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Kakan gräddas i ugnen.

Kakan gräddas i ugnen.
The cake is baked in the oven.
From Lesson 131:The present s-passive (-s)·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Kakan gräddas i ugnen.

Why does the verb end in an -s (gräddas)?
The -s makes the verb passive. In Swedish, recipes and instructions often use this s-passive form. Instead of saying 'you bake the cake' (du gräddar kakan), you say 'the cake is baked' (kakan gräddas). It puts the focus on what is happening to the cake, rather than who is doing it.
I thought 'to bake' was att baka. Why does this sentence use gräddas?
In Swedish, baka refers to the whole process of baking (mixing ingredients, kneading dough, etc.). Grädda specifically means the act of cooking something in the oven or on a hot surface. So, you bakar a cake in your kitchen, but the cake gräddas inside the oven.
How do I build this present tense s-passive form for a verb like grädda?
For most verbs, you take the regular present tense form, drop the final -r, and add -s. The active present tense is gräddar (bakes). Drop the -r and add -s, and you get the passive form gräddas (is baked).
Why are both kakan and ugnen in the definite form?
In English recipe shorthand, we might just say 'Bake cake in oven,' but Swedish recipes usually use the definite ('the') form to refer to the specific things you are working with. En kaka (a cake) becomes kakan (the cake), and en ugn (an oven) becomes ugnen (the oven).

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