Breakdown of Vet du om hennes krångliga skrivare är trasig?
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
veta
to know (facts, information)
hennes
her (possessive)
trasig
broken
om
if, whether
krånglig
complicated (cumbersome, tricky)
skrivaren
the printer
Questions & Answers about Vet du om hennes krångliga skrivare är trasig?
Why does krångliga end in -a when skrivare is in its indefinite form?
This is a strict rule in Swedish. After a possessive word like hennes (her), the adjective must take its definite form (which usually ends in -a, like krångliga), but the noun that follows remains in the indefinite form (skrivare).
If krångliga takes a definite ending, why doesn't trasig also get an -a ending?
Krångliga comes directly before the noun and gets its -a ending because of the possessive hennes. However, trasig (broken) comes after the verb är (is). Adjectives after a verb just match the noun's basic gender and number. Since en skrivare is a singular en-word, trasig stays in its basic form.
How do we know if skrivare is singular or plural in this sentence?
Nouns ending in -are that describe tools or people look exactly the same in both singular and plural indefinite forms. We know it means 'printer' (singular) here because the adjective at the end is trasig. If it meant 'printers' (plural), the adjective would be trasiga.
Does om mean 'if' or 'about' in this sentence?
Here, it means 'if' or 'whether'. While om can mean 'about' (as in reading a book about something), it is also the standard word used to connect indirect questions, exactly like 'if' in the English phrase 'Do you know if...'.
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