Breakdown of Vinner den snabbaste kvinnan det tuffaste loppet imorgon?
snabb
fast
kvinnan
the woman
imorgon
tomorrow
det
the (with ett-words)
Questions & Answers about Vinner den snabbaste kvinnan det tuffaste loppet imorgon?
Why do both snabbaste and tuffaste end with an -e instead of the usual -a for definite adjectives?
Most adjectives in the definite form take an -a ending (like den snabba kvinnan for the fast woman). However, superlative adjectives that end in -ast (like fastest or toughest) are an exception. They always take an -e in the definite form, making them snabbaste and tuffaste.
Why do we need den and det if the nouns kvinnan and loppet are already in the definite form?
This is the Swedish double definite rule. When you describe a specific noun with an adjective, you must use a free-standing article (den for en-words, det for ett-words) and also put the noun itself in its definite form. So we say den snabbaste kvinnan and det tuffaste loppet.
The adjective ending is the same in both halves of the sentence, but the article before them changes. Why?
The free definite article must match the noun's gender: den for the en-word kvinna and det for the ett-word lopp. Fortunately, the definite superlative ending -aste is identical for both genders, so you do not have to change the adjective at all!
Why does the sentence start with vinner?