Breakdown of Har de tävlat i den stora backen?
de
they
stor
big
i
in
ha
to have
den
the (with en-words)
tävla
to compete
backen
the slope
Questions & Answers about Har de tävlat i den stora backen?
Why does backen have the -en ending if we already used the word den?
This is a classic Swedish rule called double definiteness. When you have a definite noun with an adjective, you need the freestanding article (den, det, or de), the -a ending on the adjective (stora), AND the definite ending on the noun itself (backen).
Why does the sentence use i instead of på for 'on the slope'?
Prepositions rarely translate perfectly between languages! In Swedish, you say that you ski or compete i backen (literally 'in the slope') rather than på backen, which would sound more like you are standing on top of a small mound of dirt.
How would I change this sentence to say 'the largest slope' using the superlative form?
You would change the adjective stor (large) to its superlative form, största. The phrase becomes i den största backen. Notice that it still follows the double definiteness rule!
If I wanted to add a comparative adverb like 'more often' to this question, what is the word and where would it go?
The comparative form of the adverb ofta (often) is oftare. In a question like this, the adverb typically goes right after the subject: Har de oftare tävlat i den stora backen? (Have they competed more often on the large slope?).
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