Breakdown of Den tunga surfplattan håller han med handen.
han
he
tung
heavy
hålla
to hold / to hold on to
den
the (with en-words)
med
with
handen
the hand
surfplattan
the tablet
Questions & Answers about Den tunga surfplattan håller han med handen.
Why does it say med handen (with the hand) instead of with his hand?
In Swedish, when you use a body part to do an action, you usually just use the definite form of the noun, like handen (the hand), instead of a possessive word like hans or sin. Since it is obvious he is using his own hand, the definite form is enough. The preposition med (with) acts as the instrument showing how he holds it.
Why is the word order håller han instead of han håller?
The sentence starts with the object, Den tunga surfplattan (The heavy tablet), to put focus on it. Because Swedish strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule, the verb håller must be the second chunk of information in the sentence, pushing the subject han to the third spot.
Why do we need Den if surfplattan already means the tablet?
This is a great reminder of the Swedish double definite rule. When a definite noun like surfplattan is described by an adjective, you must also add the freestanding definite article Den (or Det / De) at the very beginning of the phrase.
Why does the adjective tung (heavy) end with an -a here?
Because it is describing a definite noun. Whenever an adjective is part of a definite phrase, it takes the definite ending, which is almost always an -a. So tung becomes tunga.
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