Breakdown of Vi hör gatumusikanten sjunga framför bageriet.
vi
we
sjunga
to sing
höra
to hear
bageriet
the bakery
framför
in front of / over (in preference to)
gatumusikanten
the street musician
Questions & Answers about Vi hör gatumusikanten sjunga framför bageriet.
Why is there no att before sjunga?
Because of the verb hör (hear). Verbs of perception, like höra (to hear) and se (to see), work just like they do in English when followed by an object. You say "we hear him sing" (not "to sing"), so in Swedish, you use the bare infinitive sjunga without att.
How is the word gatumusikanten formed? Why is it gatu- and not gata-?
It is a compound word made of gata (street) and musikanten (the musician). When a word ending in -a becomes the first part of a compound noun, the -a often changes to -u. So, gata becomes gatu-, giving us gatumusikanten.
Could I use inför instead of framför to mean "in front of" here?
No, because framför is used for physical location (physically standing outside the bakery). Inför means "in front of" in a more abstract or figurative sense, like standing before a judge or performing for an audience. Since we are talking about a physical place, framför bageriet is the correct choice.
Why does the word for bakery end in -et (bageriet)?
The word for bakery is ett bageri. Because it is an ett-word that ends in a vowel, you add -et to make it definite ("the bakery"). This gives you bageriet.
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