Breakdown of De smutsiga knivarna var i lådan.
vara
to be
i
in
smutsig
dirty
de
the (plural, before adjective)
Questions & Answers about De smutsiga knivarna var i lådan.
Why does this sentence use both the word De and the ending -na on knivarna?
This is a classic feature of Swedish called 'double definiteness.' When you have a definite noun (meaning you are saying 'the') and it has an adjective describing it, you must use both the standalone word for 'the' (De for plural words) AND the definite ending on the noun itself (-na in knivarna).
Why does the adjective smutsiga end in an -a?
In Swedish, adjectives get an -a added to the end whenever they are plural (more than one) or definite (using 'the'). Since smutsiga is both plural and definite in this sentence, it must take the -a ending instead of its base dictionary form, smutsig.
How is the word knivarna (the knives) formed from the base word kniv?
En kniv is an en-word. To make it plural ('knives'), you add -ar, giving you knivar. To make it 'the knives', you then add the definite plural ending -na to that, resulting in knivarna.
Why is it lådan instead of låda at the end of the sentence?