Breakdown of Penseln som du målar med är ny.
vara
to be
du
you (singular)
ny
new
med
with
måla
to paint
som
who / which / that (relative pronoun)
penseln
the paintbrush
Questions & Answers about Penseln som du målar med är ny.
Why does med come at the end of the clause instead of before som?
In Swedish, when a relative clause starting with som involves a preposition like med, the preposition almost always goes at the end of the clause. You cannot say "med som" (with which). This is very similar to everyday English where we say "The brush that you paint with".
Do I have to use som here, or can I leave it out?
You can actually leave it out! In Swedish, just like in English, if som acts as the object of the clause (meaning somebody else is doing the action, which in this case is du), you can drop it. Saying Penseln du målar med är ny is perfectly natural.
The base word is pensel. Why is the definite form penseln instead of "penselen"?
Nouns that end in an unstressed -el, -er, or -en typically drop their final e when adding the definite suffix. This makes the word flow better and is easier to pronounce. Therefore, en pensel becomes penseln.
Just as a quick refresher, why do we use ny here and not nytt?
The adjective ny is describing penseln. Since pensel is an en word, the adjective takes the basic en form, which is ny. If you were talking about an ett word, like ett hus (a house), you would need to use nytt instead (huset är nytt).
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