Breakdown of Katten sover under det där bordet.
katten
the cat
bordet
the table
sova
to sleep
det där
that (ett)
under
under
Questions & Answers about Katten sover under det där bordet.
How does the preposition under work in Swedish?
It works exactly like "under" in English! Like the other spatial prepositions in this lesson, you just place it directly before the noun or noun phrase it relates to, which in this case is det där bordet.
Why does the sentence say det där bordet instead of just det där bord?
When you use a pointer phrase like det där (meaning "that"), Swedish requires the noun that follows to be in its definite form. So, instead of just saying "that table", Swedish literally says "that there the-table" (det där bordet).
Why do we use det där here instead of den där?
Because the word for table (bord) is an ett word in Swedish (ett bord). If the cat were sleeping under a chair (en stol), you would use den där instead, making it den där stolen.
The English translation says "is sleeping", but isn't sover just "sleeps"?
Swedish doesn't have a separate verb form for ongoing actions like English does with "is sleeping". The single present tense verb sover covers both "sleeps" and "is sleeping", and you just rely on the context to know which one sounds better in English.
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