Breakdown of Magikern behöver kortleken, men kaninen släpper den inte.
den
it (common)
inte
not
behöva
to need
men
but
släppa
to release
magikern
the magician
kortleken
the deck of cards
kaninen
the rabbit
Questions & Answers about Magikern behöver kortleken, men kaninen släpper den inte.
Why is it släpper den inte instead of släpper inte den?
This is the "object pronoun shift" in action! In a Swedish main clause, short, unstressed object pronouns like den (it) step in front of inte (not). If you used the full noun instead of a pronoun, inte would come first: kaninen släpper inte kortleken.
Why does magikern end in -n but kortleken and kaninen end in -en?
They are all "en-words" in their definite form (meaning "the..."). For words ending in a consonant, you usually add -en (like en kanin -> kaninen). For words that end in an unstressed -er, like en magiker, you usually just add -n so it flows better (magikern).
How is the word kortleken built?
It is a compound word made from kort (card) and leken (the game/play). In Swedish, en kortlek is the standard word for a deck of cards.
In English we say "let go OF it". Why isn't there a word for "of" after släpper?
The Swedish verb släppa means "to drop", "to release", or "to let go of". It directly takes an object without needing an extra preposition, so släpper den is all you need to say "lets go of it".
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