Breakdown of Den nya omgivningen ser väldigt främmande ut.
ny
new
den
the (with en-words)
väldigt
very (extremely)
se ut
to look, to appear
omgivningen
the surroundings
främmande
unfamiliar
Questions & Answers about Den nya omgivningen ser väldigt främmande ut.
Why is ut at the very end of the sentence instead of right after ser?
Ser ut (looks/appears) is a particle verb. In a main clause, the verb (ser) takes the second position, while the particle (ut) often goes at the end, wrapping around the adjective phrase (väldigt främmande) that describes the subject.
English uses the plural 'surroundings', but is omgivningen singular or plural here?
It is singular! En omgivning translates to 'an environment' or 'surroundings'. Because it is a singular en-word in the definite form, it takes the singular article Den and the singular adjective form nya.
Why doesn't the adjective främmande have a special ending here?
Adjectives that end in -ande or -ende (which are actually verbs turned into describing words) are indeclinable. This means they never change to match gender or plural forms. It stays främmande no matter what noun it describes.
Why do we use both Den and the -en ending on omgivningen?
This is the Swedish 'double definite' rule. When a definite noun like omgivningen is described by an adjective (nya), you must also add the independent definite article (Den, Det, or De) at the very beginning.
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