Breakdown of Katten är väldigt känslig för höga ljud.
vara
to be
katten
the cat
hög
high / loudly
ljudet
the sound
väldigt
very (extremely)
känslig för
sensitive to
Questions & Answers about Katten är väldigt känslig för höga ljud.
Why do we use för instead of till for "sensitive to"?
In Swedish, adjectives often pair with specific prepositions that do not translate word-for-word to English. The phrase "sensitive to" is always känslig för. Because English uses "to", it is very common for learners to guess till, but it is best to memorize these combinations as fixed pairs.
Since höga is plural, why doesn't ljud have a plural ending like "-ar" or "-er"?
Ljud is an ett-word that ends in a consonant (ett ljud). In Swedish, these words look exactly the same in their singular and plural indefinite forms. So, ett ljud is "a noise", and flera ljud is "several noises". We know it is plural here because the adjective höga has the plural -a ending.
Doesn't höga mean "high"? Why is it translated as "loud"?
The adjective hög means both "high" (like a tall mountain) and "loud" (high volume). When talking about sound (ljud), höga ljud almost always means "loud noises". If a Swedish speaker specifically wants to say "high-pitched", they will usually say ljusa ljud or högfrekventa ljud.
Why does väldigt end with a -t here if katten is an en-word?
Normally, an adjective describing an en-word does not get a -t ending. However, väldigt is not describing the cat; it is acting as an adverb describing the adjective känslig (telling us how sensitive). When a word like väldig is used as an adverb to modify another descriptive word, it always takes the -t form.
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