Breakdown of Den äldre damen var inte sjuk, utan bara trött.
vara
to be
trött
tired
inte
not
gammal
old
den
the (with en-words)
sjuk
sick
bara
only, just
utan
but rather
damen
the lady
Questions & Answers about Den äldre damen var inte sjuk, utan bara trött.
Why use the comparative äldre (older) here instead of just saying den gamla damen?
This is called the absolute comparative. Swedish often uses the comparative form to soften a description. Instead of flatly saying she is old (gammal), calling her äldre makes it mean elderly or on the older side, without actually comparing her to anyone specific.
Wait, usually adjectives after den get an -a ending. Why doesn't äldre change?
Comparative adjectives in Swedish are locked into their form. Words ending in -are or -re (like äldre) never change for gender, number, or definite/indefinite forms. So it stays äldre no matter what noun it describes.
Why is the noun damen in the definite form if we already used the definite article den?
This is the Swedish double definite rule in action. When you have a free-standing definite article (den) plus an adjective, the noun that follows must also take its definite ending (damen, not dam).
Why does the sentence use utan instead of men for the word but?
You use utan (but rather / instead) when you are correcting a negative statement. Since the first part of the sentence says she was NOT sick (inte sjuk), utan is used to introduce the true state: she was just tired. If the first part was positive, you would use men.
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