Breakdown of Det här biblioteket har inte samma bok.
boken
the book
inte
not
ha
to have
det här
this (ett)
samma
same
biblioteket
the library
Questions & Answers about Det här biblioteket har inte samma bok.
Why do we say samma bok (indefinite) when the English translation is 'the same book'?
In Swedish, the word samma (same) has a special rule: it is always followed by the noun in its indefinite form (bok). Even though English adds the word 'the', you never add the definite ending in Swedish when using samma.
Why is biblioteket in the definite form if bok is indefinite?
Different pointing words have different rules! While samma requires an indefinite noun, the phrase det här (this) requires the noun to be in the definite form. That is why it must be det här biblioteket (this library).
Why is it det här and not den här?
The word bibliotek (library) is an ett word. You can tell because it ends in -et in the definite form (biblioteket). For ett words, 'this' is always det här. If it were an en word, like bok, it would be den här boken.
How does 'does not have' turn into har inte?
Swedish does not use a helper verb like 'do' to make negatives. Instead, you just place inte (not) directly after the verb. So, 'does not have' is simply translated as har inte (has not).
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