Breakdown of Bollen är rund, men äpplet är rundare.
vara
to be
bollen
the ball
äpplet
the apple
men
but
rund
round
Questions & Answers about Bollen är rund, men äpplet är rundare.
How is the comparative form rundare (rounder) made here?
To make the comparative form of most regular adjectives in Swedish, you just add -are to the base form of the word. Since "round" is rund, "rounder" becomes rundare. This is very similar to adding "-er" to adjectives in English!
Äpplet is an ett word. Why isn't the adjective spelled rundaret to match the gender?
One of the best things about comparative adjectives in Swedish is that they never change to match gender or number! The comparative form rundare stays exactly the same whether you are describing an en word, an ett word, or plural nouns.
Wait, if the first part of the sentence was "The apple is round", would rund change?
Yes! In the basic, non-comparative form, adjectives must match the noun. Since äpplet is an ett word, you would add a -t to the adjective: Äpplet är runt. But as we saw above, once you use the comparative form (rundare), you drop the gender rules.
Why is it bollen and äpplet instead of en boll and ett äpple?
Because we are talking about specific items: "the ball" and "the apple". To say "the" in Swedish, we add an ending to the noun. Boll gets -en because it's an en word, and äpple gets -t because it is an ett word that already ends in a vowel.
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