Breakdown of Anna är en oberoende kvinna.
vara
to be
en
a, an (common)
kvinnan
the woman
Anna
Anna
oberoende
independent
Questions & Answers about Anna är en oberoende kvinna.
Why doesn't the adjective oberoende have a special ending to match en kvinna?
Oberoende is a present participle adjective, meaning it is formed from a verb and ends in -ende. The great thing about adjectives ending in -ande and -ende is that they are invariable. They never change their endings, no matter if the noun is an en-word, an ett-word, or plural.
How is the word oberoende built?
It comes from the verb att bero (to depend). Adding -ende turns it into the adjective beroende (dependent). Finally, adding the negative prefix o- (which works like 'un-' or 'in-' in English) makes it oberoende (independent).
How would this sentence change if we were talking about 'the independent women'?
The adjective would stay exactly the same! Because -ende adjectives are invariable, you do not add the usual -a for plural or definite forms. 'The independent women' is simply de oberoende kvinnorna.
As a quick refresher, how would this work if we used a regular adjective like stark (strong) instead?
A regular adjective has to agree with the noun it describes. Since kvinna is an en-word, you use the basic form: en stark kvinna. If you were describing an ett-word like ett barn (a child), it would become ett starkt barn, and for plurals, starka. Words like oberoende get to skip all these matching rules!
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