Learn Swedish: Den modige prinsen besegrade draken. - The brave prince defeated the dragon.

Normally, definite adjectives end in -a. However, for singular nouns that refer to a male person, like prinsen, Swedish often uses the special masculine ending -e instead. Using -a (den modiga prinsen) is also grammatically correct today, but -e is very common and gives a slightly more traditional feel.

Why do we use 'Den' if 'prinsen' already means 'the prince'?

This is a reminder of the Swedish 'double definite' rule. When you describe a definite noun with an adjective, you need three parts: the front article (Den), the definite adjective (modige), and the definite noun itself (prinsen).

How do we know 'besegrade' is in the past tense?

The infinitive form of this verb is besegra (to defeat). Because it is a regular Group 1 verb that already ends in -a, you simply add -de to form the past tense, making it besegrade.

What is the base word for 'draken'?

The base word is drake (dragon), which is an en-word. Because it already ends in a vowel, you only need to add an -n to make it definite (draken), rather than adding the full -en suffix.