Breakdown of De farliga bakterierna analyseras av läkaren.
läkaren
the doctor
de
the (plural, before adjective)
av
of, by / from (cause)
farlig
dangerous
bakterien
the bacterium
analysera
to analyze
Questions & Answers about De farliga bakterierna analyseras av läkaren.
How does av work in this sentence?
This sentence is written in the passive voice, meaning the focus is on what is being analyzed rather than who is doing the analyzing. When you want to include who performs the action (the agent) in a passive sentence, Swedish uses the preposition av, just like 'by' in English. Here, av läkaren means 'by the doctor'.
Why does the verb analyseras end in an -s?
That -s is what makes the verb passive. The normal, active present tense of this verb is analyserar (analyzes). By dropping the final -r and adding an -s, it becomes analyseras (is/are analyzed).
Why is it De farliga bakterierna with both the word De and the -erna ending?
This is a classic example of Swedish 'double definiteness'. When a definite noun (the bacteria) has an adjective (dangerous) in front of it, you must add the standalone article De (the) before the adjective, and you still keep the definite suffix -erna on the noun itself.
Is bakterierna plural or singular here?
It is plural. The base singular word is en bakterie (a bacterium). The indefinite plural is bakterier (bacteria), and when you add the definite ending for plural words, it becomes bakterierna (the bacteria).
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