Breakdown of Vi besökte det äldsta huset där den rikaste mannen hade bott.
vi
we
huset
the house
mannen
the man
bo
to live
ha
to have
besöka
to visit
gammal
old
det
the (with ett-words)
den
the (with en-words)
där
where (relative)
rik
rich
Questions & Answers about Vi besökte det äldsta huset där den rikaste mannen hade bott.
Why does äldsta end in -a but rikaste ends in -e?
It depends on how the adjective forms its superlative. Regular adjectives that add -ast (like rikast) take an -e ending in the definite form, becoming rikaste. Irregular adjectives that change their vowel and add just -st (like äldst from gammal) take an -a ending, becoming äldsta.
Why do we use det and den when huset and mannen already have definite suffixes?
This is Swedish double definiteness. When you put an adjective before a definite noun, you must use a free-standing article (det for ett-words, den for en-words) in addition to the noun's definite ending (-et or -en).
Why is it hade bott instead of hade bodde?
To say had lived (the past perfect tense), Swedish uses hade plus the supine form of the main verb. For the verb att bo (to live), the past tense is bodde but the special supine form used with har or hade is bott.
Does the -a on äldsta mean it is plural here?
No, here it shows the definite form, not the plural. Swedish adjectives often take an -a ending in both the plural and the definite singular. Because we are using the definite article det to talk about one specific house, äldsta is in the definite singular form.
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