Breakdown of Flickan sparkar på dörren med foten.
flickan
the girl
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
dörren
the door
med
with
foten
the foot
sparka
to kick
Questions & Answers about Flickan sparkar på dörren med foten.
Why do we use på here instead of just saying sparkar dörren?
In Swedish, if you hit a surface without the intent of moving the object, you usually add på, similar to striking at something. If you just said sparkar dörren, it would sound like she is kicking the door across the room, like a football!
Why does the sentence use foten (the foot) instead of a possessive word for her foot?
When referring to body parts or clothing, Swedish prefers to use the definite form (like foten) rather than a possessive pronoun, as long as it is obvious who the item belongs to. Since the girl is the one kicking, it is understood she is using her own foot.
Is it completely wrong to say med sin fot here?
It is not grammatically wrong, and using sin correctly refers back to the subject of the sentence. However, it sounds unnatural to native speakers. You should stick to the definite form foten unless you specifically need to emphasize that she used her own foot and not someone else's.
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