Learn Swedish: Svårigheten är att pengarna saknas. - The difficulty is that the money is missing.

Svårigheten är att pengarna saknas.

The difficulty is that the money is missing.

Breakdown of Svårigheten är att pengarna saknas.

Questions & Answers about Svårigheten är att pengarna saknas.

How is svårigheten formed, and how do we know it gets an -en ending here?

It is built from the adjective svår (difficult) and the suffix -het, turning it into the noun "difficulty". A great rule to remember is that all nouns ending in -het are en-words. Therefore, it takes the standard -en suffix to become the definite form, svårigheten (the difficulty).

Why is pengarna in the plural form when the English translation says "the money"?

While "money" is a singular uncountable word in English, Swedish treats pengar as a regular plural noun. It comes from the singular en peng (a coin). Because it is plural, it takes the definite plural ending -na to mean "the money".

Why does the verb saknas end in an -s here?

The -s ending makes this a passive verb. The active verb sakna means "to lack" or "to miss". By adding the -s to make it saknas, the meaning changes to "is lacked" or "is missing". The literal translation of this clause is "that the money is lacked".