Breakdown of Vi måste anmäla den stulna cykeln.
vi
we
måste
to have to, must
cykeln
the bicycle
den
the (with en-words)
stulen
stolen
anmäla
to report
Questions & Answers about Vi måste anmäla den stulna cykeln.
Why is the word for "stolen" written as stulna instead of stulen?
stulen is the basic past participle of stjäla (to steal). Because it is being used here as an adjective describing a specific, definite noun ("the stolen bike"), it must take the definite form. For past participles ending in -en, the definite ending is -na, giving us stulna.
What is the infinitive form of the verb that stulna comes from?
It comes from the irregular verb stjäla (to steal). When turning it into a descriptive adjective (a past participle), it becomes stulen for an en-word, stulet for an ett-word, and stulna for plural or definite nouns.
Why do we say den stulna cykeln with two definite markers (den and -n)?
This is a great reminder of the Swedish "double definite" rule. When you add an adjective to a definite noun, you must use the freestanding article den (because cykel is an en-word) in front of the adjective, and you must also keep the definite suffix -n on the noun itself.
Why isn't there an att (to) between måste and anmäla?
måste (must / have to) is a modal verb. In Swedish, just like in English, modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive form of the next verb, without using the word att.
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