Breakdown of Vi ser hundra fåglar i trädgården.
vi
we
i
in
se
to see
trädgården
the garden
fågeln
the bird
hundra
a hundred
Questions & Answers about Vi ser hundra fåglar i trädgården.
Why is there no word for 'a' before hundra?
In Swedish, you do not need to use an article like en or ett before the words for hundred or thousand. The word hundra means 'a hundred' all on its own. You would only say ett hundra if you really needed to emphasize exactly 'one' hundred instead of two or three.
The singular word for bird is fågel. Why does it become fåglar instead of 'fågelar'?
When making a plural out of a word that ends in -el (like en fågel), Swedish usually drops the 'e' before adding the plural ending. This is a common spelling rule that makes the word easier to say. So, fågel plus the plural ending -ar becomes fåglar.
How is the word trädgården put together?
It is a compound word. It combines träd (tree) and gård (yard or farm) to mean 'garden'. The -en at the very end is the definite ending, which turns 'a garden' (en trädgård) into 'the garden' (trädgården).
If I wanted to say 'We are seeing a hundred birds', would I change the verb ser?
No, the sentence would look exactly the same. Swedish does not have a separate 'are doing' (continuous) tense like English does. Vi ser translates to both 'we see' and 'we are seeing', and you just pick the English translation that makes the most sense in context.
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