Breakdown of Kjolen är inte svart, utan brun.
vara
to be
inte
not
svart
black
kjolen
the skirt
utan
but rather
brun
brown
Questions & Answers about Kjolen är inte svart, utan brun.
Why is utan used here instead of men to mean 'but'?
Men just means 'but', adding a contrast. Utan specifically means 'but rather' or 'instead'. You always use utan when the first part of the sentence has a negative word like inte (not) and the second part corrects it with the actual truth.
Do I need to say utan den är brun (but rather it is brown)?
You can, but it is much more natural to leave out den är (it is). Just like in English, when the subject and verb are the same in both halves of the sentence, you do not need to repeat them after utan.
Why are the adjectives written as svart and brun rather than svarta and bruna?
Adjectives in Swedish must match the noun they describe. En kjol (a skirt) is an en-word, and here we are talking about a single skirt. Therefore, the adjectives stay in their basic singular form: svart and brun. If we were talking about multiple skirts, they would take the plural form and become svarta and bruna.
A quick refresher: how does kjolen mean 'the skirt'?
In Swedish, the word for 'the' is usually not a separate word in front of the noun. Instead, it is attached to the end. For a singular en-word like en kjol, you add -en to the end to get kjolen (the skirt).
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