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Questions & Answers about Först öppnas lådan.
Why does the verb öppnas end with an -s?
This -s creates the passive voice. Instead of saying who is doing the action, it simply means "is opened". The normal active verb is öppnar (opens), and replacing the -r with an -s gives us öppnas (is opened).
Why are the verb and subject swapped here (öppnas lådan instead of lådan öppnas)?
This happens because of the Swedish V2 rule, which says the verb must be the second piece of information in the sentence. Because the sentence starts with the word Först (First), the verb öppnas has to come next, pushing the subject lådan after it.
How do we know lådan means "the box" and not just "a box"?
The base word for "a box" is en låda. To say "the box", Swedish attaches the definite article to the end of the word, turning it into lådan.