Breakdown of Rummet städas och golvet torkas.
och
and
städa
to clean
rummet
the room
golvet
the floor
torka
to wipe
Questions & Answers about Rummet städas och golvet torkas.
Why do the verbs end in -s here (städas, torkas)?
This is the Swedish passive voice, called the s-passive. We use it when we want to focus on what happens to an object, rather than who is doing the action. Adding -s changes the meaning from cleans (städar) to is cleaned (städas).
How exactly is this passive form built?
For most verbs, you take the infinitive form (the basic dictionary form, like städa or torka) and just add an -s. So att städa (to clean) becomes städas (is cleaned), and att torka (to wipe) becomes torkas (is wiped).
Why are the nouns written as rummet and golvet instead of rum and golv?
Both rum (room) and golv (floor) are ett words. To make them definite (meaning the room and the floor), we add -et to the end. Notice that rum also doubles its m to become rummet, which keeps the vowel sound short.
Can torkas mean anything else besides is wiped?
Yes, the active verb torka can mean both to wipe (like a table) and to dry (like wet clothes). Because the sentence is about a floor (golvet), translating it as is wiped or is mopped makes the most sense here.
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