the plural form, giving you tallrikarna.