Questions & Answers about Den nya kyrkan ritades och invigdes samma år.
Why do the two passive verbs have slightly different endings (ritades vs. invigdes)?
The ending depends on the verb group. To form the past tense s-passive, you just take the regular past tense and add an -s. The verb rita is a Group 1 verb (past tense ritade), so it becomes ritades. The verb inviga is a Group 2 verb (past tense invigde), so it becomes invigdes.
I learned that rita means "to draw". Why does ritades mean "was designed" here?
You are right that rita generally means "to draw". But in Swedish, when talking about buildings, churches, or architecture, rita is the standard verb used for "designing" (literally drawing the blueprints).
Why is it samma år and not the definite samma året?
The word samma (same) is a special exception in Swedish grammar. Even though it points to a specific thing (and translates to "the same" in English), it is almost always followed by a noun in the indefinite form.
Can we review why it is Den nya kyrkan instead of just nya kyrkan?