Breakdown of Min mormor och hennes syster gifte sig för trettio år sedan.
och
and
sedan
then
systern
the sister
året
the year
min
my (min/mitt/mina)
hennes
her (possessive)
trettio
thirty
för ... sedan
ago (in 'för ... sedan')
mormorn
the maternal grandmother
gifta sig
to get married
Questions & Answers about Min mormor och hennes syster gifte sig för trettio år sedan.
How do you express "ago" in this sentence?
In Swedish, "ago" is expressed by wrapping the amount of time between för and sedan. Here, "thirty years ago" becomes för trettio år sedan.
Why is there a sig after gifte?
The verb for getting married is reflexive in Swedish: att gifta sig (literally "to marry oneself"). Because the subject is "My grandmother and her sister" (they), the reflexive pronoun to use is sig.
Why doesn't år (years) have a plural ending after trettio?
The word år is an ett-word (a neuter noun) that ends in a consonant. In Swedish, these types of words look exactly the same in the plural as they do in the singular. So it is ett år (one year) and trettio år (thirty years).
Does Swedish have a specific word for "maternal" grandmother?
Yes! Swedish uses very logical words for grandparents based on the side of the family. mormor literally means "mother's mother". A paternal grandmother would be farmor (father's mother).
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