Breakdown of Hunden är inte van vid den stora katten.
vara
to be
hunden
the dog
katten
the cat
stor
big
inte
not
den
the (with en-words)
van vid
used to
Questions & Answers about Hunden är inte van vid den stora katten.
Why do we use vid here instead of till for 'to'?
The phrase for 'accustomed to' in Swedish is van vid. Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word between English and Swedish, so it is best to memorize van vid as a fixed phrase.
I learned that 'used to' is brukar. Why can't we use brukar here?
Brukar means 'usually do' or refers to a past habit, and it is always followed by a verb. When 'used to' means 'accustomed to' a noun (like the cat), you must use the adjective phrase vara van vid.
Why is it den stora katten and not just stora katten?
Swedish uses a pattern called the 'double definite' when a specific noun has an adjective. You need the standalone article (den), the adjective with its -a ending (stora), and the definite ending attached to the noun (katten).
If this lesson is about general statements, why don't we drop the articles here?
Because this sentence is about a specific dog and a specific cat, not dogs and cats in general. If we wanted to make a general statement, we would use the plural indefinite without articles: Hundar är inte vana vid stora katter.
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