Breakdown of Barnet sover på magen.
barnet
the child
sova
to sleep
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
magen
the stomach
Questions & Answers about Barnet sover på magen.
Why does the sentence use magen (the stomach) instead of a word for "its" stomach?
In Swedish, when it is obvious whose body part is involved, you usually just use the definite form (magen). English uses a possessive pronoun ("its stomach" or "their stomach"), but translating that literally to sin mage or dess mage sounds unnatural here unless you really need to emphasize whose stomach it is.
Is på magen the normal way to say you are lying on your front?
Yes. When talking about sleeping positions, Swedish uses på plus the definite form of the body part. You sleep på magen (on your stomach), på ryggen (on your back), or på sidan (on your side).
Could barnet sover also mean "the children sleep"?
No, it specifically means "the child sleeps" (singular). Because barn is an ett word, its singular definite form is barnet. If it were multiple children, it would be barnen sover.
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