Breakdown of Polisen letar efter de stulna pengarna.
pengarna
the money
polisen
the police officer
de
the (plural, before adjective)
leta efter
to look for (physical items, everyday)
Questions & Answers about Polisen letar efter de stulna pengarna.
Why do we use the plural forms de and stulna when the English translation 'the money' is singular?
In English, 'money' is an uncountable singular noun. But in Swedish, pengar is a plural word. Because it is plural, we must use the plural article de and add the plural ending -a to the past participle, making it stulna instead of stulen.
Why are there two markers for 'the' in de stulna pengarna?
This is a great example of the Swedish 'double definite' rule. When you put an adjective (like the participle stulna) in front of a definite noun (pengarna), you must also add the freestanding definite article in front of the adjective. Since pengar is plural, that article is de.
Why does the Swedish sentence use a singular verb (letar) when the English translation says 'The police are'?
In English, 'the police' is treated as plural. In Swedish, polisen (the police force) is a singular en-word, so it acts like a single unit. If you wanted to talk about multiple individual police officers, you would use the plural word poliserna.
What happens if I leave out the word efter?