Breakdown of Barnet hoppar modigt i backen.
barnet
the child
i
in
hoppa
to jump
modigt
bravely
backen
the slope
Questions & Answers about Barnet hoppar modigt i backen.
Why does modigt have a -t at the end?
Because it is acting as an adverb here, describing how the child jumps. In Swedish, regular adverbs are formed by taking the base adjective modig (brave) and adding a -t, which is similar to adding -ly in English to get bravely.
How would I change modigt to mean more bravely or most bravely?
Since regular adverbs are built from adjectives, they usually share the same comparative and superlative forms. You add -are for the comparative (modigare, meaning more bravely) and -ast for the superlative (modigast, meaning most bravely).
Why does the sentence use i for on the slope instead of på?
In Swedish, when talking about an activity on a hill or a slope, you usually use the preposition i together with en backe. This is a tricky exception to memorize, because if you say på backen, it actually means on the ground!
A quick reminder: how do we know barnet means the child and not the children?
Barn is an ett-word (ett barn). To make it definite singular (the child), you add -et to get barnet. If you wanted the plural definite form (the children), you would add -en to get barnen.
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