Breakdown of De tittar på de förstörda stolarna.
titta på
to look at
stolen
the chair
de
the (plural, before adjective)
förstörd
destroyed
Questions & Answers about De tittar på de förstörda stolarna.
Why does the past participle förstörda end in -a here?
Because it is acting as an adjective describing a plural noun (stolarna). When you use a past participle to describe plural nouns, you add an -a to the end, just like you would with a regular adjective.
Why are there two ways of saying "the" in this sentence (de and the -na at the end of stolarna)?
This is the Swedish "double definite" rule. When a specific noun has an adjective in front of it (in this case, the descriptive word förstörda), you must use both the separate article (de for plurals) and the definite ending on the noun itself (-na).
The word de is used twice. Do they mean the same thing?
No, but they look and sound identical! The first De is a pronoun meaning "They". The second de is the plural definite article meaning "the" used before adjectives. In everyday spoken Swedish, both are pronounced as dom.
What is the base verb for förstörda, and what is its singular form?
The base verb is förstöra (to destroy). To turn it into a describing word (past participle), you use the stem förstör-. For a singular "en" word (like "en förstörd stol"), it is just förstörd. We add the -a here because the chairs are plural.
Can I leave out på and just say De tittar de förstörda stolarna?
No, you need the preposition på. Just like in English where you "look at" something, in Swedish you must use tittar på to point out what you are directing your eyes toward.
Learn De tittar på de förstörda stolarna and more in Swedish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free