Question 1

Why do we use mer skrämmande instead of adding an ending like -are?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives that end in -ande or -ende are usually present participles (words that often end in 'ing' in English, like 'frightening'). Because these words are already quite long, they do not take the standard -are or -ast endings. Instead, you make them comparative by putting mer (more) or mest (most) in front of them.

Question 2

How do we know if karaktär is an en-word or an ett-word here?

Accepted Answer

The word ingen gives it away! Because it is ingen and not inget, we know karaktär is an en-word. If the word were plural, you would use inga.

Question 3

Why does this sentence start with det finns instead of det är?

Accepted Answer

In Swedish, when you want to say that something exists ('there is' or 'there are'), you almost always use det finns, which literally means 'it is found'. You use det är when you want to say 'it is', such as when describing a specific thing.

Question 4

Can the word som mean both 'that' and 'who' in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Som is a relative pronoun that links parts of a sentence together. While English uses 'who' for people and 'that' or 'which' for things, Swedish simply uses som for all of them.

Det finns ingen karaktär som är mer skrämmande.

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