Breakdown of Eriks familj reste till Sverige.
familjen
the family
resa
to travel
till
to (direction, destination)
Sverige
Sweden
Questions & Answers about Eriks familj reste till Sverige.
Why does the past tense verb reste end in -te instead of -de?
The verb resa (to travel) belongs to Group 2. Normally, Group 2 verbs take -de in the past tense. However, because the stem res- ends in an -s (a voiceless consonant like p, t, k, or s), it takes the -te ending instead to make it easier to pronounce. So it becomes reste.
Why is it written as Eriks and not Erik's with an apostrophe?
In Swedish, you show possession simply by adding an -s to the end of the name or noun. Unlike English, you almost never use an apostrophe before this -s.
Since Erik's family refers to a specific family, why don't we use the definite form familjen?
Whenever you use a possessive word (like Eriks, min, or hans), the noun that follows must be in its indefinite form without the -en or -et ending. That is why it is Eriks familj and not Eriks familjen.
Could I use i instead of till here?
No, because the verb resa (to travel) here describes movement towards a destination. Just like in English, you travel to a place (till Sverige). If you were traveling around inside the country's borders, you would say resa i Sverige.