Questions & Answers about Du är ett barn.
Why does this sentence use ett instead of en?
In Swedish, all nouns belong to one of two groups: en-words or ett-words. Barn (child) happens to be an ett-word, so we say ett barn for "a child". There is no strict rule for which word gets which article, so it is best to memorize the article together with the noun when you learn new vocabulary.
Does the verb är change if I change du to another pronoun like "I" or "he"?
No, it stays exactly the same! Unlike English (I am, you are, he is), Swedish verbs do not change depending on who is doing the action. It is jag är, du är, han är, and so on.
The current lesson is about verbs ending in -ar. Why doesn't är end in -ar?
The verb for "to be" is irregular, just like in English. The dictionary form is vara, and its present tense form is är. Because it is such a common and irregular verb, it doesn't follow the regular Group 1 -ar pattern you are currently learning.
I have seen the word barn used for "children" (plural). How do I know it means a single "child" here?
The word ett ("a") is your clue that it is singular here. Barn is a special type of noun: because it is an ett-word that ends in a consonant, it looks exactly the same in both singular and plural. So, ett barn means "a child", while just barn can mean "children".
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