Word
Spindeln är ett litet djur.
Meaning
The spider is a small animal.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Spindeln är ett litet djur.
vara
to be
ett
a, an (neuter)
djuret
the animal
spindeln
the spider
Questions & Answers about Spindeln är ett litet djur.
Why do we use litet instead of liten here?
The adjective must match the gender of the noun it describes. Because djur (animal) is an ett-word (ett djur), the adjective liten takes its neuter form, litet.
Spindeln is an en-word, so shouldn't the rest of the sentence use en-word grammar?
No, because litet belongs directly to the noun djur, not spindeln. We are building the phrase 'a small animal' (ett litet djur). The adjective always agrees with the noun it is directly attached to.
If the base word is en spindel, why is 'the spider' spindeln and not spindelen?
When an en-word ends in -el (like spindel or cykel), we drop the extra 'e' when adding the definite ending so it is easier to say. We just add -n to get spindeln.
How would this sentence look in the plural ('The spiders are small animals')?
It would be Spindlarna är små djur. The adjective liten is highly irregular because its plural form changes to a completely different word: små.