Breakdown of Den snabbaste hunden vinner det längsta loppet.
hunden
the dog
snabb
fast
lång
long / tall
det
the (with ett-words)
den
the (with en-words)
vinna
to win
loppet
the race
Questions & Answers about Den snabbaste hunden vinner det längsta loppet.
Why does snabbaste end in '-e' but längsta ends in '-a'? Both are definite superlative adjectives!
Regular adjectives form the superlative by adding -ast (like snabbast). When you make them definite, they take an -e instead of the usual -a, becoming snabbaste. However, irregular adjectives like lång form their superlative without the 'a' (längst). These irregular superlatives follow the normal rule and take an -a in the definite form, becoming längsta.
Why do we say 'Den ... hunden' and 'det ... loppet'? Doesn't the article at the beginning already make it definite?
Yes, but Swedish uses 'double definiteness.' When a definite noun has an adjective in front of it, you need the free definite article (den or det) AND the noun must still keep its definite ending (-en or -et). So the sentence is literally 'The fastest the-dog wins the longest the-race.'
Why use 'den' before the dog but 'det' before the race?
The free definite article has to match the gender of the noun. Because dog is an 'en' word (en hund), we use den. Because race is an 'ett' word (ett lopp), we use det.
Where does the word 'längsta' come from? Is it related to 'lång'?
Yes! Lång (long) is an irregular adjective. When it changes to comparative and superlative forms, the vowel 'å' changes to 'ä'. So the pattern is: lång (long), längre (longer), längst (longest). Adding the definite -a ending gives us längsta.
Learn Den snabbaste hunden vinner det längsta loppet and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free