Breakdown of Din krångliga skrivare fungerar aldrig.
aldrig
never
din
your (singular; din/ditt/dina)
fungera
to work / to function (machines, devices) / to act as, serve as
krånglig
complicated (cumbersome, tricky)
skrivaren
the printer
Questions & Answers about Din krångliga skrivare fungerar aldrig.
Why does the adjective krångliga end in -a when skrivare isn't in the definite form?
This is a special rule for possessive words like din (your). After a possessive, the adjective takes its definite form (usually ending in -a), but the noun stays in its indefinite (basic) form. So we say din krångliga skrivare, not din krånglig skrivare or din krångliga skrivaren.
Since skrivare ends in -are, how do we know if it means one printer or multiple printers here?
Nouns ending in -are usually look exactly the same in the singular and plural (one printer is en skrivare, two printers are två skrivare). We know this sentence is singular because it uses the singular word din. If it were plural (your complicated printers), it would be dina krångliga skrivare.
Could I use arbetar instead of fungerar to mean works here?
No, arbetar and jobbar are used when a person or animal is doing a job. When talking about a machine, device, or plan functioning correctly, you must use fungerar.
Why does aldrig come at the very end of the sentence?
In a standard Swedish main clause, sentence adverbs like aldrig (never) and inte (not) are placed immediately after the verb. Here, the verb fungerar comes right after the subject (din krångliga skrivare), so aldrig naturally falls at the end of this short sentence.
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